comment #1

lazespud says ...

Uh no. He's trying to win American votes, not European votes. As much as you and I love the fact that Obama will help restore America in the eyes of the world, those middle American rubes that you hate so much would simply have a fit seeing him seemingly campaign outside the US.

Don't you remember when Kerry started speaking fluent French to French reporters? Jesus, he never lived that down. Save the international stuff for AFTER he's elected. There's no upside right now and GIANT downsides...

comment #2

Mr. Muckle says ...

Personally, I don't care if he drops his pants and takes a crap in the East River. I'm voting for him anyway.

comment #3

berkguru says ...

if he doesnt get elected, america doesnt have a chance

comment #4

SaveFarris says ...

How many Electoral Votes does Portugal have?

comment #5

bb says ...

Dumbest move he could ever make. Republicans would love it.

comment #6

D.Z. says ...

lazespud: "Don't you remember when Kerry started speaking fluent French to French reporters? Jesus, he never lived that down."

I'm guessing it's because the people who have a problem with people who speak French probably also hate reading subtitles.

bb: "Dumbest move he could ever make. Republicans would love it."

It's not the dumbest move, since Republicans probably can't tell those countries apart, anyway.

comment #7

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

Western Europe is a vacation. Asia is work. The Middle East is a trouble zone.

Two of those would be good for a presidential candidate to visit during his campaign.

comment #8

Geoff says ...

BUSH is now on the hunt for Bin Laden. I've heard this argument from conservative friends for a year now. "Just you wait, he'll find him right before the election." Yeah I want Bin Laden dead, but if BUSH does succeed, did it really have to take this long????

comment #9

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

It's not easy to find someone who's obviously been dead for several years.

comment #10

futureman says ...

I'm a Republican who would be ok with Obama as President, I prefer McCain, but this would be a horrible idea for Obama. You are telling me that Obama in Spain, France or most other countries with McCain in Ohio or Florida, wouldn't be a huge win for McCain? There would be questions for the rest of the election about why Obama thinks the French are more important to him than Americans and why does he care what they think.

comment #11

EOTW says ...

None of this even matters, really. Since, as we all know, even those who want to deny it (Wells), McCain will win this election in a walk.

comment #12

D.Z. says ...

President George W. Bush urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday not to set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq....

...When Brown visited Washington in April he caused a stir by meeting the 2008 presidential candidates before Bush, a sign of how leaders are increasingly looking towards a new president....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080615/pl_nm/bush_europe_dc

comment #13

MovieBob says ...

Yeah... no.

This isn't even an American thing, it just Politics 101. "Foriegners like me!" is NEVER something you want to campaign on, no matter where you're running. Obama's challenge now is to make himself look MORE like a territorial American, not LESS.

Hell, it'd be a bad idea for him to be cheered in front of European crowds... and you think he should go to the Middle East?? Really? Do you know how much every Republican in the COUNTRY would LOVE even a frame of Barack Hussein Obama being cheered on by a throng of Burka'd women and headwrapped, bearded men?

comment #14

D.Z. says ...

Bob: "This isn't even an American thing, it just Politics 101. "Foriegners like me!" is NEVER something you want to campaign on, no matter where you're running."

Then McCain should stop associating with foreign lobbyists.

"Do you know how much every Republican in the COUNTRY would LOVE even a frame of Barack Hussein Obama being cheered on by a throng of Burka'd women and headwrapped, bearded men?"

But it's fine and dandy when Dubya's wife goes there.

comment #15

bone says ...

There's something to it. Especially the appearance part Jeff mentions. One of the reasons that the incnumbent never likes to debate a challenger is that the two together on a stage helps make the challenger look presidential. So a couple of photo ops with Obamam talking to Gordon Brown and that German chick Bush tried to massage could help do the same thing. Just a picture of him talking to other heads of state would make him less freshman senator and more chief executive.

comment #16

Marnye says ...

I think it's hilarious that Bush is currently touring Europe to say goodbye. Doesn't he know we Europeans hate him and think "good riddance"? Sarkozy may kiss his ass, but most French hate Bush.

comment #17

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

They'll like him soon enough, when they live under Sharia. He'll be the Julian the Apostate of the resistance to Islamic rule.

comment #18

Marnye says ...

