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| Watching U.S. Race, Other Nations See Themselves | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MOSCOW — For weeks, coverage of the United States presidential race in Russia’s state-controlled media has been obscured by a layer of derision, cast by top commentators as a mudslinging brawl or a “beauty contest” in which candidates vie for the loyalty of voting blocs, “some who love ample, fatty brunettes — and some preferring skinny anorexics.” | |
| But for those who believed that Russia had nothing at stake, Monday’s televised debate served to focus the mind. By lunchtime on Tuesday, a top analyst had rendered his verdict in the newspaper Izvestiya: If Mitt Romney wins, Fyodor Lukyanov wrote, “it’s not that relations between Russia and the United States will be spoiled — they will halt. And they will not exist for a long time.” | |
| As the race between Mr. Romney and President Obama rounds its last curve, the world is watching — and the coverage from other countries reveals as much about how they see themselves as it does about the American political process. | |
| Japanese reporters have followed candidates on the campaign trail, scrutinizing their tactics as a blueprint for the vibrant two-party system Japan would like to build. | Japanese reporters have followed candidates on the campaign trail, scrutinizing their tactics as a blueprint for the vibrant two-party system Japan would like to build. |
| Brazilian commentators, drawing on their familiarity with American cultural icons, are poring over details — expressing shock, for example, at Mr. Romney’s idea of ending the subsidy for PBS, whose Big Bird is fondly called Garibaldo in Brazil’s version of “Sesame Street.” | Brazilian commentators, drawing on their familiarity with American cultural icons, are poring over details — expressing shock, for example, at Mr. Romney’s idea of ending the subsidy for PBS, whose Big Bird is fondly called Garibaldo in Brazil’s version of “Sesame Street.” |
| In other countries, like Russia and China, coverage has been muted, reflecting both wariness about Mr. Romney’s hawkish rhetoric and disappointment with the four-year arc of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. Indeed, disillusionment has tempered news coverage in many countries — even Germany, a nation addicted to American political arcana. In contrast with 2008, when coverage of the Democratic primaries was breathless, front-page news all over Germany, this season’s analysis has been sober and far less enthusiastic. | In other countries, like Russia and China, coverage has been muted, reflecting both wariness about Mr. Romney’s hawkish rhetoric and disappointment with the four-year arc of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. Indeed, disillusionment has tempered news coverage in many countries — even Germany, a nation addicted to American political arcana. In contrast with 2008, when coverage of the Democratic primaries was breathless, front-page news all over Germany, this season’s analysis has been sober and far less enthusiastic. |
| “Everyone was asking in 2008, ‘Where is the German Obama?’ ” said Christoph von Marschall, Washington bureau chief for Germany’s daily Tagesspiegel newspaper. “Nobody asks this anymore. Obama is no longer the messiah. He is also just a politician, a normal and sometimes nasty politician.” | “Everyone was asking in 2008, ‘Where is the German Obama?’ ” said Christoph von Marschall, Washington bureau chief for Germany’s daily Tagesspiegel newspaper. “Nobody asks this anymore. Obama is no longer the messiah. He is also just a politician, a normal and sometimes nasty politician.” |
| In Japan, by comparison, major newspapers and television news run daily stories on the campaign, pointing out the candidates’ missteps and setbacks with analysis that would seem zealous in American outlets. Their enthusiasm is largely practical. Three years ago, an election ended 57 years of one-party rule in Japan, and its leaders are searching for a model for a two-party system. | |
| Though commentators are critical of aspects of American campaigning, like attack ads, the competitive political system is still viewed positively in Japan, and readers lap up fine-grained details about exercises like party primaries. The raw verbal sparring on televised debates is the subject of particular fascination, in part because such direct personal attacks are foreign to Japan’s restrained, self-deprecating political culture. | Though commentators are critical of aspects of American campaigning, like attack ads, the competitive political system is still viewed positively in Japan, and readers lap up fine-grained details about exercises like party primaries. The raw verbal sparring on televised debates is the subject of particular fascination, in part because such direct personal attacks are foreign to Japan’s restrained, self-deprecating political culture. |
