Depois de uma campanha desgastante e após um dia de grande movimento eleitoral, o país escolheu seu novo presidente. Um líder concebido pela própria força do povo, carregado de carisma, que foi capaz de contaminar o país com seu discurso de mudança e união do povo - a despeito de sua falta de experiência administrativa. Um dia após o pleito, todos os jornais propagaram a boa nova. O país ainda celebrava a escolha, o fim do continuismo. Demonstrava, em cada face, o significado real da palavra “esperança”.

After an exhausting campaign and a very busy election, this country has chosen its new president. A leader designed by the strength of its people, who is full of charisma and was able to infect the country with his speech about change and unity of people - despite his lack of administrative experience. The day after the election, all the newspapers brought the good news. The country also celebrated its choice, the end of the political status quo. The real meaning of the word “hope” was shown on everyone's face.

This was on Monday, October 28 2002, as Brazilian blogger Marmota notes, and Brazil had just elected its thirty-fifth president: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a former trade union leader and a founding member of the country's Workers' Party. If we look at class rather than race, those elections changed history too, and the images of the huge mass of people waiting for Obama at the night of November 04, 2008 at Grant Park in Chicago actually reminded many Brazilians of Lula's arrival at Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo, a little more than six years ago. Looking at what has happened in Brazil since, Marmota says that Obama may want to look up to Lula to find out how to deal with people's overwhelming hope and expectations of immediate changes:

As comparações, evidentemente, só fazem algum sentido ao analisarmos dois elementos. Um é a euforia pós-vitória; outro é o regime de governo. Em nossas democracias, o poder está nas mãos de um cidadão eleito pelo povo; este, ao lado de seus partidários, só consegue governar após uma criteriosa composição de equipe, onde o escolhido distribui o poder entre confiáveis e competentes. Ou não. Pois diante de tamanha expectativa, há o risco da decepção naqueles cuja confiança foi depositada com tamanho fervor. Provavelmennte, entre as próximas decisões a serem tomadas pelo novo presidente dos Estados Unidos, a mais óbvia pode ser pinçada desta nação dos trópicos: para não acabar com as crenças e esperanças alheias, certifique-se de que está cercado pelas pessoas certas.

Of course, these comparisons only make any sense when we look at two elements. One is the post-victory euphoria, another is the government system. In our democracies, power is at the hands of a citizen elected by the people; Together with their supporters, he/she can only rule after a careful composition of their team, in which the elected person distributes power to reliable and competent people. Or not. Well, when facing such expectations, there is a risk of disappointing those who had completely trusted them. Probably, among the next decisions to be taken by the United States president-elect, the most obvious ones may be pinched from this tropical nation: in order not to put an end to people's beliefs and hopes, do make sure you are surrounded by the right people.

The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has managed to reduce poverty, expand its internal market and the country is even in a better position to endure global financial turbulence. However, his achievements have been marred by corruption schandals - exactly what Brazilians wanted to change. Journalist Victor Barone interviewed Lula in 2003, right at the beginning of his first therm in office, and asked him if he feared he would disappoint his electors. He says Lula replied: “I believe there it only makes sense for a person like me to reach the presidency if it is to make a difference never seen.” The blogger says those days he believed good intentions could save the world, nowadays he fears they can not:

É que há algo que não me sai da cabeça, uma relação entre o Lula de 2003 - fiel depositário da esperança da população brasileira por mudanças reais no âmbito político, econômico e social - e o presidente Obama. Pupulam pela imprensa e pela internet odes ao primeiro presidente negro da maior nação do planeta, do maior império da história moderna, quiçá de todos os tempos. Confesso que Obama fascina, meche com nosso imaginário, nos faz pensar que a humanidade pode avançar deixando de lado anacronismos como o racismo. Mas, então, penso em Lula e faço uma relação entre o desencanto político de milhões de brasileiros e o que poderá ocorrer na América e no mundo se Barack Obama falhar em sua missão de guiar os destinos dos EUA rumo a um futuro menos belicista e egocêntrico.

There is something that I can not get off my head, the link between the Lula of 2003 - trustee of the Brazilian population's hopes of real changes in the political, economic and social spheres - and President-elect Obama. The media and the Internet are full of odes to the first black president of the greatest nation on Earth, the greatest empire of modern history, perhaps of all time. I confess that Obama fascinates, lets our imagination go, makes us think that humanity can move forward leaving behind anachronisms such as racism. But then, I think of Lula and make a link between the political disenchantment of millions of Brazilians and what might happen in America and the world if Barack Obama fails in his mission to guide the U.S. towards a less bellicose and egocentric future.

Even the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva himself could not avoid comparisons. At a Mercosur meeting last Friday, he said that Barack Obama's election in the United States “began in South America,” mentioning the leaders that com from the poorest backgrounds, such as Evo Morales (Bolivia), Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Tabaré Vázquez (Uruguay) to become presidents and his own election in Brazil:

“Eu sempre tomei cuidado para não opiniar sobre as eleições em outros países, mas no caso dos Estados Unidos eu não me contive e fiz questão de dizer que gostaria que Obama ganhasse. E tudo isso começou na América do Sul. Obama é mais um passo disso”.

“I have been always careful not to express my opinions on other countries' elections, but in the case of the United States case I could not hold myself and had said I'd like Obama to win. And it all began in South America. Obama is another step forward.”

According to news outlets, the President Lula is negotiating a private meeting with president-elect Barack Obama before the G-20 Washington summit on 15 November. Blog do Savarese gives Obama a hint:

Apesar dos pesares, talvez o rapaz devesse pedir uns conselhos pro tio Lula.

Despite everything, perhaps the guy should ask Uncle Lula to give him some advice

Photoart by escrevo Logo existo

“When Henrique began campaigning, asking residents to join him in a dream of a better city, his supporters started calling him their Barack Obama. The name stuck, and a campaign jingle followed — set to the funky Rio beat. His popularity soared.

Crisscrossing town in a caravan of family and friends, Henrique meets and greets everyone in town. On the streets he is a crowd favorite, but as we see in the piece, when election day arrives in Brazil, Henrique finds even more obstacles to overcome in trying to make history in the Baixada.”

