Just wondering if your various countries are covering this as much as UK television?

I've never known the UK television news to care so much about a US presidential election as this one.

Does anyone have a preference to who they want to win?

Obama seems popular, but can't say I really am that bothered....

well you should...

I guess it was indeed a massive coverage of the elections everywhere. in Portugal all the channels had special editions last night.

I was a bit concerned because McCain shares the same policies of Bush...at this point of the crisis it is not a solution.
Obama was popular because he was correct with everyone since the beginning of the struggle. first with Clinton, then with McCain.
on the other hand, McCain and Palin spend the entire month concerned about Obama's life. you cannot make accusations if you yourself don't follow your ideals. it is wrong and non ethical.

the thing I was most concerned was about Palin. I know she wouldn't be the president, however, such an important role could't be occupied by that woman. I can't even imagine if McCain was the president and something happened to him. this woman hasn't a clue of what she is doing, she knows nothing about external policy, she knows nothing about history, and she is definitely not a coherent woman. I was amazed by her contradictions while she was in campaign. I finder her pretty dumb.

I'm glad Obama won! My condolences about his grandmother.

ps - and let's not forget that this time the abstention numbers dropped severely! USA made history!

I'm happy for Obama that he won, however I can't say I really am 'glad' because to be honest from my point of view all i've heard about him is he's going to be the 1st black president!

I can honestly say I know nothing about his policies.

I do worry that people voted for him to make history rather than his policies...

Going back to the coverage, I do think UK broadcasters went a bit OTT, after all the Americans probably couldn't care less about out elections. (and I wonder how many people wordwide still think Tony Blair is Prime Minister?!)

It would be better for me if the British people cared so much about our own elections, because people don't vote enough here and yet seem quite happy to have an opinion on the US elections!


Carol your arguments against Palin could technically be for Obama too, after all he has limited experience too.

One other thing i'll say is Obama is definitely media friendly, and his PR team have done a good job. But maybe a little too well, after all it's one thing to be a good speaker but actions do indeed speak louder than words.

Time will tell I guess!

By the way, if some our American members could post their opinions, that would be great!

I am happy with the outcome of the election. I think that this election truly will make a change not only in the US but gobally. Hopefully change is on the horizon for us all.

The word 'change' has been used alot in this election i've noticed but I feel slightly concerned with the over use of this word.

I mean, we all know, it doens't matter if Obama has won today, the global financial crisis cannot be fixed overnight.

I think it's great people want 'change' but what do they want to change?

No wars in iraq and Afganistan? Regulate banks to stop them failing? Help the environment?

As a foreigner, I do feel there's a lack of knowledge on the behalf on our broadcasters and press telling us what change the American people actually want.

Far, far too much, has been made of Obama being black, Hilary Clinton being a woman, Sarah Palin being a woman and extreme and McCain beign a war hero from our media point of view.

well, you right Tracey. I share the same opinion. however, when I say Palin is dumb, it is on the true meaning of the word.
if you watch her speeches you will realize that. the woman has absolutely no idea what she would do.

Obama is young, may not have the experience to 'rule the world', but he is surrounded by people who will help him, and he is very determined to make something different.
when I say 'rule the world' I say this because we know how much importance has this country towards the rest of the world. EU depends mostly on the USA's economy and health. and EU works as one and in a very different way.

as you say, only time will show our concerns.

I do realize that the world crisis' will not disappear tomorrow, it takes time, and it is not Obama who will solve it...that is utopic.

We here in America understand that change will not and cannot take place over night. Sure it will be a very slow crawl to get out of the mess that Bush left us. I don't know if you all saw the acceptance speak and some of Obama's speaks but he stated clearly that things will take some time to start getting better and that we all (Americans) have to be patient. I think that the worls is not getting that side out. Also think that most of the world really does not understand how bad things have gotten here.

I too feel that Obama has little to no experience in Foriegn Policy, and other matters. What I do know from the articles that I have read, and listening to the people that have worked with him is that Obama is an intelligent man and will have intelligent people to advise him on matters. I am also realistic in knowing that there will be some mistakes made on the way and to me that is all right. Obama after all is human.

I have to say I love hearing what some in the rest of the world think about this election.

Tracey, great post! I agree with Carol opinion ..and i want to make a point here, the American elections are so covered worldwide cause is not only the US that's in cause, it's the all world, that's why, people care about because they know that the US is a powerful country and their life can change.


By the way, did you know that Bush won the last elections because an error of Design ? with all my respect the American elections are doing in the most stupid way you can imagine, All the boletins for vote are different in each state , wich is not very clear can complicate people life and this is not all, the paper it self is confuse, And i want to let you think about this, Does an error of Design changed the world situation like it is now ? have you ever tought about that

I'm from the US, and I watched most of the election. But I'm not sure how much they covered in other countries.
Anyways, I think it's great Obama has won. I especially think this is an amazing thing for the african american population living in America. With all the struggle black people have gone through throughout American history, this must be amazing for them, having someone who can represent their ideas and what not.
As for the 'change' Obama can bring, i think it's a great thing as well. Maybe he's the change America needs. And I understand that he can't fix our financial crisis and what not overnight, but I think he'll definitely lead us closer and closer to finding a way to solve all the problems we're having. I also believe that Obama could be what we need to fully unite the US so we can all work together to solve everything that's happening.

I read a good columists view of Obama winning today, which I think sums up the British view point quite well, i'm going to see if i can find it online.

I can't find it, but if I have time i'll type it up.

Bascially his opinion was that alot has been made of Obama being 'black' when in fact he is mixed race and that this potential 'buries' his white background. It makes much more sense when you read it, plus he said some other stuff.

I think alot of us foreigners, in Britain anyway, are happy the US has elected Obama, but we don't feel it's as ground breaking as it's been made out, after all we elected a female Prime Minister quite a long time ago. Plus, we fear that ther eis a lot of talk but we need to see the proof first.

Overall I think most people abroad are just more happy Bush is going to be gone very soon.

Much has been made in the UK about the way Gordon Brown and the leader of the opposition party are 'sucking up' to Obama already. We don't want another Bush situation when we just copy everything Bush did.

Obama seems to be a man who is a very good speaker, but alot of it comes from a very good media team too.

I do hope, he'll be good for the world, but I do like to wait and see rather than going off of hype.

Carol, the US elections do seem quite complicated. But it's like the UK where it the actual number of votes for candidates (in US) and party (in the UK) doesn't matter, it all comes down to States/Electoral votes (in the US) and UK geographical areas and number of MP's voted in here in the UK. It does seem crazy.

Bearing in mind in our last election Labour (the fronted by Tony Blair) actually got LESS votes across the nation than his opposition party! Yet they still won the election based on the number of MP's/seats taken in geographical areas.

I had no idea that other countries would have a lot of coverage of my countries elections. Thats kinda cool though! Elections were very exciting this year. =]