| “The whole world is watching the election of the superpower,” the Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s biggest dailies, said recently in an editorial. “We expect an energetic battle of words on such issues as” the dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. But if they were waiting for rigorous discussion of issues of regional interest, Japanese newspapers have seemed disappointed so far. | “The whole world is watching the election of the superpower,” the Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s biggest dailies, said recently in an editorial. “We expect an energetic battle of words on such issues as” the dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea. But if they were waiting for rigorous discussion of issues of regional interest, Japanese newspapers have seemed disappointed so far. |
| “In contrast to the ferocity of their verbal give-and-take, the debates have left those of us outside the United States feeling dissatisfied,” the Nishi Nippon Shimbun said in an editorial on Thursday. | “In contrast to the ferocity of their verbal give-and-take, the debates have left those of us outside the United States feeling dissatisfied,” the Nishi Nippon Shimbun said in an editorial on Thursday. |
| Brazilian correspondents have fanned out to Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire, offering daily coverage of every shift in the polls. | Brazilian correspondents have fanned out to Colorado, Nevada and New Hampshire, offering daily coverage of every shift in the polls. |
| Commentary has poured out via blogs and social media — Brazil ranks second after the United States in users of both Facebook and Twitter — and news outlets, agitated over the fate of Big Bird, seemed relieved when the Obama campaign released ads attacking Mr. Romney for suggesting that financing for PBS could be cut. | |
| Though Latin America has barely figured as a topic in the campaign, Brazilians are gripped with fascination as the race moves into its final days with the two candidates in a dead heat. | Though Latin America has barely figured as a topic in the campaign, Brazilians are gripped with fascination as the race moves into its final days with the two candidates in a dead heat. |
| An influential political columnist, Elio Gaspari, on Sunday dissected a chain of events in which Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama could split the Electoral College with 269 votes each, sending the race to a vote in the House of Representatives. That way, he wrote, Mr. Romney could win the presidency even if Mr. Obama were to win the popular vote. | |
| “American democracy will look terrible in that light,” he wrote. | “American democracy will look terrible in that light,” he wrote. |
| That sense of drama is not reaching Chinese viewers. Though the main national television channel, CCTV, has opened a large new bureau in Washington, the presidential race has not been given much prominence in news reports, and no Chinese reporters have been out on the campaign trail. | That sense of drama is not reaching Chinese viewers. Though the main national television channel, CCTV, has opened a large new bureau in Washington, the presidential race has not been given much prominence in news reports, and no Chinese reporters have been out on the campaign trail. |
| This is partly a matter of timing; Election Day in the United States comes just two days before the opening of the all-important 18th Communist Party Congress, which will usher in a new set of leaders in the second peaceful transfer of power in China’s Communist era. | This is partly a matter of timing; Election Day in the United States comes just two days before the opening of the all-important 18th Communist Party Congress, which will usher in a new set of leaders in the second peaceful transfer of power in China’s Communist era. |
| The capital, Beijing, is consumed with its own internal political jockeying, and there is little sense of how the top government leaders view Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama. | |
| The campaign has drawn interest among Chinese who have frequent contact with Americans. Students and young workers say they are fascinated with the open debate, and what seem like major differences between the two major parties. | The campaign has drawn interest among Chinese who have frequent contact with Americans. Students and young workers say they are fascinated with the open debate, and what seem like major differences between the two major parties. |
