Obamania grips Europe ahead of visit by "John Kennedy of our time" (AFP)

BERLIN (AFP) - Obamania is all the rage ahead of next week's visit to Berlin, Paris and London by a man described in newspapers as a "John Kennedy of our time" and Europe's champion in the race for the White House. If western Europeans could vote in November's presidential election, Barack Obama, the 46-year-old Democratic senator, would be a shoo-in, according to a recent opinion poll conducted on behalf of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper. Seventy percent of Italians, 67 percent of Germans, 65 percent of the French and 49 percent of Britons would vote Obama. This compared to just 15 percent in Italy, 6 percent in Germany, 8 percent in France, and 14 percent in Britain for Obama's Republican rival, John McCain, whose support for the war in Iraq is seen as a continuation of the policy of the current White House tenant,... [read full story]