Ambassador Barrett: A change in style for the USA

Ambassador Barbara Barrett visited the University of Tampere on 4 November.

On the morning of the US presidential elections, the American Ambassador to Finland, Ms. Barbara Barrett, is not making any bets on the outcome. She claims her crystal ball is clouded.

“In any case we are in for a change, whether the winner is McCain or Obama. The US government has not been adept in communicating with the rest of the world. That is sure to change. After the elections the President will need to sit down and draw up a plan for the withdrawal of the USA from Iraq once the local people have been trained to take care of their security and defence,” says Ambassador Barrett.

She is convinced that the next President will be more capable of making friends and taking care of relations.

Ambassador Barrett, who has been posted to Finland since May delivered a guest lecture in the Centre for North American Studies.

A native of Arizona, Ambassador Barrett knew John McCain some decades ago, and Barack Obama interrupted his election campaign in spring to interview ambassadors about to leave for their postings, including Ambassador Barrett.

Obama chairs a subcommittee of senators responsible for Northern Europe. He asked me about Finland before I was appointed. Prognoses regarding the outcome of the US presidential elections have swung back and forth in the weeks leading up to election day. Ambassador Barrett does not believe that the people going out to vote have greatly changed their opinions, but that the prognoses are based on different methods of calculations.”

“It is extremely important to have a good leader. But regarding the Senate the elections are really interesting: Will the Democrats gain sufficient additional seats, will they make the 60-seat majority needed to say what goes in the Senate's debates? Alaska, the state of Sarah Palin and Ted sevens could be decisive.”

Ambassador Barrett considers Obama's advantage to be that he had motivated people to turn out.

“Obama is new, and not a seasoned politician, he can turn out those pockets of apathy.”

The Ambassador is a Republican, but she read out a message from a friend campaigning for Obama at her lecture on the US elections to Tampere students.

Her Afro-American friend wrote how the days of racial discrimination are over; children, be they black or white, attend the same schools. Rich black people can be seen on television and everyone lives in the same kinds of houses.

“However,” writes her friend, “Even if the ‘Whites Only' sign is now a museum exhibit, those signs may well stick in people's memories.”

“We have talked and talked about the colour of the presidential candidates' skins and their personalities. But after the elections it will be time to discuss important matters. I hope that the new President will select for his administration decision-makers who are good and experienced experts. The USA is facing major problems from finance to energy, Iraq and Afghanistan. And terrorism is not behind us,” says the Ambassador and thanks the Finns for their co-operation in Afghanistan.

Interview Taina Repo
Translation Virginia Mattila
Photo Jonne Renvall