"Te gusta Barack Obama o Hillary Clinton?"
The question - "Do you like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?" - is a common one when I introduce myself to a Spaniard.
Of all the similarities between Spain and America I could have anticipated before coming to study abroad in Madrid this semester, the Spanish fascination with the American presidential race was not one of them.
Even my señora, or host mom, a lovably cranky 70-year-old divorcée, is interested. Unbelievably, this woman, who holds some interestingly antiquated views about race and religion, is an Obama supporter. She was the first to excitedly tell me that he had won the South Carolina primary.
Another couple I met could not fathom how a black man or a woman could hold a position of such importance.
"I like Hillary," the husband said. "The Spaniards liked [Bill] Clinton when he was president, but we hate Bush."
His wife, however, could not fathom a woman becoming president.
"I guess it's just the younger generation - you don't have any problem with that," she said.
Although much of the fascination centers on the Democrats, it's not a one-sided interest. Now that John McCain has emerged as the presumptive Republican nominee, the Spaniards are interested to find out who he is and what he has to say as well.
"Tell me about McCain," my señora asked me one day. "Where is he from? Is he rich?"
We often discuss money in politics, as she is fascinated by the ability of the wealthy to pour large sums of their own money into their campaigns as Mitt Romney did.
By the time Super Tuesday rolled around, she could hardly contain her excitement. When I arrived home from school that day around 8 p.m., she eagerly asked who had won the elections. She was quite disappointed to hear that it was the early afternoon in America and there would not be definite results for hours.
Almost every night at dinner, we discuss some new facet of the election. A few days ago, I tried to explain the Electoral College to her in my very poor Spanish, which proved quite the task. The idea that someone can win the popular vote, but not be declared president, is hard enough for natives to understand.
What makes the Spaniards' fascination all the more interesting is the fact that Spain is having its own national election on March 9. Polls show the election will be close, and each candidate has come up with interesting proposals in an attempt to win votes.
José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the current prime minister and head of the ruling socialist party, recently introduced a proposal to give 400 euro to all taxpayers in an attempt to stimulate Spain's sinking economy. The idea is not dissimilar to the one recently introduced into the U.S. Congress, except it doesn't give a rebate to those who are too poor to actually pay taxes.
Zapatero's opponent, Mariano Rajoy of the conservative Partido Popular, has introduced a proposal that would require all immigrants to Spain to sign a pledge agreeing to follow Spanish law, respect Spanish customs (including personal hygiene), learn the Spanish language, pay taxes and actively integrate themselves into Spanish life.
Yet even as the Spanish candidates hurl insults at each other, accusing Zapatero of vote-buying and Rajoy of playing on fears of immigration, stories about Mitt Romney's exit from the race and Obama's win in the Maine caucuses still appear on the front page of all the papers.
With the Spanish race to be decided in a matter of weeks and the U.S. race, at least on the Democratic side, potentially lasting well into the summer, it seems likely that I will be discussing U.S. elections for the rest of my time abroad.