More and more Brazilians are looking to the elected president for inspiration. There is Gilson Rodrigues, a community leader nicknamed the “Obama of Paraisópolis” who acts as a dwelling association president in one of the São Paulo's slums, and blogger Lílian Portalupp [pt] comments on yet another Obama impersonator in Rio de Janeiro, a driver who has been acting as the real Obama in Brazil and thanking people for their votes:

E não é que temos um Barack Obama em pleno Rio De Janeiro? Trata-se do motorista da rádio Globo, Rinaldo Gaudêncio Américo, de 36 anos. Por onde passa, Rinaldo é comparado ao presidente eleito dos Estados Unidos. E ele aproveita esta semelhança para brincar com o povo nas ruas. Enquanto o futuro presidente americano monta sua equipe de governo, o sósia só quer saber de comemorar com o povo a expressiva vitória do democrata. Convidado para um churrasco numa laje, na Tavares Bastos, Obama fez a festa. Sentindo-se o próprio presidente eleito, ele não parava de fazer promessas entre um petisco e outro.

Can you believe we have a Barack Obama in Rio De Janeiro? He is Radio Globo's driver, 36 year old Rinaldo Gaudêncio America. Wherever he goes, Rinaldo is compared to the elected president of the United States. And he takes the opportunity to play with people on the streets. While the future U.S. president assembles his government team, the lookalike only cares about people's celebrations of the clear victory of the Democrat. He was invited to a barbecue at Tavares Bastos square, where Obama partied. Acting as if he was the elected president himself, he did not stop making promises between a snack and another.

 José Luis Tchê [pt] publishes a picture of a Obama from Minas Gerais. According to the blogger, 40 year old Gerson Januário de Almeida was spotted by American tourists in Brazil. He was surprised at first, but is proud of it now:

“Percebi que as pessoas falavam de mim, mas não fazia idéia do que fosse. Até que o tradutor me explicou que elas me achavam parecido com o candidato à presidência dos Estados Unidos”, diz Almeida. De acordo com o sósia, no trabalho, na padaria e no açougue próximos a sua casa ele é chamado de Obama. “Gostaria de participar de concursos de semelhança física e eventos por dinheiro e não por vaidade”, afirma Almeida, que trabalha como funcionário público e não descarta a oportunidade de seguir na “profissão de sósia”.

“I noticed that people were talking about me, but I had no idea of what it was about. It was then that the interpreter explained to me that they thought I looked like a candidate for the presidency of the United States”, said Almeida. According to the lookalike, at work, at a butcher and at a bakery shops near his house, he is called Obama. “I would like to participate in contests of physical similarity and events for cash, not for vanity,” said Almeida, who works as a civil servant and has not dismissed the opportunity to follow the “lookalike profession”.

Fernando Jorge goes further to point out that Obama would have ever been born, if it weren't for Brazil. Comparing pictures of the Kenyan Barack Obama, the elected president's father, and Brazilian actor Breno Mello, who played the main character in the Oscar winning movieOrfeu Negro (1959), the blogger discovered a striking resemblance between the two. The blogger retells below a piece of history from Obama's biography, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance:

 Pois bem, nesse ano de 1959, uma jovem americana de dezesseis anos, extremamente branca, sem um pingo de sangue negro, chamada Stanley Ann Dunham, nascida no Kansas, resolveu assistir em Chicago ao primeiro filme estrangeiro de sua existência. Foi ver o Orfeu Negro, só com atores negros, paisagens brasileiras, música brasileira, história brasileira. Ela saiu do cinema em estado de êxtase, maravilhada. Adorou aqueles negros encantadores de um país tropical e logo admitiu:
“Nunca vi coisa mais linda, em toda a minha vida.”
Depois de tal arrebatamento, a jovem Stanley embarcou para o Havaí. E ali, aos dezoito anos, ela se tornou colega, numa aula de russo, de um jovem negro de vinte e três anos, Barack Hussein Obama, nascido no Quênia. A moça branca do Kansas, influenciada pelo filme Orfeu Negro, entregou-se a ele e dessa união inter-racial, nasceu em 4 de agosto de 1961 um menino, a quem ela deu o mesmo nome do pai e que é agora, aos quarenta e seis anos, o primeiro candidato negro à presidência dos Estados Unidos.

Well, in that year of 1959, a young 16-year-old American girl, very white, without a drop of black blood, called Stanley Ann Dunham, born in Kansas and settled in Chicago, went to see a foreign film for the first time. It was Black Orpheus, with black actors, Brazilian landscape, Brazilian music, Brazilian history. She left the theater in a state of bliss, wonderful. She loved those black people from a charming tropical country and once admitted:
“I have never seen a more beautiful thing in all my life.”
After such a frenzy, the young Stanley embarked to Hawaii. And there, at 18, she became a student in a Russian language class with a young 23 year old black guy, Barack Hussein Obama, born in Kenya. The white woman from Kansas, influenced by the Black Orpheus movie, fell for him, and from that interracial union, a boy was born on August 4, 1961, to whom she gave the name of his father and who is now, at 46, the first black candidate running for president of the United States.

However, the new generation of Brazilian Obamas is yet to be born. Obama is the fashionable baby name of the moment throughout Kenya, and there are no doubts that, after the victory, there will be some Obama babies in Brazil too. Rubens Fortes [pt] wonders who will be the first:

“Em qual estado vocês acham que vai ser o resgistrado o primeiro bebê com o nome de Obama? Ou será que ganha Baraque?…
Ou, pior, algum genérico, tipo Obrama, Barraque, Barate, Barato Obrama…

“In which state do you think the first baby called Obama will be from? Or is it going to be Baraque?…(as pronounced in Portuguese). Or even worse, something generic like Obrama, Barraque, Barate, Barato Obrama…

Brazilian political experts are hailing the election as a victory for Brazilian interests, even though the Republicans would have favored more trade with Brazil, citing that as a negotiator and diplomat, Obama will be better for the world as a whole. Lula changed his tune and is now supporting Obama as the best choice, and he expressed hope that Obama will be able to increase relations with Latin America, make a peace agreement in the Middle East and lift the embargo on Cuba. I love you, Lula.

In Sao Paulo, the college Faculdade da Cidadania Zumbi dos Palmares, whose student body is composed of 90% black students, had a special celebration in honor of Obama's victory. Students said that Obama's win was a victory against racism and is a great inspiration for people of African descent.

In Rio, vendors downtown were already selling Obama tee-shirts the morning after his victory (via Globo):

Update: Folha de Sao Paulo has an interesting story out about why Obama could not be elected president of Brazil, and Extra has a bizarre story about a Carioca Obama impersonator who walks around Rio pretending to the American president elect, featured here in front of Barra Shopping.

Barack Obama's Victory Speech: Yes We Can! (Part 1 of 2)

Barack Obama's Victory Speech: Yes We Can! (Part 2 of 2)

-It is the end of a dark circle
- It won't be easy to forget
-What will happen to Bush?
- What Bush?