You are wrong, we will never regret Bush. The best thing Chirac ever did was to refuse to join him in the Iraq war.

comment #19

MovieBob says ...

D.Z.
"Then McCain should stop associating with foreign lobbyists."

Yes, he should. Though unless he's making them and their foreign-ness the centerpiece of public events it's really not the same thing. Believe it or not, D.Z., some of us can actually have a negative opinion of a candidate and NOT be automatically "forgiving" of his opponent.

"But it's fine and dandy when Dubya's wife goes there."

Um... yeah, it is. She's the First Lady. It's her JOB to go to The People's Republic Of Whogivesadamnistan and do photo ops with local flavor. "Aww, look! The lil' girl in the colorful headwrap is letting her hold the baby goat!"

Like it or not (I don't like it one bit, but I acknowledge it) Obama has an image problem when it comes to ANY connection to "the others." He has a Muslim name. He talks about sitting down (out of context, I know) with Arab leaders. He's an internationalist. The combination of all that creates the very real undercurrent of suspicion - every bit as real as the liberal suspicion that McCain's age and personal history will make him prone to violence and agression - even in otherwise totally decent folks that he's "not one of us," some kind of Manchurian Candidate.

Going to a Muslim nation and getting a crowd that will look to WELL more than 50% of voting Americans like a giant sea of Osamas and Ahmedinijads cheering for him and saying that THEY want to see Obama as the U.S.President would be a public relations DISASTER for him... I mean, just the AUDIO would do him in - imagine what talk radio would be able to do with a huge crowd of Middle Eastern voices chanting "O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!" likely mixed in with some Farsi and some of that loud shrieky cheering you hear at Arab soccer games?

comment #20

bb says ...

"I think it's hilarious that Bush is currently touring Europe to say goodbye. Doesn't he know we Europeans hate him and think "good riddance"? Sarkozy may kiss his ass, but most French hate Bush."

I think it's hilarious that most French hate Bush and simultaneously voted in a guy who's single-handedly repaired US-France relations. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaa!

comment #21

D.Z. says ...

Bob: "Though unless he's making them and their foreign-ness the centerpiece of public events it's really not the same thing. "

It's actually worse, since McCain is cavorting with war profiteers.

"It's her JOB to go to The People's Republic Of Whogivesadamnistan and do photo ops with local flavor."

Technically, it's her job to be Bush's trophy wife, not pretend that she actually knows anything about world issues. She's just in those countries, because she's the only one in this administration who can find them on a map.

"Going to a Muslim nation and getting a crowd that will look to WELL more than 50% of voting Americans like a giant sea of Osamas and Ahmedinijads cheering for him and saying that THEY want to see Obama as the U.S.President would be a public relations DISASTER for him... I mean, just the AUDIO would do him in - imagine what talk radio would be able to do with a huge crowd of Middle Eastern voices chanting "O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!" likely mixed in with some Farsi and some of that loud shrieky cheering you hear at Arab soccer games?"

I dunno. Isn't that kind of what Dubya wishes would happen to him, rather than being forced to show up in secret for a fake turkey dinner?

comment #22

D.Z. says ...

bb: "I think it's hilarious that most French hate Bush and simultaneously voted in a guy who's single-handedly repaired US-France relations."

They didn't vote for the guy, because they wanted to improve relations, but because they have economic problems at home.

comment #23

Josh Massey says ...

"It's not easy to find someone who's obviously been dead for several years."

This.

comment #24

bluefugue says ...

>]Don't you remember when Kerry started speaking fluent French to French reporters? Jesus, he never lived that down.

Holy moley, Kerry speaks fluent French? And someone on this planet was actually brain-damaged enough to think that's a *bad* thing? Last I checked, millions of American schoolchildren study French every year...

comment #25

bluefugue says ...

Well, perhaps not millions, but a lot. (Not sure what the total population of American students between say 7th and 12th grade would be...)

comment #26

jany says ...

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