On the Trail with Barack Obama

Dean Tearing it Up in Obama Change Bus

2008-07-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

Howard Dean drawing his own crowds with the Register for Change Bus

WASHINGTON,July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After a successful kick-off tour through Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana last week, Governor Howard Dean continues his national voter registration efforts in North Carolina and Georgia Friday and Saturday. The tour builds on the overwhelming enthusiasm and voter turnout seen during the primaries as Democrats mobilize and organize voters for the fall election.

Schedule tomorrow:
SATURDAY, JULY 26

Savannah, GA

REGISTER FOR CHANGE VOTER REGISTRATION EVENT IN SAVANNAH

YMCA - West Broad Street

1110 May St

Savannah, GA

Event Time: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

* For more information contact Caroline Ciccone at CicconeC@dnc.org.

Macon, GA

REGISTER FOR CHANGE VOTER REGISTRATION EVENT IN MACON

Macon Centreplex Parking Lot

200 Coliseum Drive

Macon, GA

Event Time: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

* For more information contact Caroline Ciccone at CicconeC@dnc.org.

Atlanta, GA

REGISTER FOR CHANGE RALLY IN ATLANTA

Georgia Freight Depot

65 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive

Atlanta, Georgia

Event Time: 5:15 PM - 6:30 PM

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will accompany Gov. Dean at the rally.

* For more information contact Caroline Ciccone at CicconeC@dnc.org.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Obama's London Meet Up

2008-07-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is the last leg of the tour and what a tour it was. Obama did the U.S. proud.

LONDON (AFP) - US presidential hopeful Barack Obama arrived in London Friday, the last scheduled stop on a world tour aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials before elections later this year.

The Democratic Party senator touched down from Paris, where he held talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, praising him for his more pro-American stance and France's military efforts in Afghanistan.

In the British capital, he will meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his predecessor Tony Blair -- now the international community's Middle East envoy -- and the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, David Cameron.

Obama, his then-rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, and the Republican Party candidate, John McCain, met Brown in Washington when he visited in April. Brown previously met McCain in London in March.

......

Friday's Daily Mirror headlined a front-page story on his Berlin speech "Obamamania!" He also made the front pages of six other national newspapers.

Likely topics for discussion include Iraq and Afghanistan, where British troops are fighting alongside their US counterparts, and the Middle East. Like Obama, Brown has recently visited Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Brown will doubtless be encouraged by Obama's call for a more multilateral approach to US foreign policy, as he has pushed a similar line. He also wants troop reductions in Iraq and reinforcements from NATO countries in Afghanistan.

Earlier Friday, Obama signalled his appreciation for a warming of US-French relations that were hit by former president Jacques Chirac's opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

McCain's Camp Gets Hip to Internet

2008-07-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

McCainNation lets supporters plan and attend events. What took them so long?

McCain About to Come Unhinged

2008-07-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

You can see the signs and hear it in his voice.

McCain is livid.

The audacity of this young guy stealing the spotlight, when McCain has been around forever. Well, sometimes it's just like that. Sometimes, no matter how hard you've worked, someone else can swoop in and accomplish more in a few short years than a career that spans decades. That's just the way it is.
There is only one way McCain could possibly win this election and that is if America proves to have a deeper problem with racism than it appears.

McCain's never ending support for Bush

Independents Leaning Obama

2008-07-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

Atlantic: Among the key findings: Democrats have a built-in structural advantage among independents to the score of between five and ten points. But McCain remains competitive because a lot of those independents are ideological conservatives who have weak partisan attachments to the Republican Party. Without being pushed, 45% of the sample, including 59% of the self-described moderates in the sample, said they would vote for Obama and 39% said they would vote for McCain. With leaners, McCain makes up two points of the margin.

Americans Liked Obama's Berlin Speech

2008-07-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

You'd think Obama just stepped in doggie doo the way the pundits talk about his overseas visit.

Rasmussen: Over half of Americans (55%) rate Barack Obama’s historic speech in Berlin yesterday good or excellent, and the Democratic presidential candidate is experiencing a modest bounce over John McCain nationally in the latest Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

In a new Rasmussen Reports national survey, 26% grade the speech, delivered before an enthusiastic crowd of more than 200,000, as Excellent. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say it was good. Nearly as many (23%) feel it was only Fair, and 18% rate it as Poor. These results are based upon the 50% of voters who had heard or seen coverage of the speech last night.

