The political education of Speck

Like many people in the US, and all around the world for that matter, Tim and I are following the US presidential elections very closely. Tim has more time to stay current with the news (this is especially impressive if you know how informed he kept himself while he was working), and we discuss the latest developments eagerly. Given the extreme interest in this topic in Germany, I've been working with my staff to organize a series of election events - we bring American experts together with German audiences to explain the process, discuss key issues, etc. This will continue even beyond November 4, as we then get to analyze the likely impact on US-German relations of the new administration. And most importantly, seeing how frustrated Germans are with Bush and how eagerly they're hoping for an Obama victory, we'll do a series in January/February on "transition" - i.e., whether it's Obama or McCain, don't expect changes overnight.

Last week Tim and I went to a fantastic discussion organized jointly by the Embassy and the German Marshall Fund. We listened to a German journalist based in Washington, an American foreign policy expert, and an American economist talk about the elections. It's so interesting to hear well-informed people discuss both the issues and the other factors involved in the election. We then had dinner with a couple who live in our neighborhood on Saturday - of course, the conversation turned to politics. And just today, I attended a conference to listen to a couple of fabulous speakers (the government affairs directors for the NAACP and the American Jewish Committee) talk about racial/ethnic minority communities and the election. Again, fascinating stuff.

With all of this, I seriously wonder if it could wind up impacting Speck. We've read a few things about people having an affinity for particular pieces of music or other sounds they were exposed to in utero. Could we be developing a political pundit by bringing Speck along to all these discussions? Or maybe just a well-informed citizen who's interested in politics? I wonder...