Spain Believes That Zapatero is Similar to Obama
Barack Husein Obama is now the 44 th president of the United States. It is a historical moment that has elevated all expectations across the world, not only because of the democrat??s ethnicity but also because of his character and message.
Spain has speculated a lot about the similarities-of message and conduct- that exists between the new president Obama and the Spanish president Zapatero.
Pamela Rolfe, correspondent in Spain from the Washington Post and Antonio Garcia Ferreras, director of ??La Sexta? television station, describe in radiocable.com the similarities and differences that appear between both governmental presidents.
For Pamela Rolfe, Barack Obama is, because of his personal trajectory and his formation, a unique, brilliant and original figure and sees no resemblance of Zapatero outside of a few superficial coincidences. She considers that the North American president has been able to restore faith to the people during the campaign, something she does not believe has occurred in Spain. She also thinks that Obama is ??post-partisan,? someone who is not trying to polemicize, nor create more divisions. ??Which means that Obama is much more profound, expansive and honest? because of this she believes he can not be compared to any politician in Europe. [© photo:Irene Medina]
Antonio Garcia Ferreras, in his part, cites a few of the coincidences that both presidents share: they were born the same day with a year difference, both are very familiar and have two daughters and share passions such as literature by Borges and basketball. But he also considers similarities in character and in his trajectory: both are cordial, but somewhat distant, both know how to remain in calmness and serenity, even under circumstances of tension and instability, both were able to gain power in their parties being a bit of a reformist rebel and without counting on the power structure by their side? and both have known how to integrate there rivals in their teams -Bono, in the case of Zapatero and Hillary Clinton, in the case of Obama- instead of trying to destroy them.
