By Vanna Vannuccini

Translated By Annie Batten

August 19th, 2008



Italy - La Repubblica - Original Article (Italian)

New York - At least in Hollywood Barack Obama can be sure to get the better of his Republican rival John McCain. The Democrats’ convention will open on Monday the 25th in Denver with a parade of stars: from Scarlett Johansson to Warren Beatty, Quentin Tarantino to Susan Sarandon, there will be more celebrities for Obama than there were eight years ago in Los Angeles for Al Gore. George Clooney, Madonna and Matt Damon could be on the list, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow, who has already filmed a commercial in which she invites her fellow expatriates, Americans who live abroad, to vote for Obama. McCain on the other hand, doesn’t have much luck in the world of cinema and music: Angelina Jolie, on whom the Republicans had set their sights, has said that she hasn’t yet chosen her preferred candidate; and even attempts to recruit in the traditional sphere of country music has only led to one supporter so far in Gretchen Wilson.

After a week’s holiday, of which his rival McCain took full advantage, strutting around in front of the media and showing off all his experience (but also his belligerence) in terms of foreign policy (the crisis in Georgia offering a perfect opportunity), Barack Obama came back to the electoral campaign with two objectives. Firstly, to win back the points lost over the last few days and, secondly, to organize a convention which, apart from giving him an official stamp of approval after the recent controversy with Hillary (who along with Bill and even daughter Chelsea, will play a key role in Denver), will manage to emphasize the ‘Americanness’ of a candidate who is so different from the mainstream: a black man, the son of a Kenyan and a white American mother, who grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia.

Obama appears fully confident: “I will win, don’t worry about that” he said during three rallies in California in which he collected some 7.8 million dollars. But he admitted that it will be an uphill battle. “It would be nice to think that after 8 years of economic disaster and foolish foreign policies, after a war which should never have been started and which has cost thousands of millions of dollars, people would say: let’s send them home. But things aren’t that simple. When a government has served its country badly for so long, people become cynical. They don’t want to know anymore. They can’t take anymore from politicians, they’ve seen that no promises have been kept and they’re more likely to believe bad things than good things.”


The first member to convince those of the electorate who are still confused about Obama’s background will be his wife Michelle, who, on the first day, will show voters a first family that is different from any other they have seen so far, whilst emphasizing the fact that they fulfill the American dream. “We are American history,” she will be able to tell them. “America tells you: study and do the best you can. We have done this and now we’re ready to achieve part of Martin Luther King’s dream.”

Fundamental to the success of the strategy will be the choice of a vice president capable of compensating for Obama’s perceived weaknesses, the first being his lack of experience. The names of the contenders are top secret but amongst the most popular is the 65 year old senator Joseph Bidden Jr, an expert on foreign policy, who is currently on a mission in Georgia. Yesterday, however, the Democratic Party staff announced that the ex-vice president Al Gore, who has, until now, kept his distance from the two rival Obama/Clinton camps, will also speak at the convention. Could he also be a potential vice president?