“Obama, Obama, Obama. All anybody ever talks about is Obama.”

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Expat Sydney, here, with another report from the land of pasta and wine.

There haven’t been any earth-shattering, American political demonstrations this week, even with the clock ticking on the election. Nevertheless, on my quest for a better understanding of the Italian political psyche, I conducted a few interviews.

I spent fall break in Munich and Vienna, which did not offer much blogging fodder. But on the crowded trains back into the country, I met several Europeans who shared their take on the importance of image in the upcoming election.

After a quick reprimand for putting my feet on a seat, the Greek man next to me on my struck up a conversation with me. We couldn’t understand each other very well, but we quickly became friends. After half an hour of chitchat about my studies in Art History, I started to question him.

On the cover of the Austrian magazine he was a picture of Sara Palin. Even in broken English, my Greek friend clearly conveyed his dislike for the GOP VP choice.

But while he prefers Obama, he said, it’s mainly for the intelligent and accepting image the candidate brings to the table. He admitted on policy, he was not 100 percent behind the Democratic nominee.

My Greek friend was not alone. One Neapolitan, who’d crammed into space between cars on the Eurostar train to Florence, had a simple reason for supporting Obama – he reminded him of John F. Kennedy. There was no hard evidence in his reasoning, just a gut instinct. Image was important to these Europeans.

And it’s a topic that my friends here cannot seem to shake. It seems like a silly reason to hope for one candidate victory. But there is something inherently positive about the image Obama offers to our nation. It’s something akin to competency and tolerance in the eyes of many of my American interviewees.  Clearly, at least a couple of Europeans feel the same way.

I’ll be back with more closer to the big day.

Since I’ve heard this three times in the past week, and hadn’t really heard it mentioned before then, I thought I’d stick this little thought up here very quickly. As I’m sure you all know, a poll conducted by the BBC, with the help of several newspapers worldwide, found Obama miles ahead of McCain in every country–an average of 4 to 1 in support of That One. But the weird thing is the role of race… Read more »

Ciao, regazzi! Expat, Sydney, here with some extremely exciting news.

I did it. Finally. It’s been a long 21 years, and I really never thought I’d make it. But it happened.

I voted in my first Presidential election! I’d tell you for which candidate, but for the sake of journalistic ethics and some semblance of objectivity, I’m going to keep it to myself. I will say, though, that doing it in a foreign country makes it feel more meaningful. Maybe it was the extra effort- not sure.

Onto business: two very important things happened this week in Firenze. Firstly, there was a protest. Secondly, I saw genuine disdain for both of our Presidential candidates.

The bad news - these events were totally unrelated. The picketers outside Florence’s main Cathedral were frustrated with educational funding in Italy, and my Italian Professor, who thinks McCain is an idiot and Obama is a “cartoon character,” wasn’t even there.

Through the process I did see an entirely new Italian view of American Politics. Matilda, my Professor, explained that she cannot speak for young Italians, but she and her friends are deeply invested in the election.

“We talk about it every night,” she said. She is not thrilled about our candidates. Neither one seems especially genuine or well suited for the job in her opinion, but she does not have trouble making a choice. Especially after McCain chose Pailin, she said, “if I were one of you, it would vote Obama.”

Of course, I had to ask, “do you think most Italians are interested in the elections.”

She admitted she was not entirely sure, but said, “Italians care, but I do not know if the younger generation knows how important the race is. For most Florentines politics was our first language. But I do not know if American politics are important to young people here.”

I suppose this weakens my original theory. Perhaps next week I’ll be completely disproved by protesters waving anti-American banners. Who knows?

Really, the only thing new being talked about in the French press vis-a-vis the American election is the financial crisis, which isn’t really bringing any new information about the candidates and their capabilities, at least in respect to French opinions on the elections…

Therefore, I thought I’d show you all this clip of John Cleese–a British actor who is usually pretty conservative–damning the whole election, and Sarah Palin in particular, as something “Monty Python could have written.”

John Cleese on Sarah Palin

Expat Sydney, again, and with a little news on the Italian front.

So there really is no question: Italians are showing an unusually low level of interest in the American Election. At least this is what my highly educated friend Philipo said last night at dinner.

While Philipo feels the election is extremely important and Europe in general is keeping a close eye on the process, there is simply too much going on politically at home to worry about it, he said. “For the last two elections, Italians were very concerned, especially because of the war,” he said. “But not so much for this one.”

He believes concerns over mafia control of the government, a garbage crisis in Naples and general worries about a poor economy are taking precedence at the moment in the minds of many of his friends.

Philipo also explained that many of his friends are ambivalent towards American prosperity at the moment.

He knows that economies world wide are linked and in his words, “I like America, I want it to do well and have a good image,” but he feels his peers do not agree.

So hopefully this sheds a little more light on why Italians aren’t picketing in the streets. More to come!

