Why did the two presumptive presidential candidates make appearances abroad a part of their election campaign?
With his three-day visit to Columbia and Mexico, Senator McCain had hoped to attract Hispanic voters by championing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and immigration reform. In his meetings with the region’s most conservative leaders, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, McCain tried to reinforce the view that he will continue U.S. support against drug production and leftist rebels.
Easily outshining McCain’s campaigning abroad, Obama traveled 16,000 miles in six days to visit seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and occupied Palestine, Germany, France, and Britain. In none of these societies, perhaps excepting Israel, do non-Hispanic voters have the strong ethnic interests that Hispanic voters maintain in U.S.-Mexican relations.
Having all too frequently heard his foreign affairs credentials questioned, Obama was eager to show that he could deal with foreign leaders and articulately address American concerns to audiences abroad. To impress the American public, he wanted to deliver the most important public statement of his trip in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, perhaps reminiscent of Kennedy’s claim “Ich bin ein Berliner” or Ronald Reagan’s challenge to the Soviets: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
We know that Germany’s foreign minister Steinmeier and Berlin’s mayor Wowereit, both Social Democrats, pushed hard for giving Obama opportunities to show his political skills. So did Klaus Scharioth, Germany’s ambassador in Washington, who was reported to have worked for weeks to convince Obama’s advisers that a speech in Berlin would give him more publicity than any other venue.
The proposed appearance at the Brandenburg Gate, however, ran into objections from Chancellor Merkel and others who thought it unwise for official Germany to appear favoring Democrats over Republicans. As a compromise, Merkel would meet Obama in her office, and he would be invited to speak in front of the Siegessäule (i.e., victory column) west of the Brandenburg Gate.
Most Germans seemed to reject the objection that only an incumbent president ought to be given the privileges extended to Obama. After all, the Democratic presidential contender is vastly more popular than President Bush all over Europe. Judging from the media response, Obama did succeed in reassuring at least some skeptical Europeans and Americans about his ability to take the frayed Atlantic alliance into a more conciliatory direction than the Bush administration.
Obama’s rousing reception by over 200,000 Berliners understandably annoyed the McCain camp. Yet, instead of letting the effect blow over, McCain decided to gain a few points on Obama by addressing “half a dozen small-business owners” at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, a German-American restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.
To counter the Obamania in Berlin, the Republican National Committee also employed a vaguely German theme by airing a radio advertising entitled "Obama Chooses Washington Over Our Military," in three towns named Berlin: Berlin, New.Hampshire; Berlin, Pennsylvania; and Berlin, Wisconsin.. The ad attacks Obama for voting against funding for U.S. troops. Yet, according to Annenberg Center’s Political Fact Check, Obama voted against the funding only once but for the funding at least ten times.
In evaluating Obama’s performance in Berlin, Paris, and London, the International Herald Tribune concluded: “Europeans admire Obama's political skills, and welcome his apparent readiness to respect opposing points of view. For many here, that raises the prospect of a sharp break with the policies of the Bush administration, especially in its first term, when the United States chose to ignore the Geneva Conventions at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rejected the Kyoto accord on global warming and invaded Iraq, starting a war that some of America's European allies opposed.”
Obama got Europe’s ear, pleasing cheering crowds without specifics. Back home, however, many voters will expect more detail.