Even nearly a third of Republicans (32%) give the speech good or excellent marks, but Democrats are far more enthusiastic, with 75% feeling that way. However, 39% of Republicans rate the speech Poor versus only five percent (5%) of Democrats. Forty-seven percent (47%) of unaffiliated voters say the speech was good or excellent, while 16% characterize it as Poor.

Here's another tidbit:

But in a survey earlier this week Rasmussen Reports found that 63% of Americans do not believe the visits to Iraq and Afghanistan make Obama more qualified to be President.

I don't think his trip makes him more qualified either. He's not going to get qualified on a trip. He's already qualified. Besides, foreign policy isn't one person dictating. It's a group of advisers forming and shaping.
Gallup says Obama got a boost with his overseas visit.

Obama and Sarkozy Meet

2008-07-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Obama in France, AFP
The Obama road blog with photos/video

He's now off to London and then home.

AFP: The Democratic White House hopeful effusively praised the rightwing French leader at a joint news conference at the Elysee Palace, despite perceptions that an affinity for France can damage US presidential candidates.

"He has been a great leader on this, and the American people greatly appreciate President Sarkozy's approach to the relationship," Obama said, on the penultimate day of a Europe and Middle East campaign tour.

"I think the average American has enormous fondness for the French people," said Obama, despite recent rows, especially over staunch French opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Sarkozy returned the compliment, and joked about the fact that both he and Obama were the sons of immigrants to their respective countries.

Obama: never criticize the sitting president overseas.

NYT: “The America the France loves is an America that’s far-sighted, that has ambitions, great debates, strong personalities,” Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Obama as their joint news conference began. “We need an America that is present, not absent. We need friends who are independent but who are true friends. And you have to know that here in Europe, here in France, we’re watching with great interest what you’re doing.”

As Mr. Obama’s weeklong trip overseas winds down, the late-afternoon press conference with Mr. Sarkozy was the first one that he held standing next to a world leader. He deflected questions from French reporters who asked him to comment upon Mr. Bush and other policies of the United States that are controversial here.

“Let me just remind everyone that I’m not the president. I’m a United States senator. I’m a candidate for president,” Mr. Obama said. “There’s a wonderful tradition that’s not always observed, but I think it’s a good one. You don’t spend time criticizing a president of the United States when you are overseas.”

Christiane Amapour of CNN asks a bold question of Sarkozy

Obama Connects the Dots on Global Visit

2008-07-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

People still questioning, doubting. Obama's presumptious.
What the heck?
Obama explains that in order to be successful in Afghanistan and Iraq, we need to have allies in Europe. How America moves forward in the world is all related to how much we spend on the economy vs. war.
We are all connected -- and that's not cumbaya stuff. It's practical. If we have more allies, we'll reduce the chances of war and we'll keep our money at home.
Bush has neglected the economy because all our taxes are going to the war!
If Americans knew how much money was going to be spent on the war, perhaps they wouldn't have been so anxious to elect George Bush.
The average person having a tough time filling up their gas tank (that would be me and millions of other) ought to think about who they voted for?
The guy who wanted to dominate the world? The guy without a vision?
It's time for the U.S. to recognize its new role in the world and that will keep us safe and improve the economy.

Seeking a More Perfect Union

2008-07-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

The pro-Obama O'Reilly

Obama Nixed Soldier Visit Under Pentagon Advice

2008-07-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

I see rumors are rampant today and McCain is scolding Obama for not visiting wounded soldiers in Germany, but Andrea Mitchell mentioned on the evening news last night (and in the video below) that the Pentagon advised against it and this WaPo story says the same thing.

Naysayers are scrambling to get a piece of Obama, doing whatever it takes. It's the same old thing, the old guys trying to pin Obama as not one of us -- visiting all those Europeans but not the soldiers. Just like an elitist! That criticism is getting old. McCain is getting old. As if Obama didn't want to visit the soldiers.

Notice the Obama camp grace in not blaming the Pentagon.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama scrubbed a planned visit to see wounded American servicemen and women in Germany because of concerns raised by the Pentagon that the stop at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center could be seen as a political event, according to Obama's campaign.

Although the Illinois senator visited troops in Afghanistan and Iraq on the first part of his overseas trip, those stops were part of an official Congressional delegation, and therefore deemed apolitical. The European tour, which included a speech in Berlin last night before an enthusiastic crowd of 200,000, is funded by the campaign and as such is not official government business.

"Senator Obama had hoped to and had every intention of visiting our troops to express his appreciation and gratitude for their service to our country," retired Air Force Major General Scott Gration, an Obama adviser, said in a statement.

