Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

From France to Turkey to India, people around the world are gripped by the excitement of the U.S. primaries, writes Simon Robinson in Time magazine.

Foreign media coverage of the primary process so far has been unprecedented.

Some think it’s way too much — back in January, for instance, the BBC’s reporting drew scores of complaints about excessive coverage (”Let the Americans steep themselves in this serial. Why must we?” asked one viewer). The Guardian also received letters from readers complaining too much space was being given to American politics.

By and large, though, people abroad are genuinely interested in the U.S. primaries and follow them assiduously. There’s fascination with the candidates (especially Obama) and also concern over who will run America next.

In India, newspapers refer to the Clinton-Obama duel as a classic cricket game. Others liken it to the soccer World Cup in terms of global excitement and involvement. (For more on this, read the Council of Foreign Relations’ America Votes, and the World is Riveted).

In Lebanon, where presidential elections were recently postponed for the 14th time, Al Ousbou Al Arabi, a weekly magazine, went as far as organizing a simulation of the U.S. election. The ballot took place at Beirut’s American University.

The results, reports this week’s Internazionale magazine, offered a glimpse into how young Arabs feel about the U.S. election. Obama snatched 44% of votes against Clinton’s 33%. McCain only obtained 9% of the preferences.

Students who took part said they favored Obama because he’s “closer to the Arab people” and he opposed the Iraq war. As for Hillary, she’s often confused with her husband, writes Al Ousbou Al Arabi (one student apparently described her as a “good guy who likes people”). Voters who chose her did so because of Bill Clinton’s legacy and commitment to peace in the Middle East, according to the magazine.