Talking politics this summer in England

Many non-Americans see Obama as hope for change. They so dislike Bush that they want someone who will end the war and not be seen as a bully.

As to why Obama is liked and Brown disliked in Britain is simple. Brown, and Blair before him, both sided with Bush on the Iraq War and are seen as too friendly towards Bush. Plus, the economic problems don't help.

McCain is seen as nothing more than a continuation of Bush.

Interest in Sarah Palin is high here in England just now. Her debate with Joe Biden was re-run the next day (SkyNews?). Almost anything you can say to explain the Obama phenomenon seems welcome. I feel like a real expert on American politics when I'm here, whereas at home I feel only moderately informed. After reading Obama's two books, just before my trip here, I felt up on the subject. If you are not British, it is probably better not to express opinions about what is going on here politically. It's a time of re-organization, finger-pointing, etc. There seems to be an attitude that they are following our (the USA's) lead in the economic mess, and that things may not be as bad here as in the States.

Funny that it was all thumbs up on Obama, but thumbs down on Brown and the Labor party when Obama would be a poster-child for the Labor party if he lived in England. I'm not saying that Obama will be bad for America, just commenting on the inconsistency with the viewpoints.

I'm not very informed about British politics but am guessing that Obama would not be considered a "liberal" in the UK. I say that based on the assumption that in general their political parties are oriented to the left of ours in the US--with a larger role for government in health care and other areas having been accepted there for some time.

Just a note on Cary's response. Obama is liked by the Brits BECAUSE he is not Brown. He is an American and thus removed from UK politics-most people think their own pols are idiots,criminals or worse. That plus fact that Obama is the Anti-Bush and George is disliked almost everywhere by almost everybody

We also found that most people on our trip were very interested in American politics and were in favor of Obama. We were a bit nervous at first to discuss politics because of our very general knowledge of British politics, but we were approached by almost everyone we met about our opinions; even without a button! We are not overly political people, but also support Obama and were glad we were not Bush lovers or they may have sent us packing : ).

My husband and I will be in France during the U.S. election (voting early of course). We've made buttons that say "I voted for Obama" in French. We hope this will be a good converstion starter. My husband needs to practice his French!

To confuse the apples and oranges evern further "liberal" doesn't even have the same political meaning in most of Europe. It would be closer to our definition of "libertarian".

Swan,

I thought Obama had three books. I've only read Dreams of My Father and now won't vote for him.

It's easy to understand Europeans' view of American politics. Their view is through the lens of our media, enough said.

I'd disagree with Brad here, I think Americans have real difficulty understanding how Europeans* view American politics. Whilst it's true we do view everything through the "lens of American media," a far bigger factor is that our view is skewed by our own political views.

The first thing, as was mentioned earlier, is that the Democrats are (economically at least) to the right of most of Europe's mainstream right-wing parties, in effect the political centre is moved to the right. This means that if the Democrats are moderately right-wing it makes Republican policy appear extremist and cartoonish.

Secondly the political language is very different. There are a lot of stock phrases that are used by politicians that probably don't mean much in the context of an American speech, they're almost like boiler plate; they will often talk about American being the "leader of the free world," "Blessed by God," "the Greatest country" and "America's unique freedoms." Phrases obviously intended for domestic consumption but when seen from outside look, at best, arrogant or chauvinistic.

Also there are cultural touchstones and orthodoxies that are different from one side of the Atlantic to the other. Americans take for granted that pols will have some kind of religion that they display publicly, a very high capital is placed on military service, public healthcare is something to be feared for a lot of people, 'socialist' is a dirty word... Now I'm not saying these are right or wrong but they do feel alien.

*Obvious caveat here about the inaccuracy of trying to generalise about what Europeans think.

Can't help myself..tried not to respond..This is a travel show , right??, but when Brad said that Europeans' view of American politics is "thru the lens of the USA media"...i just wanted to mention that most major newspapers and tv in France (and that's all i can pretend to know) have journalists writing and broadcasting from the states..and i feel that they report things from their own observations..they can't afford the lens of the USA......soooo...If anyone is travelling in Europe in the next month, feel free to hand out buttons of the candidate of your choice..Everyone seems to want to find a way to chat with the locals..

Peter, thanks for a thoughtful and insightful post on the topic.

Peter,
Those stock political phrases you describe as "arrogant or chauvinistic" appear that way to a great many Americans, as well. I cringe every time I hear one of those ignorant claims.

just a quick clarification: I didn't mean they were "arrogant or chauvinistic" just that they appear that way to non-Americans.