Republishing the cartoon above from a local Portuguese newspaper, Diário de Notícias, Frosado is hopeful that Obama will indeed bring changes:

Como se diz aqui, Bush já não “existe”. Quanto ao futuro, só podemos esperar. Oxalá Obama consiga capitalizar o entusiasmo que conseguiu agregar à sua volta, entre os jovens e pelo mundo inteiro, para a paz e a prosperidade, tão necessárias ao mundo actual. Pessoalmente eu tenho esperança, sem grandes triunfalismos, claro.

As they have said here, Bush no longer “exists.” As for the future, we can only hope. If only Obama manages to capitalize the enthusiasm he kept around him, among young people, around the world, for peace and prosperity, so necessary in the current world. I hope so personally, with no great triumphalism though.

On the other hand, tunku from Malaysia is not very hopeful:

there is so much hope on obama that he will bring changes but knowing the zionist behind the white house administration, it won't happen.the changes will be just good for them not for the rest of the world.now we will see the real obama.

Marcos Tchôla says Obama will represent the interests of any imperialist president, regardless of whether the color of his skin is “white, brown, pink or orange.”

When it comes to Brazil, the blogger is actually worried:

Em meio a campanha e a todas as besteiras que os candidatos prometem e inventam li uma opinião do novo presidente que me deixou preocupado. Ele acredita que a Amazônia - o pulmão do mundo- é área internacional e que o Brasil não tem condições de cuidar de seus interesses sozinho. Com isso ele já antecipa de forma sutil, mas real, o desejo de fincar pé - através de uma base militar na região- para proteger que acha ser dele também. Há algum tempo atrás cicurlava na internet um e-mail que mostrava que nos livros americanos a área da floresta não aparecia pertecente ao Brasil. Esse fato foi no governo Bush!

During the campaign and among all the nonsense that candidates promise and come up with, I read a viewpoint of the new president that got me worried. He believes that the Amazon - the lungs of the world - is an international area and that Brazil is unable to care for it on its own. With this, he anticipates a subtle but real desire to set his foot in, through a military base in the region, to protect the area he believes belongs to him too. Some time ago there was an email making the rounds on the Internet showing that in American books, the forest did not belong to Brazil. This was during the Bush administration!

Green activist and writer and economist from the UK, Derek Wall asks whether things will get better under an Obama presidency.

Well now he has won my fear is that he will disappoint ‘hope', I remember an inspiring young politician who over turned right wing rule and promised that ‘things can only get better', he never convinced me but if there had been a blog o sphere the bloggers would have worshipped him. Obama is no Tony Blair, however my fear is that he will have neither the intention nor the power to break with neo-liberalism, sadly the American dream which is pretty much every one else nightmare will continue…I hope I am wrong!

From Thailand, Jing Reed says that the U.S. and the entire world have at least one reason to celebrate this victory - it is the end of the Bush Era:

Tonight's victory proclaims the end of the dark years of the Bush regression. Obama's victory speech was inspiring and eloquent, as befitting a President of the U.S.

Carlos Serra, from Mozambique, had predicted Obama's victory and now predicts changes:

os fatalistas estruturais dirão que nada irá mudar na história americana, que Obama será, apenas, mais um presidente ao serviço do Capital e do predadorismo militar. Os optimistas estruturais dirão que muita coisa irá mudar, que Obama irá introduzir uma página substancial de Estado social no livro do neo-liberalismo e reduzir o predadorismo. Mas escutem: nunca a história avança com as grandes coisas, mas com as pequenas. A história muda quando, no sovaco da vida, germinou uma diferença, pequena que seja. E Obama é essa diferença, a sua eleição foi e é essa diferença. Ele vai ser uma diagonal entre as duas teses. Pouco a pouco, contra racistas e racializantes. Com África inteira dentro dele, cumprindo seu destino queniano. N'Kosi sikeleli Africa!

The structural fatalistic people will say that nothing will change in American history, that Obama is, simply, another chairman to serve the capital and military predators. The structural optimists will say that many things will change, that Obama will introduce a substantial page of the welfare state in the book of neo-liberalism and reduce predators. But listen: history never moves with the big things but with the small ones. History changes when, in the armpit of life, a seed of difference germinates, even if a small one. And Obama is this difference, his election was and is that difference. He will be a diagonal between the two theses. Little by little, against racists and racialists. With the whole Africa inside of him, fulfilling his Kenyan destiny. N'Kosi sikeleli Africa!

It was an amazing feat. Americans turned out in record numbers and people of all kinds voted for Obama. States that had been red for a long time turned blue. I’m listening to the radio now and they were just interviewing some very conservative white farmers from a small town in the US that had always been strongly Republican. This is the demographic least friendly to Obama and yet they voted democrat. Some admitted that their families had voted Republican for generations and that they grandparents were probably turning in their graves. They admit Obama grew on them over time. They were particularly impressed with his calm maturity under pressure.

What I like about Obama is precisely that. Not only his calmness, which is a nice contrast to Bush’s volatile temper, but most importantly, I admire his capacity to bring so many different people together. The United States and the world need a leader like that. And although it sounds like empty rhetoric, he is very right to highlight the fact that a first generation, African-American man was able to be elected President of the United States is such a feat and such a message to a world marked by etnic conflict. I supported Hillary in the nomination process and wasn’t too keen on Obama. But like those American farmers, I grew to admire the man. I watched some of the debates and was very impressed by how prepared he was, how concrete his answeres were.

Obviously, being President of the United States is no easy feat and I have no illusions that Obama will be able to simply turn the US around overnight. That’s not going to happen. But he has good plans. He will get things started. And it is just good for the soul to replace a politics of fear with a politics of hope. For that alone, he would have had my vote.

But who cares?

The Bangladeshi community in New York certainly does not. They have an opinion and have even gone to the busy streets of the Big Apple to make their voices heard. Elizabeth Dwoskin describes how Bangladeshis have caught the “voting fever” in the boroughs. You think the US presidential election is a big deal? For this community, the election of the Bangladesh Society in New York is downright an obsession!

“Voters, most of whom are non-citizens, are obsessed with the electoral process.

“As in the presidential election, the same issues had come up: economic insecurity, voting fraud, and the charisma of the candidates.

“”We are born into politics,” said Mia, adding that Bangladeshis love Barack Obama. “It's the way we grow up—politics, politics,” he said. “Americans don't seem to care that much.”

“Few people, however, could name the Bangladesh Society's accomplishments during the previous year.”

The election took over much of the Sachalayatan Community Blog today as Bangladeshi contributors took time to put in a word about what they thought of the results to come.

