The press has a pretty good idea of Barack Obama's overseas schedule, although we've been asked to keep the details private for the moment and we don't know when he's going to Iraq and Afghanistan. Right now, swarms of Democratic advance folks are in Europe or traveling there, and the pressure on them to produce flawless events will be acute.
Obama's trip to Europe will be a huge event...maybe as big as his convention, maybe as big as a debate. Sheer curiosity will translate into enormous crowds, even as most of Obama's events will be small and pooled. The European press will go ga-ga, uncritically. If Obama does speak at the Brandenburg gate -- and it's unclear whether he will at this point -- you could envision a crowd of more than 200,000 watching and cheering him.
A few years ago, it might not have been the best political move for a candidate to be seen as receiving the adulation of world... especially France and Germany. Not today: given how important it is to many independents and Republicans and Democrats that America's standing in the world is restored, Obama could well benefit domestically from a raucous reception overseas.
There are potential drawbacks: gaffes will be magnified through the lens of a voracious, excited press corps. His trip has to be flawless, message-wise, tone-wise and in its execution. If Obama appears presumptuous and arrogant and not humble, there's a good bet that we'll see that reflected in the coverage back home. Likewise if any European (or Israeli) leader lectures him about unilateral diplomacy with Iran.
At least until he sits down with Gen. Petraeus ... will he speak truth to power? -- the benefits surely outweigh the risks....
Kennedy's return to the chamber yesterday was really something special. Republicans and Democrats alike cheered him on, and GOP senators such as Kay Bailey Hutchison were just awe struck. Plain and simple, Kennedy turned that vote around. They had 59 votes without Kennedy, he showed up and gave them 60 -- the number needed to pass the bill -- and as soon as Republicans like Hutchison realized the bill was passing they lined up to vote yes. They wanted to be on the winning side. Thinking of the Senate like a basketball game, Kennedy scored 10 points yesterday. His arrival meant 10 votes, taking it from 59 votes to 69 votes. I've never seen anything like it in the 8 years that I've now closely covered the Senate.
In the heavily Republican state of Texas, the odds are against Barack Obama’s being able to defeat John McCain.
But an energized Latino electorate, a spirited Senate race featuring a Hispanic and a $10 million investment by the Obama campaign will benefit the presumptive Democratic nominee and the state’s Democratic candidates and force Republicans to spend more money than originally planned.
The gathering momentum of Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega, a state representative, against Republican Sen. John Cornyn, has some political pundits speculating about what once seemed improbable: whether the Hispanic Democrat can pull off an upset.
“We are going to watch Texas very carefully,” Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said recently. Hispanics make up 15 percent of the state’s total voters.
"Last week I communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am bestThis comes as the Obama campaign has apparently begun the formal vetting process of its shortlisted candidates.
equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country. Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President."
“The Democratic Party is nominating a true change candidate this August, and it is only fitting that we make some big changes in how we put on the Convention,” said Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “Senator Obama’s candidacy has generated an enormous amount of excitement and interest, not only in the Democratic Party but also in the 2008 Convention. By bringing the last night of the Convention out to the people, we will be able to showcase Barack Obama’s positive, people-centered vision for our country in a big way. ”
We have two candidates with starkly different positions. Barack Obama is for an orderly and considered withdrawal of all US combat forces in Iraq, a process he says he will begin immediately upon taking office. John McCain supports a permanent garrisoning of US troops on military bases in Iraq -- a long-term 'presence' which he hopes will require a constantly-diminishing amount of actual combat and thus an ever-diminishing toll in American lives.
This is, I believe, a fair and even generous description of each candidate's essential position. And the recital makes the key point clear: McCain's position is squarely on the wrong side of public opinion -- in fact, to an overwhelming degree.
This is why the McCain campaign spends what seems almost literally to be all its time (with tractable reporters in tow) scrutinizing the rhetorical entrails of Obama's every statement trying to find some movement or contradiction or frankly anything that can be talked about to keep everybody's attention (press, commentators, citizens, precocious teenagers) off the fact that McCain's position on Iraq is wildly unpopular and even more what McCain's position actually is.
