Europeans are rooting for Obama

"Is he going to win?"  "How is he coping with the negativity?" "How is it so close...what can they be thinking?"

I seem to be seen as some cross between a close friend of Barack Obama and the black Keith Olbermann when I come back to the UK.  I'm not sure either of those characters would appreciate the assertion.

This is the first time in too long that many in Europe and specifically Britain have looked at the United States and not seen her as potentially lead by a socially awkward juvenile with impulse control issues; not seen her as lead by a man thought to be as likely to drop a bomb as the ball and, as we look at the impending election, people here are as confused as they are concerned that America will chose what many here see as more of the same.

I have been in America for much of the run up and I know that phrase is a democratic talking point, but in the UK our coverage, even on dedicated news channels, has not gone deep into the talking points.  People here have actually been exposed to the policy differences, seen the debates and made some fundamental decisions based on those events.

Make no mistake, Europe is backing Barack, not because we are high minded, esoteric people who see past race and divisive politics - take a look at the UK to know that isn't the truth!  But we in England do recognise and appreciate intangibles - like leadership, authenticity and vision, and we especially like intelligence whatever the shape or hue of the package - look at our cabinet - they're no oil painting!

Barack Obama is no panacea, I'm not convinced that any President has ever boldly grabbed hold of the idea of equality in America without caveats, without asterisks.  But there is a massive hole to be dug out of, and wouldn't it be nice if all the people who used to come to hole-digging-out-events, came back?  I think, we think, Barack Obama can do that.

Perhaps it's only the buffer of the Atlantic that allows some people to question some of the tenets of the McCain campaign?  The supposed relevance of being a pilot/prisoner to being commander in chief of a country is a constant question here.   I can only suggest to those who ask that it's how America knows McCain is the one true patriot, making it easier to paint Barack Hussein Obama the terrorist...oh, and an elitist.

What about the choice of a vapid, two dimensional, oft incoherent caricature as VP?  I should tell you that I haven't met one person in the UK - not one - who thinks Sarah Palin is "cute" or "folksy."  Instead, the descriptors I hear aren't anywhere near warm and fuzzy, don't-'cha-know.  One thing that the people I have spoken to have latched onto, is her hubris.  The idea that a person can be so ambitious (even 5000 miles away we see her eye on the 2012 election) and yet so unwilling to do the work that makes you qualified for your ambition - think 'what newspaper do you read?' or knowing that fruit flies are used in all kinds of genetic research, including that on autism.

Beyond the sabre rattling McCain, so frail in countenance and composure that like Napoleon, many here fear he will run amok across the globe. It is Palin who seems to signify the Republican party's total contempt for common sense and modern diplomacy.

For many here the idea that a country would want to pick a set of candidates who were "like them" or better still like "Joe the Plumber" (yes, his fame has spread this far) is incomprehensible.  On the one hand the only suitable candidate is an extraordinary man, a fighter pilot with scars from terrible abuse none of us can conceive or probably endure, on the other hand, he is really a simple (read: simplistic) guy next door.  I've said it before and I mean it, I have a great plumber, more dextrous and skilled with a pipe than I, but I don't want him negotiating with China.

I still find one of the most insulting assertions is the idea that a President who inspires with his voice, engenders hope and offers conversation as a means to start diffusing conflict is somehow "weak and ephemeral" somehow noting more than an affectation.  I think this contention should be deeply offensive to America's history of societal change through individual eloquence.

When eight years of the politics of 'mine-is-bigger-than-yours' has lead to increased mistrust between enemies and allies alike, leaving a shrinking pool of those America can call on as allies and an ever expanding group that America has, at least been told, to fear.  You would think a voice that causes America, Europe, South America, and even the Middle East to gather and listen again would be a good thing?

That Muslim paranoia has been propagated and allowed to run riot prior to and in service of the GOP campaign is an embarrassment. The only two groups against which crime rose in the recent FBI's hate crime statistics were GLBT people and Muslims (or at least people who were perceived to be members of those groups.)  Bigotry, with such massive consequences, should not be a campaign tool.

That any person could be convinced that a candidate is Muslim because his middle name is Hussein, should be an affront to the American people.  Firstly, because it shouldn't matter - no, it just shouldn't - and secondly, because this kind of ignorance over what is and isn't Muslim is a precursor to the irrational hatred that has fuelled political knee-jerk reactions, bad foreign policy and even a war.  It has inspired true terrorists and created a recruiting tool allowing them to bend weak-willed and disenfranchised people to their cause.

The words of a ten-year old boy, Ali, who plays basketball at my centre in Manchester (www.amaechibasketball.com), England ring in my ear as I write this.  He came up to me the other day, asking about America and the elections in general, then he looked into my eyes and asked "...do you think Americans will hate me less if Barack wins?"

Three thousand miles from Washington, DC a little boy who loves basketball, thinks America hates him.

There is the Bush/Cheney legacy.  This is the foreshadowing of a McCain/Palin Presidency.  It is time for change.