Faqir Ilyas, who is also from New York, wrote in Bangla that Bangladeshis have started to vote for their favourite with great enthusiasm.

“Some of them are campaigning for Obama from a distance. The security arrangements have been beefed up in this city.”

Going further East on the world map, Taiwanese blogger marc17580 said he could only hope Senator John McCain wins.

事實上, 作為一個美國大選的局外人, 一個台灣人, 一個中華民國國民, 從現實考量上, 實在是希望共和黨的馬侃能順利勝出, 這當然與共和黨長期以來對亞太局勢及美國在區域利益的設定上俱較民主黨利於台灣有關, 但在我國陳前總統八年治下不斷衝撞美台中日國際關係與均勢下, 說真的, 未來四年無分美國總統是民主黨還是共和黨, 對於我國與美中日相互間的折衝, 想來都在起跑的基準上差別不大(更且我國馬政府已抱定對中大開放的政策為其行事準則). 再加以世界金融危機方興未艾, 連小布希總統御下的美國政府都已採取保守派最不喜歡的企業國有化來挽救與干預市場了, 則未來的美國新政府及國會, 想必也是在這個基準上加以應變

Brazilian Idelber Avelar’s blog, Biscoito Fino e Massa (Fine Cookie and Dough), hopes that the shameful fraud in Florida during the 2000 elections would not see a repeat this year.

“Depois do vergonhoso roubo das eleições de 2000 na Flórida e das muitas irregularidades que contribuiram para o resultado de 2004 em Ohio, o mais primitivo e precário sistema eleitoral do chamado Primeiro Mundo passará hoje pela sua prova de fogo. O Partido Republicano, minoritário nas grandes cidades, já tem, há algum tempo, a supressão do voto como um dos elementos centrais da sua estratégia. Este ano não foi diferente, embora, até o momento, não tenha dado muito certo. “

And after these words, Idelber goes on to show a long list with a series of examples of vote suppression and other irregularities that happened in the last days, including intimidation and misinformation campaigns - all of which were in the Republican best interests.

Read blogs from around the world, however, and you get a sense that Camp Obama may be in the lead.

Tania from the Sachalayatan Community Blog may have captured the mood in one sentence. Writing in Bangla, she said:

“McCain is dreaming a dream and Obama is living a dream.”

** Translations provided by Global Voices Online's Lingua Team: Leonard Chien from Taiwan; Rezwan from Bangladesh and Daniel Duende Caravalho, from Brazil.

In the UK, England for Obama rejoiced at the news that Obama emerged victorious in the first election returns of the 2008 presidential race, winning 15 of 21 votes cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

And that was a full voter turnout! Woo-hoo!

Hang on – shouldn’t John McCain be the winner in a place called Dicksville[sic]?

Seriously, though: this is the first time that Dixville Notch – which is always the first town to announce its results – has voted for the Democratic candidate since 1968.

People in Dixville Notch, which has a population of 75, voted just before midnight Tuesday (Nov 4). The last Democrat residents there picked was Hubert Humphrey over Richard Nixon in 1968. (Source: CNN)

After having read Italian blogs that covered the Dixville Notch results, bloggers seemed to delight that this might be a prediction of what’s to come in the next few hours. One blogger, ultimenotizie, is looking forward to the results and has promised to stay up late to wait for the results at home in Italy. Calling the Dixville Notch result “symbolic”, ultimenotizie noted that Obama also won in another New Hampshire village called Hart’s Location.

“Anche a Hart’s Location, l’altro villaggio del New Hampshire dove si vota a mezzanotte, ha vinto il senatore nero per 17 voti a 10.”

However, the Italian warned still that even though Obama had the lead in polls for months, the numbers could be deceiving if the “Bradley effect” comes into play. The Bradley effect is named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American who ran for California governor in 1982. Polls then showed him leading by a wide margin, and the Democrat thought it would be an early election night. But it turned out Bradley and the polls were wrong. He lost to Republican George Deukmejian.

“In testa ai sondaggi da mesi, Obama aspetta l’esito sereno e ha detto alla Cbs di non credere al cosiddetto “effetto Bradley”, ovvero alla teoria secondo cui gli elettori dicono ai sondaggisti che votano per un afro-americano come lui, ma poi non lo fanno nella segretezza dell’urna. Per contro, da parte repubblicana ammoniscono di non compiere lo stesso errore delle ultime elezioni, affidandosi a exit poll regolarmente smentiti, ma di aspettare i dati ufficiali.”

Christian Rocca joins the many Italians who believe that the game is now over for McCain.

“… ma se Obama dovesse prevalere in Indiana sarebbe il primo segno di una vittoria a valanga per il democratico. All’una di notte italiana, le sette sulla costa est d’America, chiudono le urne in Florida e in Virginia. In questi due stati vinti da Bush nel 2004 si comincerà a delineare il profilo del prossimo presidente.

“Ma nel momento in cui uno dei due verrà messo nella colonna di Obama, per McCain la partita sarà finita, non ancora aritmeticamente, ma di fatto.”

Voters in Dixville Notch may have voted early in the US, but according to Lars Von Torne Berlin, Germany says Americans there were ways ahead of them.

“Berlin hatte als erstes gewählt: Schon Stunden, bevor am Dienstagabend in der deutschen Hauptstadt zahlreicher Partys zur US-Präsidentschaftswahl begannen, meldete die US-Botschaft, dass die Wahl in Berlin bereits gelaufen war.”

Von Torne said that all over Berlin, Obama had much support.

“Zumindest, was die Stimmung unter den Berlinern anging, die sich am Abend bei einem Dutzend größerer und zahllosen kleinen Wahlbeobachtungspartys versammelten.”

Speaking about a US election party hosted in the city and attended by more than 1,000 Berliners, Von Torne said that

“Fast jeder der Gäste ging davon aus, dass Barack Obama das Rennen machen würde.”

The party was held in the offices of Telekom and Bertelsmann. Amongst the attendees were US Embassy officials and other diplomats.

Major celebratory events for whoever wins the election are reportedly already scheduled to be held in Berlin within the next few days.

“Fast alle meldeten schon vor Tagen: ausgebucht. Wesentlich mehr Anmeldungen als Plätze verzeichneten auch die Veranstalter der größten Pro-Obama-Party der Stadt, die Democrats Abroad. Die Auslandsorganisation der US-Demokraten wollte bis Sonnenaufgang am Mittwochfrüh im Babylon-Kino in Mitte feiern – inklusive „Sunrise“-Drinks, eine Anspielung auf das Wahlkampfsymbol Obamas, eine aufgehende Sonne.”