Expat Sydney, here, still reeling from an unexpected Internet hiatus last week. (Romans are so stingy with their wireless).

I realize you were all deeply moved by my poignant entry two weeks ago (imagine a playful, knowing wink). Furthermore, I realize you are hoping for news of a political awakening somewhere in the vicinity of my Florence apartment.

I can’t say much for Firenze – still no picketers, goshdarnnet - despite the VP debates last week and tonight’s upcoming round two presidential debate.

A trip to Southern Italy, though, showed me a very different side of the Italian politico crowd.

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So you watched the Vice-presidential debate last night and then spent the next several hours watching and reading the commentary, analysis, and word counts (only two heckuvas? c’mon, Sarah!). You went to bed, either happy or disappointed with the candidates’ benign, polite performances. But I know the first thing that popped into your head this morning when you woke up: I wonder what they thought about the debate in FRANCE? Well, don’t worry. I got you covered. Read more »

I’ve had a couple conversations recently about elections in general and the psychological effects of electing a head of state on the general population. Some interesting observations:

My poli sci professor has this view that Napoleon is akin to Hitler in the horrific atrocity of their respective times in office, and my professor believes that public opinion of Napoleon is going to experience a complete 180 in the next 15 or 20 years, from glorifying him as a hero and one of the fathers of modern France to villainizing him as a murderer and a ruthless dictator who expanded his empire at terrible costs. I’ve proposed an extended version of this theory to a couple people, and in a conversation about it, one of the tutors, Jérôme, pointed out that Napoleon staged a military coup to get into office, whereas Hitler was popularly elected. Therefore, his thinking went, Germans had higher expectations for Hitler to run the country, since the position had been entrusted him by the people and his complete abuse of the trust came as a profound disappointment (and more) to the citizens of Germany. The citizens of France, however, did not choose Napoleon and knew he was ruthless, so anything good he did came as a complete surprise to them. Thus, Napoleon is seen as a hero for defying expectations, and Hitler is seen as a villain for not meeting the expectations implicit in the democratic process.

Most people I’ve talked to don’t really like Nicolas Sarkozy, and there are a couple different reasons, but there is one I think is pertinent to this blog. In France, the president has traditionally been a figurehead, rolled out twice a year to make a speech, but other than that, very much behind the scenes, letting the prime minister be the face of the government. Sarkozy, on the other hand, has relegated his prime minister, François Fillon, to playing second fiddle, while he and his supermodel wife are very much at center stage. And the French have been happy electing a symbol of power who then appoints somebody else. The fact that Sarkozy has taken it upon himself to actually preside is quite shocking to a lot of France because that is not what they elected him to do. Deciding whom should head a large nation is almost too important, according to the French, to truly be left to the people.

Expat Sydney here, ready to give my first full report.

I’m a month into my semester abroad and still haven’t heard too much about the election back home in the form of a buzz around Florence.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a little surprised.

When I first set out to write this entry, I tried to piece together the rough snippets of opinions I’d gathered. I wanted to make some assertion about the scene here. Truth be told, this just is not a fair way to look at the reaction to American politics here in Italy.

There is no overwhelming reaction, actually. There isn’t even graffiti lining the walls damning Americans. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is not it.

What I can offer, though, are two encounters I have had with Europeans my own age.

My Italian roommate Danny (in his earl 20s) is from a suburb of Florence. He is studying to be a Pharmacist and keeps up with European politics. But Danny did not have much to say about the presidential race. He knew he didn’t like the war in Iraq, or George W. Bush, but he wasn’t clear on who O’Bama was, asking if he was a Republican.

He wasn’t apologetic, though. As we continued talking, Danny explained that most of his friends are busy trying to find jobs. He told me that the Italian government has enough problems to keep him occupied. Beyond an extremely corrupt government, the have to deal with infrastructure problems and unemployment is very high. More importantly, though, the United States feels like a world away to him.

Living in Tuscany – I can’t say that I disagree.

But my next interviewee, a 20-year-old professional poker player, hopping from country to country in Europe, knew a little more about the race. The college drop-out from Amsterdam explained that back home everyone wants O’ Bama to win. But Milo based his allegiances on what a close friend he’d traveled with told him. In his friend’s eyes, McCain knew more about the economy.

“My buddy is a smart guy, so I trust him,” Milo said, a comment I didn’t expect from someone born in a part of the world that favors socialism.

These interviews don’t embody Europe’s mindset on the election, I know. And what I have gleaned so far is nothing revelatory. It is no piece of wisdom. But it is something to keep in mind; it’s kind of sobering too. America isn’t the center of universe, like we’d sometimes like to think

Like Danny said, Italians have a lot on their plates when it comes to politics- so does the rest of Europe.

In other words, it doesn’t look like I’m going to report on any protests this semester.