Obama in Berlin
Note: I’m at a hotel in Portsmouth; tomorrow we fly out. I’m still not sure when or if I’ll blog during the rest of the trip, expect regular entries after August 2nd. But the Motel has wireless access, so I decided to write something today.
Barack Obama is popular in Germany, and 200,000 people came to hear him speak in front of the Siegesäule, a monument built to honor the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian war, not far from the Brandenburg gate. The wide streets made it possible to allow a huge crowd to gather. And, by all accounts, it was a successful speech. However, as Der Spiegel noted, the American press rather than the German press were allowed to speak with him afterwards, and the rhetoric, especially calls for more European help in America’s foreign policy hot spots, was clearly aimed at Americans.
A bit on the location: the Siegesäule is a central point in Berlin’s yearly ecstasy laden Love Parade, and is a symbol for the Berlin gay community, for whom the neighboring park is a meeting place. It isn’t far from from the Berlin Zoo train station and is easily accessible.
Beyond a doubt, Obama is focused on winning the campaign first. He is not President yet, and may not become President. He knows that, so do the Germans. They are intrigued. Could the Americans, so smitten with tough talking cowboys like Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, or with good ol’ boy southerners like Bill Clinton, really embrace an urbane, sophisticated black man named Barack Hussein Obama? And Obama’s rhetoric speaks to the Europeans, he is a proud American but also a citizen of the world.
The fact is that Obama knows his weakness is his lack of experience. And, while foreign policy rarely wins or loses elections – Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were similarly inexperienced – anything he can do to create a sense that he has international savvy can only help. Therefore he has undertaken a risky strategy of not only traveling abroad but turning into a very high profile and highly scrutinized series of appearances. This is meant to make people comfortable with the idea of Obama representing the country and appearing Presidential. Images from this trip can be used, probably in a rapid succession of photos, to subliminally reinforce that perception.
And, of course, the crowds and buzz Obama is generated is something John McCain will be unable to match. If McCain showed up in Berlin he’d draw a crowd, but nothing close to Obama’s. Instead McCain visits a German restaurant, and makes his support of the surge the central core of his campaign. That this is his “best card” to play is telling; in an election about change for the future, McCain wants to claim that he got something right in the past. And given that most Americans think the Iraq war was a mistake, its not really going to win over those not already convinced Obama is too soft.
By the time we reach the battles of October, this trip will be old news, pre-convention and part of the ‘warm up.’ Thus charges of Obama just engaging in a photo-op trip, or of Obama trying to ‘woe the world’ rather than voters at home will fade. What the Obama camp hopes for is a subtle, psychological shift. People will feel comfortable that Obama has stature and international respect, that they can trust him with the reins of power. In that sense, his trip is almost certain to succeed.
July 25, 2008 at 1:09 pm
What really scares me about all this is Obama’s growing cult of personality. This tour, or as some in the media have appropriately dubbed it, the “Obama Media-Mania Tour,” just shows this growing public obsession with Obama. Any causal observer can see the hysteria around Obama’s pointless trip around the world. You had newspapers in Germany reporting the a million people were showing up? And you have the American media, who have become Obama’s personal press secretary, drooling over everything he says and does.
Yesterday though, during Obama’s speech in Germany, I was listening to the radio, hearing how when he was in Afghanistan, he ignored the troops and spent all his time with the generals. And while in Germany, he canceled his visit to the military hospital on the American bases in Germany. I also heard many reports that have since strengthened my believe that Obama has this growing cult of personality. I heard about an grad student at an art school in California who made a paper-mache model of Obama as Jesus, with robes, sandals, and a halo. I also heard stories of Obama maniacs being arrested for threatening people who don’t support Obama. One of the scariest instances was a story of a women who saw a car which has a bumper sticker on it of the cartoon character Clavin peeing on the Obama symbol. So this women followed this car home, blocked their drive way, and proceeded to harrass and threaten the lives of these people because they are “racist” for having such a bumper sticker. This women was subsequently arrest because she directly threatened these people. This is only one example a growing number of people who I think would jump off a bridge if Obama told them too. It’s quite scary.
It’s sad actually, I remember when I was in Hyde park, at the famous area where people can stand on boxes and say whatever they like. I remember seeing Christian priests arguing with Muslim clerics, and there were no fist fights, no threats, no assaults. Today in America, and I see it so much in my youthful classmates, is this lose of respect for other peoples opinions, and for the idea of free debate. It has become about shouting. We see this all around the country, mostly in colleges. This growing attitude that I’m right, your wrong, and if you disagree with me then your a bigot, racist, intolerant, hate-monger. We also see similar things in the media, where there has been no real, journalistic critical assessment of Obama and his proposed policies.
But I digress…
Of course the Germans loved Obama, he is the quintessential European socialist. And frankly, as an American voter, I don’t care who Europe wants to be our president. Maybe I like my “cow-boys” like Reagan, Clinton and Bush, instead of my big-government socialist like Obama.
August 4, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I wouldn’t call his trip pointless — it’s a bit daring, but probably smart politically. Also, even McCain was saying he should go to Iraq and Afghanistan (though from what I read he wasn’t ignoring the troops, and in fact much of his schedule was determined by following recommendations from the military). I don’t see much different about support for Obama than past support for politicians like Ronald Reagan. In fact, most Obama supporters I know aren’t so avid, they just consider him better than McCain. I hear more talk about Obama being seen as larger than life by McCain supporters (and earlier by Hillary supporters).
That said, I do think our political discourse in general has indeed become too much about shouting, and the media is overly sensationalistic. I can’t say that I see them cheer leading Obama; rather, the Obama campaign is reasonably effective (like Reagan — the media were also accused of not being critical enough about Reagan) at working the media. George W. Bush was also pretty effective at that when he ran in 2000 and 2004.
I don’t think Obama is a “European socialist,” but he definitely has a more international flair. It’ll be interesting, but don’t worry — whoever wins, there’s another election in four years! Also, pay attention to the people around the candidate — the advisors and insiders. But this is a fascinating election, no matter who wins!