Discussing Obama's European Trip on the BBC

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Although the people around Barack Obama insisted that his visit to Europe was not a campaign trip, the sounds and images that emerged suggested otherwise. The first six months of the year witnessed a series of state-by-state primaries, which appears to have given way to a global primary as the candidates seek to establish themselves as statesmen in waiting. Barack Obama addressed a crowd, estimated at 200,000, in the heart of Berlin today. It was beautifully staged, with a huge audience (both in attendance and watching around the word), and at a remarkable location. Senator Obama not yet president of the United States, but here he is, barnstorming across Europe.  Obama’s visit came on the heels of Senator McCain, who was here earlier in the year trying to boost his foreign policy credentials, but who notably didn’t attract a crowd 200,000 eager to see him in the flesh. Will Senator McCain now be forced to travel to Europe and do something similar by barnstorming across the rest of the world?

The election is not a shoo-in for Senator Obama at this point. From a European perspective it's very easy to look at how the candidate is seeing to follow in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy, who spoke at City Hall, and Ronald Reagan, who spoke at the Brandenburg Gate. Anybody listening to Obama who has memories of John F Kennedy's visit to Berlin in 1963 will have heard themes, expressions, and a virtual echo of JFK’s speech, and that is not an accident, as this was a deliberate attempt to hark back to the Camelot years. It must be noted, however, that regardless of the imagery from Berlin, there are many states in the United States that will remain unimpressed and vote for John McCain.ection is not a shoo-in for Senator Obama at this point. From a European perspective it's very easy to look at how the candidate is seeing to follow in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy, who spoke at City Hall, and Ronald Reagan, who spoke at the Brandenburg Gate. Anybody listening to Obama who has memories of John F Kennedy's visit to Berlin in 1963 will have heard themes, expressions, and a virtual echo of JFK’s speech, and that is not an accident, as this was a deliberate attempt to hark back to the Camelot years. It must be noted, however, that regardless of the imagery from Berlin, there are many states in the United States that will remain unimpressed and vote for John McCain.

President Clinton was often accused by his critics of running what they referred to ‘a photo- op foreign policy’ and Obama's critics could easily level the same charge against him at this point. Nevertheless, the images from Berlin will be very valuable to the Obama since the visit has been designed in large part to inoculate Senator Obama against charges of having too little foreign policy experience. What Berlin heard from Senator Obama should be recognizable to Europeans as the same people who are working for Obama worked with Bill Clinton during his eight years in office and will bring to office a more multilateral, European-focused foreign policy than we've experienced for the last eight years.  

Although Obama did not refer to the ‘Special Relationship,’ choosing to discuss the ‘Transatlantic Relationship,’ history reveals that every president tends to refer to the Special Relationship once they are in office and want something from the United Kingdom. The Special Relationship has always been a little bit more special in London than in Washington DC, but whoever becomes president in November, the relationship with the United Kingdom will retain remain strong moving forward. The European trip has resulted in many platitudes, and an attempt to meet the great and the good, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron: arguably the past the present and the future in British politics. Clearly, there is an attempt to ensure that nobody is offended on this trip and to conjure up some dynamic images for the remainder of the campaign.  

The trip to Europe has resulted in a lot of noise, but little of substance. It is also important to be careful of anything that candidates say on the campaign trail, because it's very easy to say things as a candidate, that subsequently prove impossible to execute once in office. Senator Obama has acknowledged the risks involved in making this trip and the potential for a dip in the polls that could result from being out of the country for a week. While the trip doubtless looks like a no brainer from a European perspective, since it involves travelling around the world, being photographed world leaders, and thereby boosting your status overseas, it is important to remember that Europeans are not voting in the American presidential election; only the American people are voting, and it is entirely possible that the McCain campaign could turn this trip against Senator Obama.