Why the Germans Favor Kerry
By Prof. Jeffrey M. Peck

Recently, I spoke to parliamentarians in Germany about the American presidential election. I have also been following the German press closely. One cannot but be struck by the inordinate interest in this particular election. Of course, Germans care about what happens in the United States, especially after an acrimonious breakdown of U.S.-German relations over the American invasion of Iraq. Many politicians on both sides of the Atlantic claim, rather optimistically, that the damage will not affect long-term German-American relations. To many as well, Kerry's election would contribute to the improving situation between the two countries. However, in a recent Spiegel online interview (October 25, 2004), Karsten Voigt, Coordinator for German-American Cooperation, emphasized, "Kerry würde weniger ändern, als die Deutschen denken." [Kerry would change less than the Germans think.]

To be sure, Kerry's policies would need to represent American interests, no matter how open he claims to be towards Europe, our Allies, and the world in his anti-Bush rhetoric. And as for Iraq, of course the battle there would still need to be won, even with Kerry's sharp criticism of Bush's entry into the Iraq War and the President's subsequent policies in the aftermath of America's Pyrrhic victory there. Kerry's welcomed multilateralism on Iraq as well as on other global political and economic matters would mean less single-minded actions and more openness to different and diverging opinions. Of course, like the Europeans, he is against the death penalty, for a woman's right to choose, and for gun control. And it is perhaps no surprise that "even" a popular German women's magazine, Brigitte, features an article about how Kerry's election would change the status of women.

Still, even taking into account the general agreement on social policies and his willingness to hear the Allies' points of view (even if they disagree), Kerry's appeal is as much about character and integrity as it is about his political stance. To be multilateral is to be pluralistic, open to other points of view and willing to be self-critical and even admit mistakes. My sense of German attitudes towards a U.S. president points to a strong concern with what I would call character, including style as much as substance, tone as much as theme. I don't think one can underestimate this dimension, especially how important it is for the Europeans when dealing with American might.

In my mind, Kerry is popular with the Europeans not only, as Voigt rightly states, because "die Sprache eines Mannes von der Ostküste [ihnen] näher als die eines Südstaatlers liegt," [the language of a man from the East Coast is more familiar to them than that of a man from the Southern states] but also because of how he thinks, expresses and presents himself as a person of character, independent of his regional origins. Of course, I may be prejudiced because I am an East Coaster myself who has spent considerable time in Europe. But I also supported Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, Democrats from the South, whose positions were reasoned, balanced and differentiated, rather than absolutes framed only in blacks and whites. These differences are not about region, but rather about the ability to frame complicated arguments without simplifying them, to question oneself without undermining one's own authority and to recognize weakness without being made to feel one is a liberal "sissy." This is anathema to Bush and central to Kerry and Europeans respond to these differences, preferring the multi-faceted view to the Manichean one.

Without wanting to attribute generalities of character to Germans, the parliamentary system and the requirements of the educational system (for example, political civic education [politische Bildung]) have, in my opinion contributed to an appreciation of nuance in differentiating political rhetoric. In particular, since 1945, Germans have been extremely sensitive to demagoguery and blatant ideologues, prone to questioning authority displayed for its own sake, and willing to make a space for affect and emotion even from men. The black-and-white rhetoric of Bush and his party, disdaining any questioning or critique as weak - let's not forget Republican Governor Schwarzenegger's derisive comments on the subject of "girlie men" at the Republican convention -- is disquieting to them. To Germans, Kerry's multilateral worldview offers a closer approximation of how they see the world and their place in it, without the stigma of being labeled weak and "old."

A President Kerry may in fact, as many commentators have already noted, demand more of Germany than the present administration if he succeeds in convening a summit about Iraq and instituting more multilateral initiatives. However, a President Kerry, who was schooled in Europe, has a wife of international background, and understands politics as a "liberal" in a sense of the word familiar to Europeans (he is supported by Germans across the political spectrum), will also be able to be a better partner to the Germans. While in the United States emphasis on Kerry's background and pedigree (no more elite than George W. Bush's) plays less well than clearing sagebrush and mending fences on the ranch do, his elite Swiss-boarding school background does not hurt Kerry in Europe. Where Americans focus on the fact that at times, especially early in the campaign, he is stiff and less folksy and neighborly than his Texan opponent, Europeans see Kerry as sophisticated and stately in his demeanor, to which Germans respond well. He also had to compromise on presenting complicated issues more simply for the sake of connecting to the voters.

Yes, Kerry is more like a European; his grandfather apparently was even a Central European Jew. Germans and Europeans returned repeatedly, in part under the problematic influence of Michael Moore, to how "cowboy" Bush plays in America's imagination of itself. For the Americans, European heritage has become less and less familiar as the origins of our population shifted to Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the appeal of John Kerry to Germans is due in part to the fact that they see in him (and his politics) a bit of themselves.

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Jeffrey M. Peck is a Senior Research Fellow at AICGS.

This essay appeared in the October 28, 2004 AICGS Advisor. ................................................................................................
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.