Europe Reacts to Obama Victory

From Birmingham to Bratislava, Europeans watched the long U.S. Presidential race with growing fascination, convinced that the outcome would affect Europe and the rest of the world as much as it did America. It's no secret many were rooting for Barack Obama: Polls showed that in countries such as France and Germany, support for the Democratic candidate ranged between 65% and 80% of the population. The sense of engagement was typified by an editorial appearing early this year in Belgian newspaper suggesting that given the stakes—on issues ranging from energy to climate change to the mortgage crisis—everybody in the world should be able to cast a vote in the U.S. Presidential election.

So when Europeans awoke on Nov. 5 to see that their preferred candidate had prevailed, they reacted with relief and elation—and a certain amount of morning-after caution. Editorials in major papers around the Continent generally praised America's selection. Britain's left-leaning called it "a milestone in America's racial and cultural evolution." Even the more conservative , while noting its concerns about Obama's inexperience, called his victory a "watershed" and "remarkable triumph of hope over adversity."