Last summer in London, Miss G and Sonna were somewhat surprised by the fact that every cabdriver and bartender wanted to talk about "Hilary's chances" or "the Evil Bush". We were amazed that they were so interested, so well informed, and so well connected with American politics. Honesty, Miss G's not 100% sure she could name the prime minister of the UK today. Is it still Tony Blair?
The world's reaction to the Obama election is equally fascinating. Here's a couple of excerpts from the BBC's website, from an article entitled "What the world expects":
UK, IAIN WATSON
"Gordon Brown will be keen to have some "face time" with the president-elect ahead of the international financial summit in Washington on the 15th of this month."
CANADA, LEE CARTER
"Polls show that more than 70% of Canadians would, if they could, have voted for Barack Obama in the US presidential election."
IRAN, JON LEYNE
"And almost all Iranians hold a firm belief that their country is of global importance, at the centre of the world stage, demanding urgent attention from the new US president. But they could be disappointed."
FRANCE, ALASDAIR SANDFORD
"Opinion polls have consistently estimated that more than eight in 10 French people would have backed him, and according to one recent survey only 1% would have voted for John McCain."
At first, Miss Ginger thought "how dare the world have expectations of OUR President!" "He's not theirs! They're not allowed to expect!"
But expectation is human nature, and of course even Miss G can't screw with Mother Nature! (Oh, wait a minute. Screwing with Mother Nature is what Miss G is all about! But that's "a whole 'nother post!"
Anyho, she was amused by the Canadian poll that declared that 70% of Canadians would have voted for Obama if they could. Or the French poll that predicted 8 of 10 Frogs would have elected Obama if they were voting.
I have to ask: Have any GingerSnaps ever been polled to find out how they would vote in a Canadian election? Has any American newspaper ever predicted who would be the Prime Minister of France if Americans were invited to vote?
It poses the ages old question: "Does anybody really care?"
Miss G, who has never been political, finds herself wondering why she is so fascinated by this election! She WAAAAYYY not a politcal follower, and typically avoids any word beginning with "p" just to be sure she doesn't get caught up in a political conversation. And it's not a racial thing- when Miss G's parents passed away, any racist influence in Miss G's life was buried with them. (PS- they are probably spinning in their graves now!) Miss G knew someday an African American would be elected President. She just finds it amazing that the world is so fascinated by it. I guess it just proves that the US is still the most powerful nation in the world, after all!
6 comments:
This GingerSnap is very engaged and curious as to what happens in other countries.
At least other countries have more tolerance for differneces, and with Mr. Obama being elected, maybe we have taken a step in that direction :o)
i voted for labatt over molson once...does that count towards the 'voting in the candian election' category?
today's random word is subsibe.
as in, i was subsibe myself with irritation when i came back to my room after a sick day and the place was tore up from the floor up.
xxalainaxx
Love it, Miss A! We say "tore up from the floor up" all the time in retail when the store gets mangled!
My word was "vlatifac"-
as in "I told my Grandpas Obama won the election, and he said "is vlatifac?"
Hey Miss G, yes in the UK we are quite informed about politics, but also because of Barack Obama the interest has gone into high gear, over the past 18 months or so. Tony Blair is no longer Prime Minister it's now Gordon Brown, but between them they have us mired in the same mess as Bush has done with the US.
Could be because the US has a hand in most world affairs.
Just wanted to give you an extra shoutout for that awesome comeback in Beth's recent post. United we stood by a friend. Way cool!
(Hugs)Indigo
When I started hearing a while back that other countries were very interested in our election, I was really surprised. Apparently we have a lot more influence in the world than we realize. I've heard that most people love Americans, but hate the policy of the past 8 years. I get the impression that others WANT America to lead. I think (I hope) that will start happening again with Pres. Obama.
Hugs, Beth
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