As you might imagine, the 2008 US Presidential elections have received even greater attention than usual on the African continent because one of the two major candidates is a man of rather proximate African descent. Barack Obama's father is from the Luo tribe of Kenya; Obama's Kenyan half-brother became a focal point at a particular moment in the campaign.
I would venture to say that most Africans see Obama's campaign as a sign of hope and encouragement, and would like to see him become the next president of the United States. When I point out to them Obama's unqualified support for legalized abortion, his express intention to overturn the ban on partial-birth abortion, and his opposition to legislation in Illinois to protect infants born alive after an abortion attempt, however, they are shocked. Perhaps one incident will serve to illustrate this.
The other day two female Zimbabwean soldiers serving as part of the neaby UN peace-keeping forces stopped by the compound where I am staying to get some water; they were experiencing temporary difficulties with the water system at their camp. I happened to be washing my clothes near the faucet, so we struck up a friendly conversation. The topic of the US presidential elections came up, and particularly the candidacy of Barack Obama. The women were incredulous, though, when we discussed his position on abortion. They clearly regarded abortion as the killing of an innocent child, and as such self-evidently evil. There was no question about this in their minds. We completely agreed that abortion cannot be considered a legitimate means for the advancement for women.
That is the response that I have experienced over and over again in my conversations here. Perhaps because of their closeness to nature, and the absence of a kind of intellectual sophistication (in the "sophistical" sense of that word) that enables people who think they're smart to deny obvious facts, people in developing countries can immediately recognize the moral heinousness of abortion.
And while the legacy of President Bush is generally regarded as questionable (a judgement with which, on some points, I would agree), in some sectors of Africa he is regarded positively. A Sudanese priest who works in the field of peace and justice told me that the fate of Southern Sudan during the civil war that ended in 2005 took a decisive turn for the better with the election of George W. Bush. His sustained pressure on Khartoum helped to turn the tide. And an aid worker in Kenya told me that while all that Bill Clinton ever sent them was condoms, under the Bush administration his organization received enough funds to pay the salaries of more than 40 employees who are working on behalf of the poor.
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