An Unusually Bad Idea
Barack Obama may depart this summer from his road-warrior tour of election-battleground states to take a trip around the world, one intended to shore up his credentials on foreign policy. ~McClatchy
Robert Stacy McCain is right when he sees terrible political danger for Obama in this proposal. Going to Iraq is one thing, and could be cast as an imitation of Eisenhower, but spending much time elsewhere would be a mistake. It would be a daily occasion for McCain to say, “While Barack Obama is travelling the world to make up for his lack of foreign policy experience, I am here talking to the American people about their problems, because I am the American President Americans have been waiting for, blah blah blah.” It would seem to confirm every attempt to portray Obama, whether it has been made negatively or positively, as post-American (cue that picture of him with Zakaria’s book), multicultural or “globalised.” It would convey the worst symbolism during the general election. It will remind voters of how many places he has not been before, and it will hardly help to have numerous stories about the chair of the Subcommittee for European Affairs to begin with the line, “On his first trip to Germany, Barack Obama…”, while at the same time giving off the air of over-confidence (“he must think he has already won”) and allowing himself to be cast as a globe-trotting pol indifferent to domestic concerns a la George H.W. Bush. It will amplify whatever damage his remarks about small-town America had and revive that old controversy. Republican activists will have a field day: “While John McCain is touring this country and speaking to his fellow Americans about what matters most to them, Barack Obama continues to wander the globe to talk to foreign audiences, who protest against America as eagerly as they cheer for Sen. Obama,” and so on and so forth. Besides, the election is not so lopsided that either major candidate can afford even a couple of weeks away from campaigning. The impracticality of the tour in itself could be used as a way to attack Obama’s judgement.
The McClatchy story continues:
Obama advisers are eager to find a way to harness his popularity overseas to boost his appeal to undecided voters back home, and to show that the 46-year-old freshman senator from Illinois can compete with McCain on foreign policy.
If they are eager to do this, he needs to fire them or get them working on something else. This is an unreservedly terrible idea. His popularity overseas is almost certainly a net liability here, at least for the time being. Obama boosters may not like to hear that, they may find it distressing and unfortunate, but that is the political reality. If John Kerry suffered electorally because he was “vaguely French” and had French relatives, Obama could very well face a wipeout in November if he goes on a world tour, even if it is not a very long one.
I’m not sure if “wipeout” doesn’t overstate the case somewhat, but footage of Parisians or Romans melting in adulation and Obama (who seems to get a visceral thrill from such mega-rallies of the faithful) eating it up is a bad visual that simply adds one more data point to his already high otherness quotient. If they were smart they would send him to Beckley WV, Altoona PA and Chillicothe OH to do some small town hall meetings, sit down with local journalists, talk about jobs and health care, etc.
Okay, wipeout probably does overstate things, but you would think that the people who have mastered “atmospherics,” as they call it, would know how dangerous the wrong perceptions can be. They seem to be falling into the trap of believng their own propaganda, and from some of the quotes in the article it’s as if they see mostly upside for Obama in going on this trip.
Agreed. Obama’s team needs to stop scheduling these mass rallies: they are obviously getting to his head.
With all that money he is raising, you would think he could hire a guy to follow him around and remind him: “Remember thou art mortal”
At first glance, I’d agree. On second glance, I’m not so sure. A carefully crafted tour that wen to places Americans consider “pro-America” could have real benefits. Stay away from France, of course. Go to places like England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada, Israel, Liberia, South Africa. I’m not saying all of them, but these are the kinds of places Obama could go without suffering much domestic blowback/resentment/bitterness. It’s a long hot summer, and the usual domestic campaigning can get boringly dull come August. Imagine the enormous crowds Obama could generate in these places, and it suddenly becomes an “event” rather than just a campaign photo-op. It’s a bit rsiky, to be sure, and maybe he doesn’t need to take that risk, but it could also be helpful in re-generating the buzz.
“A carefully crafted tour that wen to places Americans consider “pro-America†could have real benefits. Stay away from France, of course. Go to places like England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, Canada, Israel, Liberia, South Africa.”
If there is any hurdle that Obama has left to overcome, it’s the Americaness hurdle. His policy positions more closely match the way American’s are feeling, his speaking style is much more engaging, than McCain’s, he is a better campaigner, has more money, is better organizers. If he can tamp down those last lingering suspicions of “who is this guy?” he’s got it made, barring any black swans. The last thing he needs is a visual of a ginormous crowd, in any country, (France included) hailing him as the Messiah.
To put it simply, if he can swallow putting on that damn flag pin, he can swallow going to a rodeo in Missouri and a church bake sale in Virginia.
He could have a great rally in Nuremberg, so snark I.
First Comment on Mr. Larison’s blog, avid reader and enthusiast.
It occured to me after witnessing some random squirt of adulation for Sen. Obama’s “Worldliness” by the typical liberal crowd, that this is indeed his (potentially) biggest liability in American electoral politics, and the most fertile fodder for effective personal attacks on his suitability as a National Vessel.
I thought to myself–what a tremendous opportunity to completely redefine the frame of reference for thinking about what Obama “means”, and by proxy, the current sentiment of the Democratic party. All you need is one 527 to come out withexplicit footage of some swarthy looking Foreigner, preferrably Arab and from a nation we’re not freindly with–Referring to the good Senator by his full (BHO) name and expressing affinity with his backround. Viola, instant confirmation of people’s subconscious reservations about Obama with a neat little pigeonhole for the Dems to match.
Of course, this doesn’t preclude Obama’s eventual success, but it will put the meaning of this election on terms the Democrats would probably like to avoid.
Contary to Daniel–I think Webb, given the VP spot and dispatched aggressively, might neutralize this line of attack, at the risk of upstaging Obama. If Webb is chosen, I predict he will emerge to be an equal partner with Obama–a dynamic duo, almost a co-presidency, but in a very self-conscious, transparent way. What better way to define the “New Face” of the Democratic party–by headlining the representative symbols of it’s two most important and emerging re-alignments?
@GOM: So snark we all. Though the proper place for a 21st century triumph of the Will must surely be atop rubble with bullhorn.
I have to agree with both Daniel and Adam. I expect Obama to win (2:1 odds), prefer him winning to McCain winning, but why these idiots (the staffers) haven’t been fired already is hard to answer given the generally competent campaign he’s run so far. Agreed completely that his challenge is figure out how to suck up to as many symbolic markers of ‘Murrican-ness as he can without diluting his Serious and Thoughtful Person brand or looking ridiculous; so duck hunting is Right Out, but Adam, I think the church bake sale would be easy for him. The rodeo, much less so.
If Obama simply must travel overseas, perhaps the atmospherics could be a little better if he went to Afghanistan? He could tie it in with multilateralism, Progress, and try to remind the reachable fence straddlers that
I assume a visit to Pakistan is out of the question, notwithstanding the fact that (IMHO) instability there is a vastly greater security threat than all the terrorists who are going to follow us home from Iraq.
Oops, third paragraph was end something like “remind the reachable fence straddlers that GWB and his heir apparent JSM destroyed whatever chance there was of salvaging Afghanistan, which (more or less) did attack the US, in favor of their doomed adventure in Iraq, which didn’t.”
bayesian,
Well, if the rodeo is out, surely he can get some photos of him doing some layups. I have heard he is a pretty talented athelete/basketball player.
Adam,
The basketball playing probably works symbolically in the sense that it reinforces his youth and fitness, and any pandering intent is deniable because it’s something he actually likes doing. OTOH, basketball possibly has some urban black valence which isn’t something he wants to reinforce; if he could somehow plausibly associate himself with baseball or especially football that would be better. I suppose though that playing football would get him accused of playing up the JFK association.
[...] In the midst of all of the to-do about Wesley Clark’s comments, the most entertaining part of the exchange has been lost. I have to say that I share Ezra Klein’s view of this pseudo-controversy. More dangerous for the Obama campaign is the announced plan to go touring foreign countries during the summer for reasons I laid out before. [...]
[...] These must be the same clever strategists who thought a foreign jaunt would help to strengthen his foreign policy credentials, rather than draw attention to his obvious lack thereof. At the very least, one hopes that these strategists will not be involved in running foreign policy in a future Obama administration. [...]
[...] Like clockwork, McCain’s campaign is responding to Obama’s Berlin speech in almost exactly the way I expected they would: While Barack Obama took a premature victory lap today in the heart of Berlin, proclaiming himself a ‘citizen of the world,’ John McCain continued to make his case to the American citizens who will decide this election [bold mine-DL]. Barack Obama offered eloquent praise for this country, but the contrast is clear. John McCain has dedicated his life to serving, improving and protecting America. Barack Obama spent an afternoon talking about it. [...]