I’ve recently spend some time in Europe (Germany, Luxembourg, France) on a short vacation trip and noticed that the number of American tourists has decreased markedly, surely due to the expensive Euro. Another thing I’ve noticed when talking to my European friends and acquaintances is that almost all of them look forward to change in U.S. leadership. Most Americans that do not travel overseas have no idea how much America’s image abroad has suffered under Bush/Cheney. Electing a person of mixed racial background would re-assure many European that America still is  a maverick nation that can provide some kind of moral leadership. Conversely, McCain is seen as the status-quo candidate and it is not easy for Europeans to understand that after 8 years of disastrous foreign policy decisions the current presidential race is even close. Several of my friends said that this is surely due to the fact that Obama has the wrong skin color, and that’s probably a correct assessment. If John McCain were elected president many Europeans would be further alienated by finding their assumptions about racism in the U.S. society confirmed.