A very good opinion article. We need to consider other nations opinion again.

Friedman captures quite well in a brief piece the potential Obama offers for a significant alteration in the perception by the "man in the street" in the Middle East of the meaning of America. The Egyptian who asked whether Obama would be allowed to win really showed a deeper understanding of US politics than might be expected.

Generally, I'm not fan of Friedman because of his oversimplification of complex mechanisms with general sweeping statements. This however, was the perfect venue for that approach since this is an observation and ultimately opinion piece. He substantiated his observation with reported dialog and quotes and it was written with a clean crisp punch. Of course, as usual, Friedman throws a slender sarcastic jab, by referring to Obama as the 'Democrats' choice - when he could have opted for the non-possessive descriptor - 'Democratic.' Lastly - Friedman uses the word 'dented' to describe the American reputation abroad. Dented would hardly seem reason for concern. Destroyed would have been less passive, but, while this is an opinion ... More »

As always Friedman writes with a slanted personal opinion. Not never too factual. He is tiresome and is always sly in creating a negative opinion. I disliked the way he emphasized Obama's Muslim name, his father religion, and his color. He is deliberately adding fuel to the fears that some Americans have about color and the Muslims. He is also not all respectful. He is always tainted, glib and lacking substance. I wonder why he never bothered to write about white Europeans who are pleased about Obama's nomination. One thing you can always count on with Friedman his bias and poor journalism.

About as appalling a piece of journalism you could invent. All about the complete banality of a sycophant playing up to readers he hopes will keep paying him to throw out complete tripe. Still I guess he can go back to watching Gerry Springer when he is done.

I really enjoyed reading about our presidential campaign from the international perspective. This article gave me a feeling of hopefulness for our country's place in the world.

As an American living in Europe who watches Al-Jazeera, the best news station in the world, Friedman is right on. The entire world is thrilled with the prospect of Obama as our next president.

It is a good story in that it presents a snapshot in one country of the perception of the common man in another country. In a global context these stories also bring home to the US citizen how intertwined the lives of people around the world are and how important the world thinks having a good president of the us is.