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The Note: Obama’s Berlin Balancing Act
July 24, 2008 8:18 AM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports in Thursday's Note: There may be no greater opportunity for Obama to show (and need to show) he loves his country than when the throngs great him in Berlin Thursday.
(That's partly because his fellow American can watch a million Germans march every night on the History Channel -- and we all know how that film ends.)
And as Obama soaks up the love, he needs his country to love him back.
For as well as it's been going, we don't know how this visit ends -- how an anti-war, anti-administration candidate can deliver a foreign-policy address abroad and not seem anti-American; how hundreds of thousands of Europeans can cheer a presidential candidate and not scare swing-state voters; how the Obama shtick plays with a foreign backdrop; how a candidate who is just plain different fills the JFK-Reagan slot in Berlin.
Even Obama knows the risk (as disguised by spin): "I doubt we're gonna have a million screaming Germans," he told reporters on board his plane early Thursday, per ABC’s Jake Tapper. "It's a potentially bad thing if nobody shows up. . . . It's sort of a crap shoot."
Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.
People will show up. "Hopefully it will be viewed as a substantive articulation of the relationship I'd like to see between the US and Europe," Obama said. (Excited yet?)
But that's not really his entire hope: The truth is, as much as he’s winning the imagery wars, Obama needs the visuals.
And the country needs a certain comfort level it hasn’t found to date: "Midway through the election year, the presidential campaign looks less like a race between two candidates than a referendum on one of them -- Sen. Barack Obama," Gerald F. Seib and Laura Meckler write in The Wall Street Journal.
The headline from the new WSJ/NBC poll, which has it Obama 47, McCain 41 (same as a month ago): "Fully half of all voters say they are focused on what kind of president Sen. Obama would be as they decide how they will vote, while only a quarter say they are focused on what kind of president Sen. McCain would be," Seib and Meckler write.
We know still that things aren't happy in Sen. John McCain's world -- even the weather won't cooperate with his counter-programming plans. This time it's Hurricane Dolly blowing his message off-course: That visit to an offshore rig, the big Thursday event his campaign had planned to push its main domestic message, is out. (Did Mother Nature just endorse a candidate?)
Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.
ABC News' Rachel Humphries, John Santucci and Alexa Ainsworth contributed to this report.
July 24, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred | Permalink | User Comments (31)
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SEEMS TO ME ALOT OF JEALOUS MCCAIN SUPPORTERS HERE, DONT BE ANGRY BECAUSE EUROPE IS NOT INTERESTED IN A WARMONGERING FLIP FLOPPING LYING CONFUSED OLD MAN DEAL WITH IT GET YOUR TISSUSES READY FOR NOV YOU GO OBAMA MAKE US PROUD REGAIN OUR RESPECT AND DIGNITY THAT WE HAVE LOST OVER THE PAST 7 YEARS REPUGS GET OVER IT BLAME YOUR PARTY FOR PICKING OLD MAN MCCAIN ITS NOT OBAMAS FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: angie | Jul 24, 2008 12:15:22 PM
McWar?? no thanks.
Posted by: Cool G | Jul 24, 2008 12:42:07 PM
It seems many of the posters to this forum like the place Bush is leaving the U.S., otherwise how could they even consider a McCain Presidency. McCain is a person of low academic achievement, has 1 year's experience in D.C. 26 times over, his record of showing concern for women is dismal, there is no creative expression from he or the campaign aside from attack dog tactics which proves the point McCain is an empty suit. He and his campaign are imploding.
Posted by: Lou R | Jul 24, 2008 1:06:17 PM
Obama's speech text is at drudge. What an appaling piece of crap. Like Kerry, Obama wants us to be part of a global community. Obama does not understand what makes America great. We are not Europeans. Why does Obama start with 1948 in his speech. He totally omits any reference to WWII,Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
Posted by: geevill | Jul 24, 2008 1:40:27 PM
Senator Clinton is the only candidate capable and intelligent enough to lead America and her allies through a successful campaign to defeat terrorism
Posted by: chris | Jul 24, 2008 1:40:55 PM
chris
You probably missed it but Hillary was defeated by the DNC!
Posted by: Aston | Jul 24, 2008 2:20:22 PM
Senator Obama, you have my blessing to stay in Europe forever. We have enough other socialist here in the good ole USA.
Posted by: Mary | Jul 24, 2008 2:26:26 PM
Darn .. it was a golden opportunity to talk about his "Global Poverty Act" (110th Congress, 2d Session, S. 2433). It's the only real major piece of legislation that Obama has tried to pass this year. Funny how he doesn't talk about how it would mandate the U.S. to spend 0.7 percent of the gross national product on foreign aid, costing the U.S. at least $845 billion dollars over thirteen years.
You say .. where is the government going to get all that money ??
Funny you should ask .. through a global (say UN) tax, preferably on carbon-emitting fossil fuels.
Posted by: Neo | Jul 24, 2008 5:09:29 PM
Well besides all the Obama doubters who will complain and bitch about everything Obama, and as a Canadian who watched along with the nearly one quarter of a million people totally enthralled with Senator Obama, his speech was exemplary and totally non-political.
This man has the right stuff, he will without a doubt be the next President of the United States. As far as Germans are concerned he already is.
Posted by: Ken Taylor | Jul 24, 2008 9:44:45 PM
Obama is not yet an American Leader, he is a nominee. We voted Bush same way and he was more pouplar than Obama. The world hail Bush, it was at the stage of seriousness that we know the kind of heart Bush has. Terrorist attack changed the who thing and Bush become more serious on War on terror which seem to be misunderstood by almost everyone because of the present impacts due to the strenght and powerful terrorist cell . Upon all, only 200,000 came out to hail Obama does not mean that America is loved. The Message Obama delivered also does not represent the real thing or American interest after all he is not the president.
McCain is more interested to be wacthed than Obama who beleives becoming a president is like someone acting like a president.
Thanks
Posted by: idesk99 | Jul 26, 2008 4:34:43 PM
the people of U.S.A. are starting to realize that obamma can not handle millitary.Russia attacks georgia and the poles change in MCcain`s favor. Maybe Mr. bush should send Obamma to russia to talk to Putin.With all his bullshit,he should be able to handle this conflick with out any problems ,
according to the democrats.YEA RIGHT!!!
And of course all the democrats and don`t foget all the black people will
join the millitary right away to help us fight russia.WE need to hurry up a get Obamma elected.
OBAMMA WILL LOSE BY MORE VOTES THEN IN ANY PRESIDENT ELECTION IN THIS COUNTRY AND WILL GO DOWN AS THE FOOL HE HIS.
Posted by: gaetano | Aug 21, 2008 9:23:09 AM
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