Cultural and Political image

With his Kenyan father and white American mother, his upbringing in Honolulu and Jakarta, and his Ivy League education, Obama's early life experiences differ markedly from those of African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement. Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough," Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that the debate is not about his physical appearance or his record on issues of concern to black voters. Obama said that "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong."

Echoing the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy, Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."

Many commentators mentioned Obama's international appeal as a defining factor for his public image. Not only did several polls show strong support for him in other countries, but Obama also established close relationships with prominent foreign politicians and elected officials even before his presidential candidacy, notably with then current British Prime minister Tony Blair, whom he met in London in 2005, with Italy's Democratic Party leader Walter Veltroni, who visited Obama's Senate office in 2005, and with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also visited him in Washington in 2006.

文化及政治形象

奧巴馬的父親來自肯尼亞，母親為美國白人，他在檀香山和雅加達兩地長大，就讀于常青藤名校。他的這些早期經歷與在二十世紀六十年代通過民權運動開拓自己事業領域的那些非洲裔美國政界人士明顯不同。在關于他是否“夠黑”這個問題上，奧巴馬在全美黑人新聞工作者協會2007年8月的會議上表示，這樣的爭論與他的外表或者他對黑人選民問題的關注并無關系。他說：“我們到現在還在被那個固有的觀念所影響，覺得受到白人的認可是不可能的。”

對于自己的年輕形象，奧巴馬在2007年10月的一次競選演講中引用肯尼迪總統就職演說中的話說：“如果不是這個火炬在被一次次地傳遞到新一代的手上，我不會有這個機會的。”

很多評論家都認為奧巴馬在國際上的受歡迎度在他的公眾形象中起了決定性作用。他不僅在其他國家的幾次民調中都得到了極高的支持率，而且在他成為總統候選人之前就與一些外國政要及在職官員關系密切。這其中就有2005年與奧巴馬在倫敦會面、時任英國首相的托尼?布萊爾，同年拜訪過奧巴馬參議員辦公室的意大利民主黨領袖瓦爾特?維爾特洛尼，以及現任法國總統尼古拉斯?薩科奇，二人曾于2006年在華盛頓會過面。

（英語點津Helen編輯）

 

（來源：維基百科/Yahoo 英語點津編輯）