Comments on: I’m Just Sayin’

By: Foltz

Foltz — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:29:47 +0000

If I were running for POTUS, I think I’d find it rather easy to turn down a large rally consisting of people who couldn’t legally vote for me or contribute funds to my campaign. Then again, I don’t have the kind of huge ego that most politicians do.
Closer to the general I would agree, but considering the timing before the convention, the traditional media attention the tour recieved, the internation attention, and the potential draws from voters living abroad this looks like it was a win across the boards for Obama.
I certainly wish my “layovers” were spent nearly that well.

By: Eric Seymour

Eric Seymour — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:52:08 +0000

Foltz,
If I were running for POTUS, I think I’d find it rather easy to turn down a large rally consisting of people who couldn’t legally vote for me or contribute funds to my campaign. Then again, I don’t have the kind of huge ego that most politicians do.
Anyway, I’m certainly not complaining about Obama’s European campaigning; I just find it odd.

By: Jerry Doodle

Jerry Doodle — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:03:33 +0000

Weird? Here’s what I think is weird: That an American politician can still inspire that much hope and enthusiasm in cynical “old Europe.”

By: Foltz

Foltz — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:35:50 +0000

Obama’s Europe tour was obviously primarily designed to improve his image vis-a-vis foreign relations. But while meeting with European leaders is one thing, I agree with Pieter that the big public rallies were weird.
Weird, but who would really turn down a chance to have a couple hundred thousand supporters turn out for a rally?
Also, didnt McCain visit Canada recently? His campaing is really grasping at straws in some of their attacks. There are certainly valid criticisms of Obama to make, but complaining about where he campaings?

By: Eric Seymour

Eric Seymour — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:05:30 +0000

By: Jerry Doodle

Jerry Doodle — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:46:34 +0000

I watched coverage of the Obama tour on BBC America and I noted a couple of things. One, that Europeans seem generally very informed about the politics and the issues involved in our presidential election. The other was how they continually emphasize how Obama embodies for them the hope and promise that is America. Most were tactful about how we seemed to lose that hope and promise, but a Brit came right out and said it in two words: George Bush. They still think we’re a beacon to the world, and Obama’s telling them he’s gonna turn the light back on. So i guess it should be no surprise that they responded in a big way.
Waste of time? I would like to note that Obama’s Iraq/Afghanistan trip was a direct result of hectoring by McCain about how Obama hadn’t been there in more than two years.

By: Pieter Friedrich

Pieter Friedrich — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:03:18 +0000

Not to mention it’s kind of disturbing. It’s one thing for a president to tour Europe. It’s even one thing for a presidential candidate to tour a war zone such as Iraq or Afghanistan. And I’d certainly like for America’s president to be generally globally popular.
But, while I’d need to think about it longer to identify exactly why, there is something really unsettling to me about 200,000 people gathering in a foreign country to hear Obama speak. I especially dislike the tone of such phrases as: “People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.” Not content with promising “change” to America, Obama thinks it’s a global commission?