 BERLIN (AP) - Europeans on Friday greeted Barack Obama's acceptance of the U.S. Democratic nomination as a strong performance that boosted his campaign and went beyond mere show to offer a clearer picture of what he might do as president.
Polls from Germany — where Obama drew an audience of some 200,000 for a speech in Berlin last month — and elsewhere in Europe have shown him to be an overwhelming favorite over Republican rival John McCain amid wide discontent with President Bush.
Still, some have questioned whether a captivating style and promises of change are enough to win the presidency.
"In Denver, it wasn't just about 'change' any more, but about cash, too," German weekly Der Spiegel wrote in its online edition. "The defining line running through his nomination speech was not wishes, but reality."
"Barack Obama is in the process of developing from a redeemer into a politician," it added. "That is a great disappointment for many of his supporters, but it is necessary."
Although many European television channels aired the speech live in the early hours of Friday morning, most people didn't stay up to see it. One who did was the German government's coordinator on U.S. relations, Karsten Voigt.
"I think it has strengthened his position in the campaign — whether this now can be balanced by an equally strong performance of McCain waits to be seen," Voigt said.
In his blog, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt described Obama's performance as "American rhetoric about the American dream in best American style — but also a way to give a certain amount of substance to politics. And to draw up the border lines to John McCain."
Still, the plaudits for Obama's style were undiminished.
Vittorio Zucconi, a correspondent Italy's left-leaning La Repubblica daily, described Obama's acceptance speech as "the best of Obama — as one would say about a music compilation."
"In all these months that I've followed him and listened to him, I had never seen him so lively, in such good form, and especially — and that's the novelty — so aggressive," Zucconi wrote on the newspaper's Web site. "He has shown his claws."
Voigt said this year's presidential campaign — and not just Obama's rise — challenged "the prejudice in Europe that Americans are less interested in politics ... and the parties are not very different."
"This time the populace have really a choice — the candidates represent different ideas and experiences," he said. "There is an enormous engagement and support for the candidates, and Europeans should try to learn from it."
Associated Press writers across Europe contributed to this report. |