If the world could decide the next U.S. president, who would they pick?
A German newspaper Die Zeit asked its readers that very question. Other foreign newspapers sent their correspondents to the States – to Texas, in particular – to cover the U.S. election.
Johannes Kuhn, a reporter from the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, says he’s been covering the election in and around the Lone Star state. He says the biggest surprise is the way it’s been both “entertaining and very over-the-top.”
“New things come out every day and it’s very personality-driven as far as the candidates are concerned,” he says.
He attended rallies starting last summer and says the crowds surprised him.
“I was impressed about how deeply serious people are about choosing their president,” he says. “For some people it’s like going shopping. Others are already heavily invested in their favorite. And we don’t have that in such a degree in Germany.”
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How Germans have followed U.S. politics this year with both interest and anxiousness
– What they think about someone from entertainment crossing over to politics
– Why America’s reputation as a celebration of democracy confuses and worries watchers overseas
