According to the European commentariat, the US is full of hypocrisy, racism and bigotry. To disprove this, it must elect Barack Obama, not for his conspicuous political history of vision, leadership, accomplishments and experience, but for what he means for others — an African-American, and the popular choice of European latte drinkers. Elect him because of the turnout at his Berlin summer speech, not because he is the most qualified man to lead America (and the world) through perilous times.

This attitude reflects the new politics of the age. Voting is about identity, hope and fantasies of affirmative action — not about substance, experience or policies. This says nothing of Obama’s qualifications to be president. He may be the best we can hope for. But in the minds of many, Obama should become president because President George W. Bush’s successor should be liked by most of the free world of which he will be leader. Obama scores high in popularity indexes across the West. Should Americans not follow suit?

Some Americans seem to agree. In countless conversations over recent months, I heard it far and wide, up and down the eastern seaboard, in the conservative south and the Midwest: America needs to restore its image in the world — and no doubt, an Obama victory would deliver, at least in the short term.

This is not America’s problem alone. An Israeli commentator recently conveyed a feeling that seems to be widespread there. If Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni succeeded in forming the next government, he told me, she would join a woman Knesset speaker, Dalia Itzik, and a woman Supreme Court president, Dorit Beinisch. This would be unprecedented in Israel’s history and a first in the West as well. “Cute” is how he defined the prospect.