Brazilian Marcelo Donati asked who will be the new “chairman of the world” in his blog Abrigo Na Net.

“Façam suas apostas. Obama está praticamente eleito, mas como a eleição americana é confusa e bagunçada, nunca se pode afirmar nada… Nós aqui, vamos vivendo, absorvendo o resto da crise mundial…”

Another Brazilian, cursoblogcorp took it to another level. He has already declared Obama the victor of the election.

He wrote:

“O candidato democrata Barack Obama foi eleito o mais novo presidente dos Estados Unidos, com 68% de aprovação da população norte-americana. Ele é o primeiro negro a chegar à Presidência. Além desse marco, o candidato foi audacioso ao dispensar o financiamento público de campanha, optando apenas pelas contribuições de seus apoiadores, feitas através de seu blog. Com isso, conseguiu mais de US$ 660 milhões.”

Perhaps he's psychic? Perhaps.

Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, United States; GPPN
London School of Economics, United Kingdom; GPPN
Sciences-Po, France; GPPN
Hertie School of Governance, Germany
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore; GPPN
Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia
Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil
University of Toyko Graduate School of Public Policy, Japan

The liveblogging event will begin at 12 p.m. EST on November 4th and finish at 12 a.m. EST. Readers are welcome to participate in the liveblog and ask questions of the bloggers.

Pedro Dória [pt] tries to answer these questions. He mentions that McCain is the candidate that most mentions both Brazil and Latin America, and that he is the candidate who has opposed the 54-cent-a-gallon tariff on imports of ethanol made from sugar cane, mostly from Brazil. However, Dória believes that should McCain be elected, he would not be able to live up to his promises, considering that he would not have support from many legislative chambers, whose majority is Democrat controlled. Considering this, the blogger concludes that Obama would be a more interesting candidate for Brazil:

Que tipo de política energética interessa ao Brasil? Não somos uma república de bananas que vive de uma indústria só e nossos interesses, nessa história, não são apenas comerciais. O Brasil sai ganhando mais com uma política que favoreça o nascimento de uma indústria mundial e de larga escala de combustíveis alternativos. Se os EUA investirem pesado neste tipo de indústria, haverá um mercado maior em todo o mundo. E o Brasil já tem tecnologias prontas na mão para vender. O fomento de uma grande indústria de combustíveis não-fósseis é o ponto chave do governo Obama. Este será seu principal compromisso quando, logo após jurar fidelidade à Constituição, fizer seu discurso inaugural. Se ele for capaz desta mudança, é uma revolução no mundo.

What kind of energy policy would matter for Brazil? We are not a banana republic that survives on a single industry and our interests here are not just trade issues. Brazil will get more from a policy favoring the birth of a global, and large, alternative fuel industry. If the U.S. invests heavily in this type industry then there will be a bigger world market. And Brazil has already technology in hand, ready to sell. The promotion of a major non-fossil fuel industry is the key point of Obama's agenda. This will be his primary commitment when, soon after swearing allegiance to the Constitution, he makes his inaugural address. If he is capable of changing this, it will be a world revolution.

Ana Paula Freitas [pt], on the other hand, strongly disagrees that Obama would bring any positive outcome to Brazil, specifically, considering that his policy on Latin America proposes an expansion of “the partnership with Brazil to share technology, develop markets for biofuels, and create greener methods of energy consumption. Other important measures that the Obama administration must deal with include the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the fight against deforestation through economic incentives”. She believes in this sense, Brazil would benefit more from a McCain government:

Deu para entender a idéia? Barack Obama não quer etanol brasileiro. Ele acredita que estimular a produção de etanol pode estimular a plantação de cana na Amazônia, desmatando florestas que ele considera ‘recurso global’ no combate ao aquecimento. ‘Recurso Global’ é estranho, um pouco megalomaníaco. Então, se Obama for eleito, esqueçam as promessas de que o Brasil é o paraíso futuro do etanol. Ele quer dar incentivos à produção americana desse combustível e torná-los auto-suficientes. A moral: Obama é fofo, alegre, sorridente, tem carisma e uma série de outras coisas que fazem ser quase irresístivel não votar nele (no nosso caso, torcer por ele). Parece ser o tipo de cara que vai fazer as coisas mudarem. E ele vai, mas não para nós.

Did you get it? Barack Obama does not want Brazilian ethanol. He believes that stimulating the production of ethanol may increase the sugarcane plantation in the Amazon, deforesting areas that he believes to be ‘global resources' to combat global warming. ‘Global resources' is strange, a little megalomaniac. So if Obama is elected, you should forget the promise that Brazil is the future ethanol paradise. He wants to encourage American to become self-sufficient in its production of the fuel . The moral: Obama is cute, happy, smiling, has charisma and a lot of other things which makes voting for him almost irresistible (in our case, supporting him). He sounds like the kind of guy who will bring change. And he will, but not for us.

Some people do hope Obama wins, just because a McCain victory would not bring anything new for the US or for the rest of the world, but are still scared of the prospect of him as the US president. Daniel Duende is one of them. In a way agreeing with the blogger above, he believes Obama will be such a great US president that this alone is a reason to fear him:

Mas é justamente nestes destes pontos, na genialidade e no poder carismático de Obama, e no país que o elegerá e o qual ele irá governar, que reside o meu medo. Como eu disse, Barack Obama será um presidente muito bom, muito bom mesmo, para seu país. Mas não podemos esquecer que país é este, e como ele enriqueceu. Se não é o mesmo país que explorou a pobreza e doutrinou o mundo com seu discurso de consumo e globalização; o mesmo país que interveio nas questões políticas e sociais de metade do mundo, sempre em proveito próprio, e que depois de dizimar os próprios índios, destruir as próprias florestas, massacrar a própria sociedade debaixo de sua mass-mídia brutal e inescapável, decidiu que seria o árbitro do mundo nestes e em outros assuntos. Barack Obama será o presidente, um dos melhores de todos, deste país. E na mesma medida que sua competência será enorme, o poder dos Estados Unidos da América de ajudar ou destruir o mundo será igualmente maior.

But it is precisely these points, Obama's ingenuity and charismatic power, and in the country which will elect him and which he will govern, that my fear lies. Like I said, Barack Obama will be a very good president, very good for his country. But we must not forget what his country is, and how it got rich. If it is not the same country that exploited poverty and indoctrinated the world with its talk of consumption and globalization, the same country that intervened in half of the world's political and social issues, always to their advantage, and that after decimating their own indigenous peoples, destroying their own forests, massacring their own society through their brutal and inescapable mass-media, they decided that they would be the world referees in these and other issues. Barack Obama will be the president, one of the best of all time, of this country. And to the same extent that his competency will be great, equally bigger will be the United States' power to help or destroy the world.

