Moscow’s ex-pat Democrats jubilant at Obama triumph
05 November, 2008, 07:30
The U.S. election result has reverberated around the world, with Obama supporters in Moscow among those celebrating the victory.
Andrew Hardisty, the Acting Chair of Democrats Abroad Russia, said: "As an American living abroad, an important thing for me is the status and respect and esteem which people used to hold America in, we may see some of that return.
Young Russians supporting Obama also think that his election will bring a much needed change to relations between Moscow and Washington, while John McCain, they say, just wanted a new Cold War.
“McCain was asked if Russia was an ‘evil empire’ and he said ‘maybe’. I mean come on,” said blues musician Vovka Kozhekin. “He's still got this cold war mentality and thinks that Russians are against him personally. I'm just afraid of this guy.”
It seems that for young Muscovites, Obama represents a politician of a new generation, bringing hope of breaking old patterns between Russia and the West.
Russian-born Afro-American Samson, an avid Obama fan, thinks that Obama's foreign policy will be more Russia-friendly.
He said: “America he will be more concerned with internal problems and will be less belligerent towards the rest of the world. Obama is likely to continue NATO's eastwards expansion but it will be less aggressive.”
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