If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium
By LisaB on June 14, 2008 at 6:10 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, Democratic National Convention, Democratic Party, Democrats, Electability, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, General Election
One of the criticisms of Obama’s portfolio for becoming president is his lack of travel. Although his campaign has long touted his youth in Indonesia as evidence of his international street cred, Obama is nowhere near as traveled as his rival John McCain.
Looks like the Obama campaign is going to combat this perception by arranging the “Obama World Tour.”
Susan Rice is Obama’s senior foreign-policy advisor. She confirmed the campaign is looking at travel before August.
Rice, who was an assistant secretary of state to President Clinton, said that Obama’s international appeal stemmed from the fact that he “represents to the rest of the world the best of the American dream at a time when they have become disillusioned and disappointed with America. He’s a new generation of leadership that’s globally oriented and aware. By virtue of his family background and having lived abroad in his youth, he has a unique appreciation of different cultures, different societies, and represents an American leadership that’s committed to more cooperative solutions.”
But, apparently choosing which countries to grace and which to leave for later is causing some headaches.
If he goes to Israel, for example, does that anger Palestinians? If he talks to Palestinians there, does he turn off Jewish voters back home? Is Asia too far away for a quick visit, and if he could stop in only one Asian nation, which should it be? Obama’s last trip to Africa generated a photo of him in traditional clothing that detractors spread on the Internet to suggest falsely that he’s Muslim, so does he steer clear of there for now? And so on.
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Hulsman suggested that in Iraq, Obama might consider staying outside the fortified Green Zone to show that he wants to see real conditions and to contrast his trip with McCain’s infamous 2007 tour of an open-air Baghdad market. McCain claimed then, under the protection of helicopter guns and 100 U.S. troops, that people could “walk freely” there.
Hulsman also said that Obama could afford to skip Israel, Asia and Africa on this trip, as the political and economic factors in each venue were myriad and the time constraints real.
In Western Europe, Hulsman said, Obama is “fanatically popular. People here, they’re mesmerized by the notion an African-American could be elected president. They see Obama talking and hear Kennedyesque strains in what he says, and think maybe America isn’t as bad as they thought.”
But what is the point, after all, of squeezing a European vacation smack dab into the middle of the campaign season, when Obama should be visiting voters, talking about health care, the middle class squeeze, education and the war? Why would he not want to spend the bulk of his time engaging with American voters, who are the only ones he can count on to get him into office?
Howard Dean said this:
“I don’t think voters are going to be told what to do by people in other countries,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said in an interview this week. “But I think American voters would rather have the respect we had eight years ago than what’s happened to us under Republicans. Restoring the American moral authority in the world under President Obama will be a big piece of this.”
Ah. I get it. Obama travels overseas to adoring crowds, into places where people have already drunk the Kool-Aid. Cameras film, he seems to be a world leader despite no credentials, no experience, and very little travel for a would-be president.
So we watch the news, see Obama speaking to adoring crowds hailing him as the next American president. He does not have to address domestic issues AT ALL and raises his international profile. We see how other people like him and feel he will thus raise the profile of America in the world.
It’s ingenious, cynical, and ultimately a LIE. I think Howard Dean WANTS Americans to “be told what to do by people in other countries,” particularly if it appears Obama’s appeal here may wane.
When the going gets tough, the tough get – gone? Hope he’s saved up his carbon credits.
by Ronald Scott
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