Abroad, fresh image of U.S.

Many see Obama, Clinton successes as fitting the ideals of US democracy and diversity.

from the January 10, 2008 edition

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"We always feel we are lower-class people," says George Anyango, who works at a shopping mall. "But if someone of Kenyan origin becomes president there, it will make us feel we are on the same level."

Obama is the favorite in the Arab world, not so in Israel, and has not been heard of much at all in China. People in Baghdad also seem to not have had the luxury of knowing much about the first serious candidate to oppose the war there. In Cairo, enthusiasm about the possible success of a black candidate with a Muslim name and a father from a third-world country is often tinged with conspiracy theories.

"I think it would be good for the world and America if an outsider won,'' says Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip. "But surely this won't be allowed – the CIA or someone would assassinate him first."

On the eve of President Bush's visit to Israel Tuesday, a banner headline in the daily Ma'ariv read, "Apprehension in Jerusalem about an Obama presidency." Worry has to do with the uncertainty of Obama's position on the Middle East – in contrast with Clinton's pro-Israel position – and vague unease about a candidate with Muslim antecedents as perhaps siding more strongly with Arabs. (Obama is a professed liberal Protestant.)

In the People's Republic of China, where international news is a state-controlled enterprise, the Internet is a more robust source of foreign news, and Obama's position (since retracted) to ban Chinese-made toys – will not have earned him early high marks in ruling circles. Only one of 21 persons interviewed on the streets of Beijing had even heard of Obama. Clinton, by contrast, is known well as both the former first lady and an advocate for women from the famous Beijing women's summit in 1995.

In Baghdad, a resident named Jassim feels that any US president will be looking mainly to his own country's interests. "I'm focusing on security and peace in my country. The important thing is ending the occupation ... and if this president wants us to live in peace, we will support him. Because when foreign troops leave, peace will spread across the country."

In Germany, despite its zeal for the new face, the Süddeutsche Zeitung writes that "Hillary Clinton would be the right candidate for that – even if she seems boring compared to Obama."

The day after the New Hampshire primary, Lasse Teubner, a student in Berlin, took the other side.

"I can't really tell you why I sympathize so strongly with Obama. It's just a feeling I have…. I have a feeling he is simply more honest."

Liu Na, the only Chinese person interviewed at random who had an opinion on Obama, commented that, "I have the feeling that he is another bearer of the 'American Dream.' "

•Mariah Blake in Germany, Scott Peterson and Awad al-Taee in Iraq, Dan Murphy in the Gaza Strip, Josh Mitnick in Israel, Robert Crilly in Kenya, Takehiko Kambayashi in Japan, and Peter Ford in China contributed.

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