What accounts for Europe's love affair with Obama?

By Chris Marsden 24 July 2008 There is a surreal element to the wave of adulation being generated in the European media surrounding Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama’s upcoming three-day trip to Europe. The most adulatory statements on Obama have been made in the German media, where Obama is due to speak to an audience of hundreds of thousands in Berlin today. Der Spiegel makes references to “The Messiah factor” being motivated by a broad “yearning for a new America.” The Frankfurter Rundschau proclaimed, “Lincoln, Kennedy, Obama.” The Berliner Morgenpost described him as “The New Kennedy” and the Bild followed suit, writing, “This Black American Has Become the New Kennedy!” There is, in such statements, a degree of self-delusion, particularly in liberal media circles. A poll in Britain’s Guardian found that if a... [read full story]