Cultural and Political image

With his Kenyan father and white American mother, his upbringing in Honolulu and Jakarta, and his Ivy¹ League education, Obama's early life experiences differ markedly from those of African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation² in the civil rights movement. Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough," Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that the debate is not about his physical appearance or his record on issues of concern to black voters. Obama said that "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong."

Echoing the inaugural³ address of John F. Kennedy, Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."

Many commentators⁴ mentioned Obama's international appeal as a defining factor for his public image. Not only did several polls show strong support for him in other countries, but Obama also established close relationships with prominent foreign politicians and elected officials even before his presidential candidacy, notably⁵ with then current British Prime minister Tony Blair, whom he met in London in 2005, with Italy's Democratic Party leader Walter Veltroni, who visited Obama's Senate office in 2005, and with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also visited him in Washington in 2006.

文化及政治形象

奥巴马的父亲来自肯尼亚，母亲为美国白人，他在檀香山和雅加达两地长大，就读于常青藤名校。他的这些早期经历与在二十世纪六十年代通过民权运动开拓自己事业领域的那些非洲裔美国政界人士明显不同。在关于他是否“够黑”这个问题上，奥巴马在全美黑人新闻工作者协会2007年8月的会议上表示，这样的争论与他的外表或者他对黑人选民问题的关注并无关系。他说：“我们到现在还在被那个固有的观念所影响，觉得受到白人的认可是不可能的。”

对于自己的年轻形象，奥巴马在2007年10月的一次竞选演讲中引用肯尼迪总统就职演说中的话说：“如果不是这个火炬在被一次次地传递到新一代的手上，我不会有这个机会的。”

很多评论家都认为奥巴马在国际上的受欢迎度在他的公众形象中起了决定性作用。他不仅在其他国家的几次民调中都得到了极高的支持率，而且在他成为总统候选人之前就与一些外国政要及在职官员关系密切。这其中就有2005年与奥巴马在伦敦会面、时任英国首相的托尼•布莱尔，同年拜访过奥巴马参议员办公室的意大利民主党领袖瓦尔特•维尔特洛尼，以及现任法国总统尼古拉斯•萨科奇，二人曾于2006年在华盛顿会过面。