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Last Monday, the debate circus hit Berlin. Granted, actual presidential candidates had scheduling issues, but worthy proxies showed up at the Amerika Haus on Hardenbergstraße.

For the Dems, Jerry Gerber and Michael Steltzer, press secretary and chair of Democrats Abroad Berlin respectively, stepped into the ring. Republicans Abroad Germany sent vice-chair Stefan Prystawik and lawyer Paul Kiefer. Sadly, the format ensured that direct exchanges were kept to a minimum. Moderator Michael S. Cullen granted each side amble time for long monologues but little for an actual debate.

As was to be expected, the predominantly German audience in the packed to capacity auditorium was totally in the tank for Obama. Requests by Cullen to refrain from applauding were largely ignored, in fact the audience behaved very Un-German and made constant noises to indicate their support or disapproval.

Both sides mostly stuck to the usual talking points in their remarks, “McCain=Bush”, “Obama voted 94 times to increase taxes” and the like. It only got interesting when topics not discussed at the real debates came up.

The Republicans appeared to be on the defensive most of time. Especially Gerber visibly enjoyed taking shot after shot at John McCain and the Reps. Example: “McCain even seemed to have forgotten the name of current president. I’m older than he is, I know what it’s like”

Prystawik appeared to sense some ungratefulness in the audience given that “Berlin is the city that over the years has profited the most from Republican presidents.” This remark generated the most vivid discussion of the night, with Don Jordon, a journalist who was also on stage, pointing out that while there are a “John F. Kennedy High School, a John F. Kennedy square and a John F. Kennedy-Institute” in Berlin, Ronald Reagan, who “practically abolished the Wall”, is not honored in any way. Needless to say, the crowd was not pleased.

The ensuing question period was roughly equally split between fairly thoughtful questions and painful idiocy. Apparently, the intellectually challenged also feel the need to voice their opinions. The low point was a very German moron who with a pathetic attempt at irony proclaimed, “I’m about as educated as a citizen of the Midwest!”.

A more sensible audience member touched on the importance of race in the campaign, leading both Gerber and Jordan to remark that they believe Obama would have a hard time getting elected to high office in Germany because of his skin color.

All in all, nothing particularly new or earthshaking, but it was nice to see Germans so engaged for a change. Stefan Prystawik told us afterwards it’s because Germans and Americans are “way too similar”. But maybe it was only the wind chill 35°C inside the auditorium.

The debate was part of the series “Wie wählt Amerika?“, organized by the Initiative Amerika Haus Berlin. The series will continue this Wednesday, October 22nd, at 7pm with “Die Außenpolitik des neuen Präsidenten. Was die Welt von Obama oder McCain erwarten darf”,  Hardenbergstraße 22-24, 10623 Berlin.