My Staff and My Redeemer: Why Three-Quarters of West Europeans Would Elect Obama

In Europe, even more than in the United States, Obama appears not as a politico, but as as canvas which allows the Europeans to project their fondest wishes onto a man they hardly know. Disappointment is bound to happen.

Josef Joffe is publisher-editor of the German weekly Die Zeit. Previously he was columnist/editorial page editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung (1985-2000).

Abroad, his essays and reviews have appeared in: New York Review of Books, New York Times Book Review, Times Literary Supplement, Commentary, New York Times Magazine, New Republic, Weekly Standard, Prospect (London), Commentaire (Paris). Regular contributor to the op-ed pages of Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post; Time and Newsweek.