Ticket to Convention: Sign Up Voters

2008-07-25T03:03:00.000-07:00

You might not have to buy a ticket to go to the convention. This is exciting.

Politico: "We're going to ask those 80,000 people in that stadium to march out of there and go with very specific instructions and goals to register millions of new voters," Hildebrand said.

The campaign announced July 7 that it would hold the final night of the Aug. 25-28 convention at Invesco Field and open Obama's acceptance speech to thousands of spectators. Official details of the so-called community credential process are expected early next week, the campaign said.

By seating the 6,000 delegates down on the field normally defended by the Denver Broncos, and by keeping the number of journalists, technicians and VIPs at the same level as those attending the Pepsi Center events earlier in the week, the campaign could bring in more than 60,000 members of the public, Hildebrand said.

Obama Takes Berlin

2008-07-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

Some people had some trouble with the "citizen of the world" part of Obama's speech. Guess who that was?

As Keith Olbermann points out in this video, the beloved one -- Ronald Reagan -- said the same thing in one of his speeches.

The critics seem to be stretching a little too far, desperate for something.

Obama's strategy to enlist help, to cooperate with the world, as opposed to dominate it, is what's needed.
It's becoming increasingly apparent that this election is largely a generational thing, moving America in a new direction with Obama or more of the same with McCain. I sure hope most Americans have the fortitude to move ahead.

Obama to Meet French President Sarkozy July 25

2008-07-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Update: Obama and Sarkozy meet

The view in Berlin

Obama's visit in France, and here on out is expected to be low key.

PARIS, July 25, 2008 (AFP) - US presidential hopeful Barack Obama was due in Paris on Friday to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy during a fleeting and low-key visit in stark contrast to his crowd-pulling trip to Berlin the day before.
Obama's aides did not detail his agenda, but the Illinois senator was expected to land at Le Bourget airport and head into Paris solely for the Sarkozy meeting before leaving for London soon afterwards.
"Senator Obama looks forward to meeting with President Sarkozy and discussing areas of mutual interest, including the common challenges of security, transnational threats, and the global economy," his national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said.
"President Sarkozy has made the bilateral Franco-American relationship and the Transatlantic Alliance a centerpiece of his presidency, and Senator Obama looks forward to discussing how to build on these important initiatives."
Public opinion polls in France mirror those elsewhere in Europe to show Obama is by far the candidate most people would like to see succeed President George W. Bush in the November elections.
The election of the rightwing pro-US Sarkozy last year greatly improved US-French relations, which were poisoned by France's staunch opposition to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq under then president Jacques Chirac.

Most Believe Obama Will Win

2008-07-24T17:39:00.001-07:00

200,000 turn out in Germany

AFP: A majority of Americans believe that Democratic candidate Barack Obama will win the presidential election against Republican hopeful John McCain in November, a Fox News poll showed Thursday.
While 51 percent say Obama, who is vying to become the first African American president, will win the election, only 27 percent are betting on a McCain victory.
Voters registered as Democrats are more confident about their candidate's chances than their Republican peers: 71 percent of Democrats see Obama winning on November 4 while 51 percent of Republicans believe McCain will win.
One in four Republicans think that Obama, a senator from Illinois, will succeed US President George W. Bush.
A month ago, 47 percent of Americans believed that Obama, 46, would win the election compared to 32 percent for McCain, a 71-year-old Arizona senator.
Even though many Americans are predicting an Obama victory, the race remains tight.

Hagel Says Quit Arguing About the Surge

2008-07-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

Indeed. All this politicking around, for what? To prove that McCain or Obama is the better choice? Meanwhile, what's accomplished while people are dying? Sen. Chuck Hagel is back from his trip to Iraq with Obama.

Time: Hagel mentioned both candidates, but his comments seemed directed at Republican John McCain. McCain, while Obama traveled the Middle East, attacked Obama for opposing the military escalation last year that increased security in Iraq.
"Quit talking about, 'Did the surge work or not work,' or, 'Did you vote for this or support this,'" Hagel said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.
"Get out of that. We're done with that. How are we going to project forward?" the Nebraska senator said. "What are we going to do for the next four years to protect the interest of America and our allies and restructure a new order in the world. ... That's what America needs to hear from these two candidates. And that's where I am."
Hagel, too, opposed the troop increase strategy, though he acknowledged Thursday it brought about positive changes. "When you flood the zone with superior American military firepower, and you put 30,000 of the world's best troops in a country, there's going to be a result there," Hagel said.
....

