Why Europe Loves A Leader = It Could Never Vote For | Print Article

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Why Europe Loves A Leader It Could Never Vote = For

Stefan Theil

NEWSWEEK

Updated: 11:38 AM ET Jul 26, = 2008

What was most interesting about the throngs who came to see Barack = Obama in=20 Europe last week was never articulated in public. It's that they adore = him for=20 America (the Bild tabloid called the German reaction "love at first = sight") but=20 would never get to vote for someone like him at home.

To be sure, Europeans swinging American flags again instead of = burning=20 effigies of the U.S. president is a refreshing sight. To many Europeans, = Obama=20 feels like one of them=E2=80=94mildly left of center, talking about = cooperation,=20 promising that America will act on climate change. But Europe's = adulation of the=20 half-Kenyan senator has some observers asking an obvious question: he'd = be a=20 shoo-in if Europeans could vote in America, but would they pick him in = Europe?=20 Would a German Turk, a Dutch Indonesian or a Franco-Algerian stand a = chance of=20 making it up the ranks of the Continent's major political parties? = "Absolutely=20 not," says Jerome Mack, a London-based corporate diversity = consultant.

In the main, that's not even due to overt racism, says Mack. = "Europe's=20 approach to ethnic diversity has been benign neglect," he says, and it's = waiting=20 (and waiting, and waiting) for minorities to perfectly assimilate. = Often,=20 Europeans don't even seem to think it's an issue. In June, many Germans = were=20 simply offended when Peter L=C3=B6scher, CEO of Munich-based Siemens, = said that the=20 multinational tech company's senior management was too male, too white = and too=20 German. Just as important, the Continent's political = systems=E2=80=94dominated by=20 powerful party machines that encourage conformism and = homogeneity=E2=80=94make it=20 particularly difficult for outsiders. Bypassing the party establishment = and=20 appealing directly to voters, as Obama has done, would be a virtually = impossible=20 path. While Europe's parties have nominated dozens of M.P.s with = immigrant=20 backgrounds, they're usually pigeonholed as specialists for minority = issues.=20 None has gained fame with a national agenda.

Some argue that an Obama win would help blaze a trail for Europe's = minorities=20 as well. Already, his candidacy "holds up a mirror" to the French (and = other=20 Europeans) on their unresolved integration issues, argues Dominique = Mo=C3=AFsi,=20 deputy director of the French Institute for International Affairs. = Michael=20 Stuber, a diversity expert in Cologne, thinks that a decade from now, = Europe too=20 will be ready for minority candidates for high office. What happens if = Obama=20 loses, now that so many Europeans have invested their hopes in his = victory? The=20 Atlantic that grew just a bit smaller last week will be just as wide as=20 usual.

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/148943

=C2=A9 2008