Yes, it's true. Most Germans - most Europeans in general - would like to see Barack Obama as America's next president. In Germany, there even is something like Obama Fever going around. What caused this epidemic? Probably that this man is a completely different kind of politician, completely different from George W. Bush, who never had many fans in Germany anyway. But something even sets him apart from most other American politicians, including John McCain and Hillary Clinton - not to mention German politicians.

Obama's style, both personal and political, is stunning. People look to him and pin their hopes on him - at least on this side of the Atlantic - like they did toward John F. Kennedy. And people believe that as president, Obama would stand for the idealized America that Germans and other Europeans yearn for - an America they could - unlike during the Bush years - love and admire again.

With so many coming down with "Obamania," one can easily lose sight of the trade policy Obama would probably follow. All his statements suggest that, once elected, he would install a thoroughly protectionist one. That would hit Germany, the world's export champion, hard. Asian countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and India would take it squarely on the chin - no less so the United States' southern neighbor Mexico, which with Canada and the U.S., constitutes the NAFTA free trade zone.

Many people in the U.S., who unfortunately are often poorly informed or even deliberately misinformed by those with vested interests, do not believe, for example, that their country benefits from free trade but that only "the others" do. According to a survey by Fortune Magazine, that is the opinion of 68 percent of the adult American population.

In the midst of this public mood and with more economic difficulties in sight, Obama recently said at a campaign rally in California, "One factory after the other closes its doors and do we stand idly by?" "No, not this time! We're going to do something about it!"

It's easy to find plenty of statements that smack of protectionism from Obama - more than from any other candidate. And many are critical of globalization. He is riding a wave of public opinion on the issue. Even Hillary Clinton, once a moderate free-trader, said in December that if elected, she would "review all free trade agreements." The United States had benefited from free trade in the past century, she admitted but added that was no guarantee for the future. "We will have to see what works and what doesn't." That means exporting countries can expect tough times ahead.