Anybody But Bush.(World Affairs)(George W. Bush)

Byline: Stryker McGuire; With Christopher Werth In London, Antonio Oliveira E Silva In Paris And Katka Krosnar In Prague

Europeans donat know much about the race for the U.S. presidency. But they know whom they donat like.

The people of Iowa and New Hampshire donat spend their days worrying about what Europe thinks. And ordinarily Europeans are happily ignorant of the affairs of Iowans and New Hampshirites. But itas been a different story the last few weeks. Journalists from Madrid to Helsinki have been covering the minutest to-ings and fro-ings of the 2008 American presidential campaign. Theyave reported on how Iowans abraveda the elements to get to their caucuses. (Not that there has been anything particularly brutal about this yearas Iowa winter.) Theyave explained what a caucus is. (aI believe itas a Native American word,a a BBC correspondent saidacorrectly.) They went on to New Hampshire, joining their U.S. counterparts in the premature coronation of the junior senator from Illinois. BARACK OBAMAaS INCREDIBLE JOURNEY, said the early-edition front page of Londonas Independent on Wednesday morning, after Hillary Clinton emerged victorious.

Until now the 2008 election has meant one thing, and one thing only, to most Europeans: the departure of George W. Bush. But ahead of Feb. 5, when 24 states hold primaries or caucuses, Bushas would-be successors are suddenly grabbing the attention of Europeans. In their diversity and eccentricities, the principal candidates still in the running are portrayed in the European media as wonderful characters straight out of Main Street, U.S.A. aThere is no better piece of political theater than whatas going on in America at the moment,a says Jeremy OaGrady, editor in chief of The Week in London.

The European press has the cast list down pat. Bill Clinton was Europeas favorite president since John F. Kennedy, and the European press is casting Hillary as an ultracompetent professional. Itas almost as kind to Obama, who is described as a charismatic son of the great American melting pot, and to John Edwards, slick Southern defender of the little people against the big corporations. The Republicans are getting very different treatment. Mitt Romney is painted as a pretty face and, ahem, a Mormon; Mike Huckabee as a creationist evangelical who taps into secular Europeas fears about mixing religion and politics; Fred Thompson as an actor-senator only dimly reminiscent of Ronald Reagan. Rudy Giulianias narrowly focused campaign as wanna-be warrior in ...