For Germans, there is simply no choice. Already in the Obama vs. McCain election, or in the Gore vs. Bush election, people thought that the choice was beyond obvious (and were flabberghasted that the Republican candidate received more than 5% of votes). This is because mainstream German politicians, even far-from-center right-wing ones, cannot get away with proposing even one of the things the Republican party is proposing. The political landscape is completely different.

Across all party lines, Germans hold these truths to be self-evident:

• Universal health care is essential (in Germany since 1883)
• Education should be free in order to guarantee equal chances.
• The poor and unemployed are so because of bad luck or hard times or unscrupulous corporations, usually not through any fault of their own, so they deserve our solidarity and support.
• The idea of "pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps" is usually as unworkable as the picture suggests.
• Rich people are no job creators, so they don't deserve tax privileges. The German right-wing will support lowering nonwage labor costs, while the German left-wing thinks that the economy is doing great as it is and that more support should go to the little man.
• There is no alternative to cooperation between nations. Even though the UN is not perceived as wildly successful, nobody would suggest that they're obsolete. Similarly, nobody would suggest that Germany, or any nation, could or should isolate itself.
• Data privacy is a major concern. Google was unprepared for the fervour with which people claimed this right.
• Death penalty is uncivilized. So is widespread gun ownership.
• War is always wrong. Torture is always wrong, even if you re-define it.
• Climate change is a major threat. Germany is one of the most environmentalist countries in the world.
• Contraception and abortion are facts of life.
• LGBT people are normal members of society. In fact, our foreign minister is in a registered partnership with his husband.

Add to that that Germans are less fervently religious (few people have even heard of the idea of Creationism) and that politicians referring to God in their speeches make people uncomfortable by reminding them of the time of crusades. If a German politician mentioned Germany as often as many American politicians mention America in their speeches, the world would be getting ready for another war. Politics are different right down to the way politicians communicate. Obama doesn't communicate like a German politician (German politicians' speeches are boring and not followed by the general public), but he leaves out most of the religious & patriotic rhetoric that people find hard to stomach, and the "us vs. them". When visiting Germany, he even does his research and adds a lot of local references to his speeches, endearing himself to the locals without thereby giving ground on America's interests.

People are disappointed in Obama, at least equally so as Americans. In Germany, there is MUCH greater pressure for MPs to vote party line. If a party has enough votes to elect the chancellor, it also has enough votes to realize most of what they want to do (if only they intended to keep campaign promises...). As such, people cannot understand that members of Obama's own party were blocking some of the projects he got elected for. There is still no other electable American politician who believes in (most of) our self-evident truths, so Germans are rooting for Obama to get a second term for complete lack of an alternative.

If this interests you, I invite you to follow my board Understanding Germany (on the www: www.understandinggermany.de).

Addition: so what do German politicians disagree about? For example:

• How much should we subsidize the cost of living for students (universities are already free)?
• How soon can we shut down all of our nuclear plants?
• Do we still need compulsory military service?
  

... Chosen for effect of course, I think most Americans will find these issues as 'silly' and obvious as Germans find American political issues.