“Are you excited about the election? Many curious Europeans have posed this question to me since I arrived in Germany five weeks ago. The election refers to the U.S. Presidential Election, of course. After all, it’s currently the hot topic of conversation.
Indeed, since I arrived, the presidential candidates have thrice debated this election’s platforms, made both appropriate and inappropriate remarks along the election trail, toured the swing states multiple times, and from what my parents back home in Wisconsin have to say, have called our house no less than every two hours for the past month. In short: it’s business as usual as far as U.S. Presidental Elections go.
What has struck me as noteworthy, however, is both the regard for as well as interest in the U.S. Election that most Germans have (as well as many other international students I have spoken with). The instant they find out either (1) that I study Political Science or (2) that I am, in fact, American, everyone from my peers in class and strangers I’ve met at parties, to my professors and the person ringing-up my items at the store inquires to my views on the subject. Most ask the same two questions: “Are you going to / did you vote?” and upon my affirmative response, “Who did you vote for?”.
Without a T.V., I am left to find a bar or club that’s hosting a “U.S. Election Party” tonight, in order to catch the election coverage in real time. However, even the fact that multiple locales in Munich are hosting such gatherings on a Tuesday night is illustrative; the U.S. Presidential Election matters to people around the world. Some of my native German friends are of the opinion that following the U.S. Presidential race is equally as important to a basic understanding of German and European Politics as is following elections in Germany and/or Europe. The extent of the United States’ international influence must not be overlooked – from Europe to Ethiopia and Myanmar to Munich – it is quite real.
Through the way that the Germans understand and treat the U.S. Presidential election, they have reminded me, a first-time presidential voter, of the special role(s) that America plays on the world stage. We Americans living in the U.S.A are apt to lose sight of just how much our votes count. The Germans, however, do not – and they have reminded me just how much my vote counts, not only at home, but for billions of people around the world