| “The clash of ideologies in the United States is so much more dramatic than that in China,” said Guan Xin, who translates such American material as “The Daily Show” and “Real Time With Bill Maher” into Chinese. “You always hear phrases like ‘bitterly polarized’ in news reports. The partisan division between the right and the left is so big now. I haven’t seen the phrase ‘class warfare’ in a Chinese newspaper in ages.” | “The clash of ideologies in the United States is so much more dramatic than that in China,” said Guan Xin, who translates such American material as “The Daily Show” and “Real Time With Bill Maher” into Chinese. “You always hear phrases like ‘bitterly polarized’ in news reports. The partisan division between the right and the left is so big now. I haven’t seen the phrase ‘class warfare’ in a Chinese newspaper in ages.” |
| Russian coverage is similarly muted. The American race comes after a string of three largely noncompetitive elections in Russia, which have extended the rule of President Vladimir V. Putin and the main pro-Kremlin party, United Russia. The authorities in Russia are preoccupied with controlling domestic dissent, and have asserted that the United States State Department has actively supported a rise in antigovernment activism. | |
| Vladimir Solovyov, a popular television host, said Mr. Obama’s presidency had delivered another round of disappointment for Russia. | |
| “Finally, we understood that there is nothing to expect from the United States,” he said. “Unfortunately, you do not live by your promises to other countries.” | |
| On television, which heavily influences public opinion, much commentary on the hard-fought American race has been neutral or negative. | On television, which heavily influences public opinion, much commentary on the hard-fought American race has been neutral or negative. |
| “Dumb and dumber,” announced an anchorwoman on Sunday’s edition of “Vesti,” a news roundup, as she introduced a segment on the election. “The fashion in the last two weeks of this election season: It was decided to fill voters’ hearts and minds not with love for their candidate, but with hatred for the other.” | “Dumb and dumber,” announced an anchorwoman on Sunday’s edition of “Vesti,” a news roundup, as she introduced a segment on the election. “The fashion in the last two weeks of this election season: It was decided to fill voters’ hearts and minds not with love for their candidate, but with hatred for the other.” |
| “To an outsider, the struggle for the superpower’s top post looks like a squabble in the kitchen of a communal apartment,” she said. In the segment, the reporter Grigori Yemelyanov declared, “America likes a show — it’s probably more interesting to watch than to make a principled choice between two diametrically opposing platforms.” | |
| Behind this criticism there is some concern about what a Romney victory would mean in Russia, especially after Monday’s debate, when he accused Mr. Obama of showing a submissive face to Mr. Putin. Some hard-liners in the Kremlin, who have warned of external threats to Russia as a way to unify the country, may see a useful foil in Mr. Romney, who has proclaimed Russia “our No. 1 geopolitical foe.” | |
| Despite cooling perceptions of the United States, Mr. Obama is preferred by ordinary Russians; in a survey released this month by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies, 42 percent said an Obama victory would benefit Russia, whereas only 4 percent said the same of a Romney victory. | |
| “Look, Obama is a partner,” said Aleksei K. Pushkov, who hosts the political talk show “Post-Scriptum” and is the head of the State Duma’s foreign affairs committee. “We may be disappointed with him, but we consider him a partner. Romney does not look like a partner at all.” | “Look, Obama is a partner,” said Aleksei K. Pushkov, who hosts the political talk show “Post-Scriptum” and is the head of the State Duma’s foreign affairs committee. “We may be disappointed with him, but we consider him a partner. Romney does not look like a partner at all.” |
Reporting was contributed by Simon Romero from Rio de Janeiro; Nicholas Kulish from Berlin; Hanna Kozlowska from Warsaw; Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul, South Korea; Martin Fackler from Tokyo; Jane Perlez from Beijing; and Anna Kordunsky from Moscow. | Reporting was contributed by Simon Romero from Rio de Janeiro; Nicholas Kulish from Berlin; Hanna Kozlowska from Warsaw; Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul, South Korea; Martin Fackler from Tokyo; Jane Perlez from Beijing; and Anna Kordunsky from Moscow. |
| This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: |
| Correction: October 23, 2012 | Correction: October 23, 2012 |
An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the Washington bureau chief for Germany’s daily Tagesspiegel newspaper. He is Christoph von Marschall, not Marshall. | An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of the Washington bureau chief for Germany’s daily Tagesspiegel newspaper. He is Christoph von Marschall, not Marshall. |