There are plenty of reports of how pundits in both Germany and the US viewed Barack Obama's speech yesterday at the Victory Column in Berlin. The reactions covered the spectrum from high praise to derision. The Web site Watching America has several opinion pieces from the German press. But what about the opinions of the quarter million spectators who were actually there? My friend Joerg Wolf of the Atlantic Community made this video available to Dialog International in which he and his colleague interview a good cross-section of people who came out to watch and listen:
This response by Edmund Stoiber - the arch-conservative former state president of Bavaria - was rather interesting:
"Der junge Senator verkörpert das, wonach sich viele Menschen sehnen: Charisma und Führung.Die deutsche Politik wird sich aber auch mit seiner Forderung auseinandersetzen müssen, mehr gemeinsame Verantwortung für globale Probleme in der Welt zu übernehmen. Amerika setzt auf Deutschland und Europa. Die transatlantische Brücke wird stärker." (The young senator embodies many people are looking for: charisma and leadership. Germany will have to deal with his demand that we join together to take more responsibility for global problems. America is counting on German and Europe. The transatlantic bridge will grow stronger.)
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