Acantus79 blog publishes an article by journalist and Director of Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, Paulo Sotero, who balances the two candidates against one another and concludes that:

Seja quem for o sucessor de Bush, não será fácil restabelecer o consenso sobre política de comércio exterior em Washington e abrir o caminho para a conclusão da Rodada Doha - o objetivo mais urgente da diplomacia brasileira. Não se deve subestimar, tampouco, a possibilidade de um governo McCain desencadear ações no Oriente Médio ou em relação a Cuba que acirrariam a instabilidade internacional, contrariando os interesses do Brasil. Em contraste, a promessa de renovação do papel dos EUA no cenário internacional representada por Obama poderia ser mais interessante para o Brasil. É verdade que na questão mais premente do comércio ele condicionou a retomada da pauta a uma negociação de políticas domésticas capazes de responder aos problemas que alimentam a sensação de insegurança econômica dos americanos. Entre estas estão considerações sobre o impacto ambiental e social do comércio. A lógica sugere que um presidente democrata teria maiores chances de negociar tais acordos com um Congresso controlado por seu partido e reativar a agenda de comércio exterior - um componente essencial de um reengajamento construtivo dos EUA com o mundo. Nesse cenário, a questão é como responderá o País governado pelo Partido dos Trabalhadores, que proclama a superioridade ecológica do etanol de cana e afirma ser de seu interesse nacional preservar a Amazônia.

Whoever the successor of Bush is, it will not be easy to restore the consensus on foreign trade policy in Washington and pave the way for a conclusion to the Doha Round  - the most urgent goal of Brazilian diplomacy. We should not underestimate the possibility of fierce international instability triggered by a McCain government's action in the Middle East or in relation to Cuba, which would be contrary to Brazil's interests. In contrast, the promise of renewal of the U.S. role in the international arena represented by Obama might be more interesting to Brazil. It is true that when it comes to the most pressing issue of trade, he has conditioned the resumption of a re-engagement with a negotiation of domestic policies which would be able to respond to problems that feed the economic insecurity of Americans. Among these, there are considerations about the environmental and social impact of trade. This logic suggests that a Democrat president would have more chance to negotiate such agreements with a Congress controlled by the same party and reactivate to the agenda of foreign trade - an essential component of a constructive re-engagement between the U.S. and the world. In this scenario, the question is how Brazil, the country ruled by the Labour Party, which proclaims the superiority of ecological ethanol from sugar cane and claims it to be in its national interest to preserve the Amazon, will respond.

From Bangladesh, Mash has a headline which screams: Sarah Palin: Elitist Fraud. He explains:

Sarah Palin spends about as much on clothes in a couple of months as Joe The Plumber makes in four years. The Republican National Committee has spent $150,000 on Sarah Palin and her family’s clothes since she was selected as the vice presidential nominee in late August.

Some of Sarah the Hockey Mom’s notable shopping sprees:

• $49,4425.74 at Saks Fifth Avenue
• $75,062.63 at Neiman Marcus

I am going to take a wild guess here. I am going to guess that the simple folks and hockey moms she claims to represent probably do not shop at Saks or Neiman Marcus. This woman is a joke and a fraud.

Canadian Chuckman's Cartoon Comments posts this cartoon which says: “A girl's gotta have somethin' decent to wear!!”

From England for Obama, Andrea Mann asks readers to compare and contrast between Palin and Barack Obama, when it comes to clothing and shopping sprees.

Sarah Palin’s $150,000 a month on clothes (and accessories - don’t forget Piper’s Louis Vuitton handbag, now!), with the Obamas’ fashion habits, discussed below in July:

Hmm, now, remind me: who’s the regular mom? Who’s the elitist? And which team is it that understands ordinary Americans?

Egyptian Zeinobia is annoyed that Palin's special needs son, Trig, is being paraded in the media in “not so nice clothes.” She writes:

By the way why his mom did not buy him nicer clothes than those clothes he appears in the photos with all those thousands she spending, it is not a bad thing to look nice in the political arena , she looks better than Hilary’s suits.

Jordanian Hani Obaid says Palin brought the attention to herself.

Every morning before work, I read the headlines on Google News. I was surprised this morning that the top headline was related to Sarah Palin’s wardrobe! It seems the RNC (Republican National Committee) spent $150,000 to spruce her up, and this is angering some supporters. The press found out from financial disclosure reports.

Don’t get me wrong. I wear tracksuits or shorts depending on the fashion in Milan that week (not really), but people who spends this kinda money on clothes are asking for attention.

Along the same line, Rodrigo Morais, a Brazilian who lives in Abu Dhabi, UAE, says in a post entitled Let's go shopping, darling! that the latest shopping bill shouldn't have come as a surprise, considering Palin's bad habits as the Governor of Alaska.

Já tinha vindo a público que a senhora, quando ainda era Governadora do Alaska, gastou outra pequena fortuna de fundos públicos para levar os filhotes a passear cada vez que ía a um evento fora do seu estado. Evento para o qual os pirralhos nunca eram convidados… Agora chega isto, 23 mil contos (o preço de algumas casas) de dinheiro investido por doadores (lobbying e alguma malta que sente mesmo a coisa) gastos em roupas e acessórios para pôr baton na porca e no resto da família… Well, guess what, you can put lipstick on pig, but it's still a pig.

A Brazilian living in the US Leila Couceiro, in the post “Buy, Baby, Buy”, points out that Palin only likes the most expensive shops - Neiman Marcus, Barneys and Saks Fifth Avenue, where she spent more than her annual salary as Governor of Alaska. She details the items and prices on the bill and concludes:

Ou seja, enquanto ela faz sua propaganda política baseada em sua suposta austeridade fiscal, o que se vê cada vez mais é uma pessoa se aproveitando financeiramente de seu cargo público.

Meanwhile, Dutchman Michael van der Galien comes to Palin's support, saying:

It is always fascinating to see biased news organizations accidentally reveal why they ran a specific article: it’s yet another attack. They will now try to present Palin as someone who is out of touch with American voters, who spends big on clothes and make-up: in other words, one of those elite women who care deeply about looking good and nothing else.

* Portuguese translations kindly provided by Paula Goes.

The banner, created by Brazilian blogger Gordo Nerd, has spread quickly among the Portuguese language blogs and has sparkled the race question once again. With Obama rising in popularity, what if the Americans are declaring to vote for Obama merely for fear of being labeled racists, and the polls eventually show that McCain is the new US President? In other words, bloggers question whether the Bradley effect will again be at play.

