Yes, there is a world on the other side of the Atlantic!

Being in America can means that you almost detach yourself from what’s happening around the world. So, as the Presidential Election of 2008 gets a little overboard, and Senator Obama’s speeches gets a little repetitive (Yes Michelle, we know that your husband, above all, is a good man!), I just thought it would be nice to give it all a little break, and look on the other side of the Atlantic…

But more than anything, it is Tony. Yes, I am a Blairite, and a blatant one at that.

Tony Blair wants the EU Presidency. Yes, you heard that right. If that sounds ironical since Tony comes from a country that is not yet clear about where it stands on the union, think about poor old Gordon. After ten years of having Tony take all the credit for his economics and have a ringside view of it all from 11 Downing, he might have him now in Brussels. And damn, as America tries to imagine a Bill and Hillary saga in the White House, the prospect of Brown in London and Tony in Brussels, with every detail being split wide open in the often- raucous British (!) media is pretty terrifying. Hate Tony, Love Tony, but man, he is front page material.

More than the Browns of the world, we need the Tonys, the Obamas and the Sarkozies. They make politics sexy, civic engagement fashionable and keep democracy exciting. As a Political Science/ European Studies major, they make my life a little easier and give me an opportunity sometimes to get on dinner conversations. Otherwise in a city of SoHo and Williamsburg, you have to be kidding me if you are into politics. You rather be a fashionista.

And yes, now we come to Nicholas Sarkozy. Following the Democratic primaries has meant that I have not been following up on him real close. But I realize the pull of Sarkosphere is probably too incredible to be ignorant. Apparently, he has endorsed Tony Blair’s candidacy. And by all measures by the way, Carla Bruni’s No Promises is a beautiful album.

But I am scared of one thing. With this high profile marriage, or the insistence on the endorsing of David Martinon for the Mayorship of Neuilly even though the polls might suggest otherwise, and being perennially the headlines, he might end up wasting the unprecedented mandate he has to make history with reforms. Reforms is ironically what he came promising…

But it would be foolish to come to any conclusion as early as now. I don’t know a lot, but I know that it would be just naïve to think he does not know what he is doing. An example of the Sarkozy political brilliance would be when the French president was asked how he could justify holidaying on a private plane belonging to French industrialist, Vincent Bolore. He cheekily retorted, “What would you prefer? That I travel at the tax payer’s expense.”

They don’t teach you that in a Politics class. That is talent. Sheer talent.