"It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Democrats’ nomination of Obama as their candidate for president has done more to improve America’s image abroad — an image dented by the Iraq war, President Bush’s invocation of a post-9/11 “crusade,” Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay and the xenophobic opposition to Dubai Ports World managing U.S. harbors — than the entire Bush public diplomacy effort for seven years." NY Times 6/11/2008
For me, getting the USA back on the world's good side is one of my most pressing considerations for November's election, and Mr. Friedman's assessment of Obama's nomination comes as a reassuring reminder that Obama means a whole lot more than domestic policy. Yes, he's very domestically focused in his campaign (and most of his policies, too - or at least the one's he's already set down), but simply putting him in office would do wonders for American diplomacy.
Okay, it won't make the war in Iraq stop - but at least when we're overseas ourselves and someone asks where we're from, my fellow countrypeople and I can hold our heads up a little higher when we say we're American.
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