From Portugal, Rui Monteiro comments on last month's Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll, which “shows that a substantial portion of white Americans still harbor negative feelings toward blacks.” He wonders if this will define the elections:

Nos Estados Unidos, uma sondagem recente apresenta valores preocupantes de racismo. Que irão aliás condicionar, não tenho dúvidas nenhumas, os resultados eleitorais. Por uma simples razão: mesmo aqueles que dizem que não deixam que assuntos de cor da pele influenciem a sua decisão, na hora de votar, no anonimato da cabine, muitos irão votar em McCain porque Obama é “negro” (que em rigor, aliás, não é).

In the United States, a recent poll has shown a worrying set of ethos towards racism. Which will, I have no doubt about it at all, influence the election result. For a simple reason: even those who say they do not let the race issues influence their decisions, at voting time, in the anonymity of the voting cabin, many of them will vote for McCain because Obama is “black” (actually he is not).

Brazilian blogger Yashá Gallazzi [pt], who hopes for McCain's victory, but believes it is Obama who will be elected,  challenges the above points:

O simples fato de alguém dizer que não quer Obama, mas McCain já é suficiente para que seja imediatamente chamado de preconceituoso, racista, fascista, direitista, conservador e outras coisas do gênero. É por isso que eu vejo uma enorme diferença entre DIZER QUE VAI VOTAR em Obama e, efetivamente, SAIR PARA VOTAR em Obama no dia 4 de novembro. O obamismo espalhado pelo mundo já percebeu isso e tratou logo de criar um estereótipo: se as pesquisas estiverem erradas e McCain vencer, é graças ao racismo disfarçado e envergonhado dos americanos. Entenderam a jogada deles? Se o novo messias negro vencer a eleição, os americanos serão saudados como o povo que deu ao mundo o seu novo redentor. Se, porém, ganhar o “velhote”, são todos um bando de rascistas.

The mere fact that somebody saying they don't want Obama but McCain is enough for them to be immediately called prejudiced, racist, fascist, rightwing, conservative, and similar things. This is why I see there is a huge difference in SAYING THEY WILL VOTE for Obama and eventually GO TO VOTE for Obama in November 04. The Obamaism spread through the word has already realised this and came up with a new stereotype: if the polls are wrong and McCain wins, this is thanks to covert and ashamed American racism. Did you get their move? If the black Messiah wins the elections, Americans will be cheered as the people who gave the world its new redeemer. If, however, the “oldie” wins, they are all a pack of racists.

Pedro Dória [pt] says that the US elections and the race debate can not be taken apart, and Obama winning will be nevertheless a mark in history:

Em 2008, são 40 anos do assassinato de Martin Luther King. Outros 40 do assassinato de Bob Kennedy, principal articulador do fim das leis segregacionistas. E 45 do assassinato de Jack Kennedy, o presidente que tomou a decisão de enfrentá-las. Se Obama for eleito, a vitória será daqueles três. É porque o racismo declarado ou não já não tem mais força política nos EUA.

In 2008, it is 40 years of Martin Luther King's assassination. Another 40 years of Bob Kennedy's assassination, he who was the main contributor for the end of the segregationist laws. And 45 years of Jack Kennedy's assassination, the president who decided to defy them. If Obama is elected, it will be those three victories. It will show that racism, declared or not, has no more power in the US.

• Brazilian Epaminondas Obama, running for a seat outside of São Paulo
• Obama, a woman running in Rio de Janeiro state
• Davi, the Obama of the Community, running in Minas Gerais
• “Barak Obama,” running in Paraná
• Alexandre Barack Obama, running in Petrolina
• Barack Obama of Belford Roxo, running in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro

The last one on the list gambled on the coincidences. Communist candidate “Barack Obama”, whose real name is Claudio Henrique dos Anjos, wanted to be the first black mayor of Belford Roxo (portuguese for “Purple Belfort”), a city of just under 500,000 inhabitants in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. However, the “Barack Obama of Belford Roxo” had a vote count of zero on the 5th of October. According to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), votes for him may have been classified as void due to his candidacy being challenged because he was signed up for more than one political party; nothing to do with the name. Two candidates were in the same situation and all together 34,181 (13.55%) votes cast for the prospective mayor of Belford Roxo were classified as void. Claudio Versiani [pt] publishes the picture below and quotes John McCain: “life is not fair”.

For the Obama running for a council seat in Ubiratã city, State of Paraná, there was even a spelling mistake - he was Barak Obama, without the “c” - a misspelling that many Brazilians make themselves. He had, however, 74 votes (0.58%) only, and, as with the others, failed to capitalize on the Obamania, which is, indeed, big. The Afroamericabrasil blog explains the reasoning behind this phenomenon:

The possibility of Obama becoming the first black president of the United States is also resonating with other blacks of the African Diaspora. On various online blogs and forums, Afro-Brazilians have also expressed excitement at seeing a man who looks as if he could be an Afro-Brazilian become the leader of the most powerful [country] in the world. With the rise of Obama, many Afro-Brazilians are also debating the possibility of a black president in a country where some believe blacks are actually the majority of the more than 190 million citizens.

If you find it amusing that Barack Obama was a popular choice, you may also like to know that other candidates have chosen to run as sport stars, such as Dunga, Pele, Zico, Zidane, Maguila and Tyson; politicians, such as Lula (nickname of the current Brazilian president); there was more than one Bin Laden (and none was elected). And, as if this were not enough, 15 candidates decided to register themselves as the fairytale character Pinocchio, and there was one Papai Noel (Portuguese for Father Christmas)!

However, regardless of the elections, other Brazilians are looking to Illinois for inspiration. Reporter João Prado [pt] has published an article he wrote based around an interview with a community leader called Gilson Rodrigues, nicknamed the “Obama of Paraisópolis”, who acts as a dwelling association president in the one of the São Paulo's slums. Below is an extract from this interview with Gilson ‘Barack' Rodrigues ‘Obama' about his take on the US elections:

 

Gostaria que esse cara ganhasse. Um preto na liderança dos EUA. Mas não é só isso. O cara tem um discurso que no mínimo é diferente do que a gente está acostumado. Por enquanto, aqui no Brasil são as mesmas caras. Acho que a gente precisa de um cara com um discurso mais próximo.

I would like this guy to win. A black person commanding the US. But it is not just that. The guy has a line of discourse that is different from what we are used to. So far, here in Brazil, there are the same guys. I think we need a guy with a discourse closer to his”.

