Are Americans voters understanding that the U.S. really does exist within a larger global sphere, and is that new awareness beginning to influence their political choices?
For example, while there are other reasons to explain the public's growing support for Rudy and Obama, they do seem to be defying the usual drag of American political gravity. Perhaps it's their 'immigrant' heritage that's giving them a lift?
Obama is an American with both a foreign national father and personal experience as an immigrant in a foreign land--Indonesia. Also, Obama has represented Chicago--a leading immigrant center in America.
Giuliani is the former mayor of what some in America refer to as the Republic of New York--a City that prides itself on being the capitol of the world and a leading immigrant mecca. And Giuliani's own grandparents were part of that great tide of Southern European immigrants that splashed onto U.S. shores in the early 1900's.
American politicians often communicate either disinterest or extreme awkwardness in regards to dealing with international issues and leaders.
But I get the sense that neither Rudy or Obama fear the outside world. They appear to have a better sense of the world, its peoples and its aspirations.
Perhaps, that's why Rudy can easily engage leaders from across the globe and advise them on governance and public safety. This is also perhaps why Senator Barack Obama saw the mistake of the Iraq War and its consequences before he ever joined his colleagues in the U.S. Senate.
While neither Obama or Rudy is technically an immigrant, they're both recent products of America's glorious immigrant story. They have the immigrant saga in their souls and they both sport its sensibility. Both see a world directly tied to America through the bonds of family and commerce.
Both, I suspect, see a world waiting for an American leader that can lead America and the world.
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