Barack Obama

Jonathan Galinsky is an American college student spending his summer in Addis Ababa. Last week, following Barack Obama's victory in capturing the Democratic Party presidential nomination, he went around town to get the Ethiopian perspective on America's first African-American presidential nominee. The following piece is the first of many that Galinsky will contribute during his stay.

The international star power of United States Senator Barack Obama was on full display Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of Addis Ababa's Edna Mall, where a crowd of nearly 20 passersby gathered to catch a glimpse of the newly-minted Democratic Party presidential nominee delivering a televised address. Though few present knew much about the candidate, his policies or his opponents, that did not deter most from giving him their enthusiastic support.

Obama enjoys strong backing from many around the globe, but a large number of Africans in particular see the 2008 US presidential election as one in which they have a big investment. Obama is the son of a Kenyan student who studied in the United States and a white woman from Kansas, and he is the first African-American to be nominated for president by a major American political party.

"If he is elected we will all feel like we are presidents of America," Idris Mohammed Hirsi said at nearby Kaldi's Coffee. "He represents change from the white leaders who have always ruled, and if Obama is elected the policies towards Africa will improve."

Omar Taher, seated with Hirsi, felt that Obama's international experience - the candidate spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia - would give him an informed perspective on world affairs. "Living outside the US will help. He knows about the culture of Africa as well as the culture of Islam," he said.

Many individuals identified race as the primary reason for giving Obama their support, and said that the majority of Ethiopians feel similarly. "Having somebody who's of mixed ethnicity makes people excited," said Ted Gebedou, a plastic surgeon who has spent much of his life in Los Angeles, California.

While Gebedou seemed to prefer Obama, he expressed concern as well. "Whoever you talk to, it seems like everybody supports Obama, but Bush supports the [Ethiopian] government. So if the Democrats take over, maybe that will cease," he said.

An employee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who wanted his name not to be mentioned, said that he did not view the election in racial terms and was able to separate his professional and personal opinions. "Whether it is Obama or [Republican candidate John] McCain, what matters are their policies towards African countries and how they pursue relations with the current administration … As Ethiopians, the racial issue is not our concern. That's an American concern. What we're concerned about is how the new government will affect Ethiopia," he said. "Personally, I see Obama as a very intelligent man who is not a continuation of the old regime."

Estifanos Dejene, a schoolteacher, said that he saw the election in terms of what was best for America itself. "McCain was in the air force and is old enough to be able to keep America strong," he said. "My wish therefore is that he be elected."

Though Dejene's view seems to be a rare one, it provokes an important question: how will Americans vote? For some, the racial issue that has made Obama's candidacy so exciting is the same one that will prove to be his downfall.

"For a black man to be in that position is very impressive, but I don't think that he will be president because there are still racist whites," said Fasika Marian, owner of Swiss Café. "He won against Clinton, but he won't win the main election because lots of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain because of racism."

To Gebedou, however, any judgments made now are far too hasty. "There's really no way to know," he said.

The contest will be decided when Obama and McCain face each other five months from now in November's general election. And while a recent CNN poll of voters' opinions showed Obama holding a single-digit percentage point lead over McCain, Americans have cast aside early presidential favorites in the past. Unless Obama were to announce policies that ran counter to Ethiopia's best interests, however, it seems that Addis' favorite is unlikely to change.