CNN and just about every other American news source reported that, although Palin exceeded expectations, Biden won the debate. In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Mark J. Penn stated that, “Thursday night, Senator Joe Biden did something we have not seen enough of in presidential debates in the last decade — he gave knowledgeable, fact-based answers that were based on understanding the issues facing this country.” To the mainstream U.S. media, it was clear that Joe Biden had won the debate.

But what about the rest of the world? A report from Israel's Haaretz indicates agreement with U.S. media. Pakistan's Daily Times applauded Biden's consideration of Pakistani issues. And bloggers?

Mexican blogger Brainiac Conspiracy concurs with the media:

Sarah Palin? Well, she performed about as well—and as poorly—as I expected. The overall impression I took away from her was of a precocious high-schooler mimicking an adult politician in a debating class, with a flirtatious smile and a self-conscious wink thrown in to remind the voters that she's really not like Joe Biden or Barack Obama or the rest of these career Washington pointyheads, but just a regular gal from small-town America who still has a firm grasp on those simple small-town values that have made her a walking success story. And if this election was occurring in, say, 1980, or even 1988, the unspoken message behind the suggestive body language (”I'm just like you. He isn't”) might resonate more broadly beyond the conservative GOP base.

The Lusosphere is in agreement. Portuguese socialist Nuno Gouveia, who has been keeping an special blog for the American elections and following it close says the following:

Pensava-se que Joe Biden esmagaria Palin. Mas isso não aconteceu. Venceu o debate, puxou dos galões de 36 anos na política nacional, mas não foi brilhante. Foi regular. Mas isso chegou-lhe para sair vencedor, e isso era o mais importante. Se olharmos para a história, verificamos que é mesmo isso que se espera de um candidato a Vice-presidente. Biden não irá acrescentar muitos votos a Obama. Mas tenho dúvidas que retire um só voto. E isso já é positivo, porque a força do ticket reside em Obama. O debate entre Veeps manteve o rumo desta corrida. E era isso que os democratas necessitavam, pois estão a ganhar.

Brazilian journalist Pedro Doria uses metaphors to explain why Biden won:

Metaforicamente, Joe Biden ganhou o debate quando engasgou falando de sua experiência na mesa da cozinha tentando fechar as contas, com dois filhos, sua mulher e filha mortas. Palin perdeu-o quando foi incapaz de fazer um comentário gentil imediatamente após. Metáforas à parte: Biden falava de classe média o tempo todo. Palin falou um quê. Devia ter sido o tempo todo.

Latin American blogger VivirLatino was annoyed with Palin's performance:

So far we've only had two presidential debates, and already tired of them. Sarah Palin's performance yesterday wasn't as bad as many expected/hoped. Pero her attempts to be cute just annoy me in the same way the other mothers at my daughter's school annoy me with their fake ass ways.

While the consensus on Biden's win was certain, some bloggers went even further, discussing aspects of Palin's debating skills. Just as The New York Times and The Huffington Post criticized Palin, so did plenty of bloggers.

Puerto Rican-American Liza of Culture Kitchen was outraged at reports that Palin read off notecards during the debate:

What's outrageous is that I actually questioned my judgment and bias when I mentioned last night that it looked like she was reading off cards. I couldn't fathom her reading off cue cards she'd have hidden in her jacket.

Wow.

Veritas Nihilum Vincet, from Israel a Canadian living in Taiwan, posted a mock interview mocking Palin's performance:

Well, Stan, what’s your read on the debate?
Thanks, Bill. Sarah Palin did not faceplant into the lecturn, and avoided vomiting on the moderator. You have to call this one a big win for the GOP.
I think you’re right, Stan! Neither did she stab any small children or spontaneously self-combust. The Republicans have to be happy with this performance.
From where I’m sitting, Bill, it was a home run. She seemed to be hopped up on benzedrine, but managed to run the base paths even while yammering nonsensically from poorly memorized talking points. There’s joy in Mudville tonight!
What about Biden, Stan? Any read there?
Who?
Biden. Joe Biden…her opponent.
She had an opponent?

In French blog West Wing 2008, Maria Pisaro criticized Palin's inability to express her own views during the debate:

De là à dire que la colistière de John McCain a excellé, il y a un pas que je ne franchirai pas. Sarah Palin a esquivé toutes les questions difficiles, en particulier celles ayant trait à l'économie, qui est le sujet sur lequel le ticket républicain a de sérieuses difficultés à convaincre alors qu'il sagit de la préoccupation majeure Américains.

En répétant à plusieurs reprises les mêmes phrases, souvent hors propos, notamment sur la politique énergétique et l'imposition fiscale, Sarah Palin a montré qu'elle avait bien appris les leçons serinées par ses coaches. Mais elle semble incapable de présenter une position personnelle sur les dossiers les plus importants, à l'exception des forages pétroliers (drill, baby drill). Comme le dit Bill Schneider de CNN, “elle ne manque certainement pas de confiance en elle, elle manque de cohérence”.[..] Ma déception ce soir aura été pour l'animatrice du débat, Gwen Ifill de PBS, dont je respecte par ailleurs le travail. Elle aurait à mon sens dû intervenir pour forcer Sarah Palin à répondre aux questions posées…

Despite the majority consensus of bloggers, there were a few who felt that Palin scored a win in the debate. Mexican resident The Exile took an objective view and said:

Closing my eyes for a period and the debate seemed to be going Biden's way. However, actually watching the debate and things seemed far more neck and neck. Sarah really knows how to almost chat an audience up, and make them feel that she is in the room with them, speaking pretty much directly to them - and in the idiom that they use themselves.

So who won? Well, both teams wanted to shore up their support, which both speakers almost certainly did. As far as the undecideds go, it looks as if Sarah crept ahead, especially in that all-important American heartland that sits between the two coasts.

AmiraAlHussaini, from Bahrain, is clearly an Obama supporter:

Twitterers had strong feelings about Iraq. AmiraAlHussaini said:

Fehlauer, from Brazil, also commented on McCain's strategy of “winning” in Iraq:

Much of the debate was centered on Iran, and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AmiraAlHussaini is amazed that John McCain cannot pronounce Ahmadinejad:

Brazilian Fehlauer thinks that McCain has it all wrong when it comes to Iran:

lrakoto, from Madagascar, is with Obama in that Ahmadinejad is perhaps not top dog in Iran:

Reacting to John McCain's comments about former Russian President Vladimir Putin, Danish-Puerto Rican Solanasaurus joked:

Just like their television counterparts, this group of Twitter pundits couldn't immediately determine the “winner” of the debates. AmiraalHussaini concluded the tweet session by saying: