In a column in the Suddeutschen Zeitung, one of Germany's leading dailies, the German Marshall Fund's Constanze Stelzenmuller discusses Barack Obama's popularity among German politicians and the German population in general. She writes that Obama's popularity in Germany has reached levels that domestic politicians can only dream of and is comparable only to that of figures such as the highly popular Dalai Lama. The headline uses the wordplay “Dalai Obama.”
Der Dalai Obama (The Dalai Obama) Der Suddeutschen Zeitung, June 3, 2008
Obama's popularity in Germany was confirmed in a recent survey for the British newspaper the Telegraph which showed that Obama has the support of 67 percent of Germans against six percent for John McCain. This was the biggest gap in support among the six countries surveyed.
German politicians have also openly expressed admiration for Obama. According to Stelzenmuller, Germany's Social Democratic Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a reference to Obama by using the phrase "Yes, we can," in a talk on repairing transatlantic relations during a recent lecture at Harvard. Stelzenmuller attributes the popularity of Obama in Germany to his foreign policy, notably his promises to send more troops to Afghanistan, open diplomatic talks with Iran, conduct a more active diplomatic effort in the wider Middle East, and assume more security responsibilities in Kosovo.
It is much the same story in Scandinavia. In Denmark, a February poll among members of the Danish Parliament found that a majority favored Obama and that Obama would win both the democratic nomination and the presidency if Danish politicians were the ones to decide. In Norway, a similar poll in January found that 67 out of 84 members of parliament who expressed a preference would vote for a Democratic candidate. And in Sweden, center-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has publicly endorsed Obama.
This post was written by Ola Ulmo, Transatlantic Media Network Intern
