Interessen for Barack Obama tar helt av i Berlin. Spiegel Online dekker besøket som en fotballkamp, med live-ticker! Tusenvis av nysgjerrige skal være på vei til Seierssøylen, der presidentkandidaten skal holde tale (se plakat).

OPPDATERING 25. juli: 200.000 møtte altså opp for å høre Obamas tale. Det kan ingen annen politiker klare i dag. Obama er blitt en projeksjonsflate mennesker verden over tar i bruk til sine formål; der ligger hans enorme appell, en appell som favner langt flere grupper enn bare amerikanske “liberals” og europeiske venstreorienterte. Dersom han blir valgt, blir utvilsomt mange skuffet når hverdagen melder seg med demokratiets uunngåelige, utilfredsstillende kompromisser. Legg også merke til at ingen klappet i Berlin da Obama kom til sin Afghanistan-politikk (mer tropper, sterkere innsats, ikke nedtrapping, slik mange i Tyskland og Norge vil). Obama, den første virkelig globale politikeren?

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many. Together, we must forge trade that truly rewards the work that creates wealth, with meaningful protections for our people and our planet. This is the moment for trade that is free and fair for all. This is the moment we must help answer the call for a new dawn in the Middle East. My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace. And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close. This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations – including my own – will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one. And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust – not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Dagbladet har oversatt deler av talen til norsk.

Et PS: Luftbroen var et gjennomgående tema i talen. Hvis du er i Berlin før 21. september, sørg for å få med deg utstillingen om den amerikanske fotografen Henry Ries og Luftbroen på Deutsches Historisches Museum. En gjennomført flott og vellykket utstilling på et av Berlins aller beste museer.