The Press : Foreign Commentators Take On U.S. Elections

Columnists and editorial writers around the globe have virtually ceded next week’s U.S. presidential election to Gov. Bill Clinton--sometimes with regret over the prospect of losing from the world stage a man, President Bush, whom they perceive as much better versed in foreign affairs, sometimes with hope that Clinton would grow with the job.

Another powerful theme in the overseas press is concern over the back-seat role being played in the campaign by foreign affairs. A sampling:

“Unless a Third World War breaks out, or Martians infest the Earth from space or a holocaust of unspeakable proportions rolls over the universe before Nov. 3, William Clinton will be the next President of the United States. . . .

“I look at George Bush and somehow I feel he has lost sight of America and what the Liberty Bell stands for. I look at Ross Perot and I feel he belongs more to Carnegie Hall than to the White House. I look at Bill Clinton, and you get it right in the pit of the stomach. He’s the guy.”

--Columnist Teodoro Benigno

The Philippine Star , Manila

“A change can only do the USA good. Bush, the foreign policy pro, has not gotten a handle on the urgent economic and social problems of his country. Clinton, the domestic policy pro, will tackle them energetically. The healthier America is, the better for us. Such a big partner in chronic crisis hurts everyone. And Clinton’s foreign policy inexperience? The Democrats have many European and German experts at their disposal. They, and Clinton himself, will not tend to the partnership any less than Bush does.”

-- Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung

Essen, Germany

“The promised economic upswing is still waiting to happen. Unchanged are the jobs in danger, the bad schools, the high crime rate, the climbing costs of health care. . . . The anniversary of the Cuban crisis recalls the era in which Bush’s foreign policy achievements would have counted as a trump card. But after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism, the economic crisis has become the No. 1 concern. And the one with the better cards there is the one who has anything at all in the hand.”

-- General Anzeiger , Bonn

“Two candidates playing hide and seek, quarreling over whether they are going to debate, if they have to debate, when and where they have to debate; a third man who would like to be a candidate, then is not anymore, then is back again: The campaign for the American presidency leaves the European observer more and more perplexed. . . .

“If you add to this debate on debates the arguments used by both of them, bearing in turn on the fact that Bill Clinton succeeded in avoiding conscription at the time of the Vietnam War, or that George Bush is the person most responsible for the Gulf War . . . you find yourself wondering about the functioning of the largest democracy in the world.”

--Robert Verdussen

La Libre Belgique , Brussels

“The Republicans have been acting like a manufacturing company that thinks selling its product has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with marketing. Voters have had it up to here with this strategy. That is why, come January, George Bush may be moving out of the White House. Stop talking about what a nice paint job the car has, the electorate on both sides of the border has been saying, and start telling us what’s under the hood.”

-- The Globe and Mail , Toronto

“To their credit, both Ronald Reagan and George Bush stood by U.S. overseas commitments in spite of mounting pressures to turn inward, cut foreign aid dramatically and erect protectionist barriers. For better or for worse, both Presidents accorded foreign policy the primacy it has traditionally enjoyed in Washington. It is now obvious, however, that foreign policy successes do not produce votes in an economy characterized by mounting poverty and growing disenchantment. . . .

“In a Clinton Administration, American foreign policy will likely concentrate on aggressively opening up foreign markets for U.S. exports. American trade representatives will lean harder on the East and Southeast Asian countries--all of them enjoying healthy trade surpluses with the United States. They will put pressure for stricter enforcement of American patents, bigger concessions for American exports and exchange rates more favorable to American trade.”

--Columnist Alex Magno

The Manila Chronicle , Manila

“Clinton is the symbol of the baby boomers, of the ‘60s generation--that of his adolescence--and its values, which today is taking its revenge on the decade of the ‘80s with its grasping greed. . . .

“Clinton, the ‘comeback kid,’ is the candidate of renewal linked with the New Deal of Roosevelt and the New Frontier of Kennedy, against the crepuscular Bush. For a population where the average age is 32, the decision appears already made.”

-- Le Nouvel Observateur magazine, Paris

“As for the Europeans, they will wait for the result while keeping, with respect to George Bush, the admiring recognition merited by his foreign policy, and with respect to Bill Clinton, the watchful curiosity that his ability arouses.”

--Jean-Claude Casanova

L’Express magazine, Paris

“The presidency of the United States plays around a vision of the future. Clinton has understood this well and promises great changes: an industrial policy, employment policies, health, school and administrative reforms. He promises too many things and doesn’t explain clearly how he will finance them. But he knows what the Americans want to hear: that . . . a new generation of leaders can make tomorrow better than today.

“Bush, on the other hand, speaks the language of the past. When he says threateningly that from one moment to the next a great international crisis could explode . . . he doesn’t seem to realize that such a hypothesis seems improbable and remote to a TV audience. . . . Many Americans reply that there is already a crisis, but it’s one that Bush doesn’t see: an internal crisis, made up of recession, crime, racial tensions. . . .”

--Gaetano Scardocchia

La Stampa , Turin, Italy

“We think that when history judges this strange President (Bush), it will record that he, for at least a whole generation to come, asserted and solidified American interests in the Middle East. . . . We say this despite the unsettled results of the Gulf War and the extreme slowness of the Arab-Israeli peace talks. . . .

“What is so ridiculous is that after all of this, Bush may lose the elections. This is because his own nation is not convinced that the end of the Gulf War was the best it could be. On the other hand, people are now convinced . . . that Bush’s policies paved the way for the development of Iraqi ambition until the disaster occurred.”

