By Christiana Rein
ROME, Oct. 7 - The word “Change,” the election theme of Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama, appears to be echoing around the Earth, and here in Italy too.
This U.S. presidential campaign, the long-lasting and most expensive thus far, has captivated viewers from all over the globe.
It started with the Democratic Party. Everyone was tuned in to see if either a woman, Hillary Clinton, or an Afro-American candidate, Obama would gain the Party nominee. John McCain came visibly into the scene after the Democratic candidate was elected.
Europeans’ direct interest in this electoral campaign was well described by Silvio Fagiolo, an ex-Italian ambassador to Germany, who spoke at the “One Month To Go” round-table discussion on October 1 at John Cabot University. He said there is an essential partnership between Europe and the United States financially, politically, and socially. He added that Europe has “an emotional attachment” to the United States and that the message of change resonates greatly. Europe approves Obama’s “language of compromise” on foreign policy while it dislikes McCain’s complete focus on winning the war on terror, he added.
What spread Obama and his motto even more to the Italian people were the elections in April 2008. Walter Veltroni, presidential candidate of Italy's Democratic Party used a version of Obama’s “Yes We Can” in its campaign slogan, “Si Puo’ Fare”.
Italy seems to certainly favor Obama. Erminia Abbuonandi, an Italian ENLUS student at John Cabot University says, “I would definitely vote for Obama because he is charismatic, and I think he would be a good president because McCain is too conservative”. Another Italian degree-seeking student, Davide Ianiello, agrees with Erminia, adding he's not quite sure what McCain looks like, an indication of just how much media attention the Illinois senator receives.
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