--Zoha Bastami in Al-Hayat , London

“All indications are that President George Bush will not be reelected and that the Democratic candidate, Mr. Bill Clinton, will be the new President. Since the Democrats have backed the African National Congress and people like former Democratic Congressman Howard Wolpe have been a thorn in our sides for years, the prospect is not a very pleasing one. . . .

“Judging by the Democrats’ record on South Africa over the years, we believe it will be even tougher to deal with a Clinton Administration than it is to deal with Mr. Bush’s. The best thing would have been if we had told the Yanks to go home long ago. Since we didn’t, we have to put up with their interference until the new South Africa is in place.

“Hopefully, it will be a better new South Africa than anything the Americans have in mind.”

-- The Citizen

Johannesburg, South Africa

“As expected, the open debates by the presidential candidates focused on the economic reconstruction of American society. . . . Each of the candidates must tell voters that rebuilding the economy will entail costs and sacrifices. . . . As we viewed the debate, the candidates besides Perot made only pleasant-sounding pledges but didn’t go so far as to ask Americans to endure pain. . . .

“We were disappointed that foreign affairs were hardly discussed. . . . We had hoped the candidates would debate how America will fulfill its role of world leadership in the post-Cold War era.”

-- Yomiuri Shimbun , Tokyo

“With foreign policy, we know the course President Bush will take. His track record is clear: Stay focused on the Middle East. Protect American interests abroad. Keep a watchful eye on the global nuclear buildup. Increase relations with China and the states of the former Soviet Union. Develop better trade relations with Japan, Germany and Great Britain so that the United States may reap greater benefits.

“But if Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton takes the foreign policy reins, many fear the worst. International leaders often cringe at the thought of this young Kennedy-clone with a Southern drawl in one of the world’s highest positions. It’s basically a situation where kings, presidents and dictators know what they’re paying for with Bush but aren’t ready to spend one riyal (the Saudi currency) on Clinton. . . . “(However) if Bill Clinton is elected as President it is not going to spark the end of the world. . . . Every President has to take on new roles.”

-- Arab News , Riyadh

“Busy with the national economy (Bill Clinton) will give Israel a free hand to continue its policy of occupation and Judaization in the occupied territories. This requires a new Arab position; a review of current Arab policy with a view to examining the means by which Clinton’s policy can be confronted and the absolute support for Israel that he shares with his predecessors can be limited.”

--Palestinian commentator Hatem Husseini

Al Quds Al Arabi, London

“If Mr. Clinton wins this election, the White House will be occupied by a pragmatic moderate with a talent for building diverse coalitions. After the ideological infighting of the past decade, this could prove a recipe for constructive change.”

--Columnist Michale Prowse

The Financial Times , London

“In broad terms, Bush is losing because of the economy and suffering the revenge of an American electorate totally unused to Europe’s routine belt-tightening. . . .

“(Clinton’s) major problem will be in holding down the voracious demand of liberals and minorities who have been silent supporters in the run for presidential power. For George Bush, such issues are purely academic. After Nov. 3 he will be more concerned with rolling up the carpets and finding Millie a new kennel. The so-called Reagan-Bush revolution is over.”

--Political editor George Gordon

The Daily Mail , London

“As an American, I would never vote for George Bush, but as an Israeli I want Bush to be reelected. The reason is simple. . . . Whatever his shortcomings, Bush is an expert of the first degree on our issues. He knows all the players, and he decided that it was in America’s interests to press now for Israel-Arab and Israel-Palestinian peace. If reelected, he can continue this effort. And because the American Constitution will not permit him to run again, he will be free of all pressure . . . including the ‘Israeli lobby.’ In contrast, Bill Clinton has no experience in international affairs and even less on Israel-Arab issues. . . . So I hope the Americans will do what I would not do in their place--vote for Bush.”

--Israeli journalist Uri Avneri in Haaretz , Tel Aviv

“This turn for the better in relations with the United States, the end of the Cold War (is) tied to Mr. Bush in the popular perception. Given the current instability in Russia the conservative approach--don’t rock an already unstable boat--seems prevailing, and Bush is good enough as far as the man on the street is concerned.

“But this attitude is not shared by the experts. The more closely one deals with U.S.-Russian relations, the more one seems to prefer Mr. Clinton. The chief reasoning here is, Clinton could be the first U.S. President not belonging to the Cold War generation. Therefore his arrival would mean a new generation of possibly more dynamic leaders in the White House and around it. This is not to say that Mr. Bush is a rusty Cold Warrior, but his entourage includes such persons, although it does not consist of them entirely.”

--Georgy A. Arbatov, director of the U.S.A.-Canada Institute, Moscow

in interview by The Times

“The failure of the ‘American way of life’--disguised as stability financed by an enormous deficit that threatens to explode as soon as the world economy undergoes a new era of turbulence--requires rapid reform of the U.S. financial system that only Clinton has dared to talk about. Obviously, Americans need a President who is worried about them and not obsessed with governing the rest of the world.”

-- El Universal, Mexico City

“As far as Clinton’s patriotism, Bush falls into the classic trap of the presidency: identifying presidential policies with the highest aims of the nation or with ‘the nation’ itself. It is certain that in the lamentable presidential system of government that was invented by the United States (and which we copy in Latin America), the same person is at once the head of state and head of government. Demagogues take advantage of the situation to impose their policies and brand the opposition unpatriotic.”

--Columnist Antonio Haas

Excelsior , Mexico City