Whether the surge worked, though, can't be measured, Hagel said, arguing the small gains came at a high price. He said President Bush's decision last year to dispatch an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq has cost more than 1,000 American lives and billions of dollars.
Though Hagel is a Republican, his name has been floated as a potential vice presidential running mate for Obama. Like McCain, he is a Vietnam war veteran, but Hagel is a fierce critic of the war in Iraq. He has said he would consider running with Obama on the Democratic ticket but that he doesn't expect to be asked. He is not running for reelection.
Hagel joined Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island in traveling with Obama to the Middle East. Reed said the trip was productive. "It wasn't just a photo op and social chit chat," Reed said in a telephone interview.

Obama/Hagel!
Obama/Edwards!
I can't decide.

McCain Doesn't Trust Congress Or Cigarette Taxes

2008-07-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

So, read his lips: No new cigarette taxes. That's what McCain said at Lance Armstrong's Livestrong event, you know, the cancer awareness event.

I could live with that response. I understand the idea of no new taxes. But he blamed congress and then he said congress was lousy, and they may be. But it seems if McCain wants to be president, he ought to find a way to get along with, build trust in, congress.

Then Lance tried to offer McCain information to prove that raising the taxes on cigarettes might be a good idea, but McCain wasn't biting.

Then when McCain was asked what he would do about the tobacco companies, he said: "I would tell the American people to clean up this mess," he said. "The American people are sick and tired of being sick and tired."

I bet Lance was wishing Obama wasn't in Germany.

McCain's Retro Foreign Policy

2008-07-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

It's true that sometimes retro is hip, but not when it comes to McCain's foreign policy. He talks freely about chucking Russia out of the G8 and bombing Iran or sending them more cigarettes, or referring to Czechoslovakia.

NPR: John McCain often joked that when he looked into former Russian President Vladimir Putin's soul, he didn't see — as President Bush did — a man he could do business with, but rather an ex-KGB officer consolidating power.

"It's a KGB-like operation," McCain said of Putin's approach, "gradual, steady, persistent, successful."

Though Russia has a new president, Dmitry Medvedev, McCain has kept up his tough line, accusing the Russian government of silencing political dissent at home, using energy as a weapon abroad and launching a cyber war against Estonia.

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said in a speech in Los Angeles in March that NATO should not stand for such actions, nor should the Group of Eight.

"We should start by ensuring the G-8 — the group of eight highly industrialized states — becomes again a club of leading market democracies," McCain said. "It should include Brazil and India, but exclude Russia."

.....

McCain has talked about kicking Russia out of the G-8 for several years now. Susan Rice, a top foreign policy adviser to Democrat Barack Obama, says speeches like that show McCain is stuck in a Cold War mind-set, trying to demonize Russia.

"John McCain really has a static — I would even argue retro — mid-late 20th century national security orientation, which is ill suited to the challenges we face," Rice said, adding that she sees some contradictions within the McCain campaign.

That retro-ness doesn't seem to be flying with the younger generation either:

CNN: At a town hall meeting in Ohio this month, a student told McCain that Republicans were a dying breed on his campus.

"I understand the challenge I have, and I understand that this election is really all about the people of your generation," McCain said.

Many young Republicans said Sen. Barack Obama, the 46-year-old junior senator from Illinois, is inspiring voters their age, but McCain, the 71-year-old Arizona senator who has been in office since the early '80s, is not.

Eric Pearlmutter, a member of the Young Republicans at the University of Southern California, said the roaring enthusiasm that follows Obama is missing among conservatives his age.

"We try to get people out to our college Republican meetings, but ... we can't seem to draw the same kind of vocal support," he said.

And when is McCain, who is speaking right now about the dangers of smoking at the Livestrong event, going to stop saying "my friends." It's just not right.

Now it's Just Obama's an Idol

2008-07-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

First, it's Obama doesn't have what it takes.

Then it's he might have what it takes but he doesn't have the experience. Then it's "white guilt." Then it's Obama's just lucky. Now, Obama is just an idol. For some, it's just painful to see a brilliant and wise person who has it going on. He has energy and inspires enthusiasm and he might actually really be the right person for America for right now, just like Obama says.

Those who underestimate Obama, and there are plenty of those folks, just don't get it. But they could if they opened their minds. But that, I suppose, is what they call a "liberal" thing to do.

Polls Say McCain Gains Ground

2008-07-24T12:55:00.001-07:00

I don't believe it for a second.

There is no possible way McCain and Obama could be even. There must be something funky going on with the polling.

Remember, these polls intend to influence just as much as reflect.
There are a few pollsters with an anti-Obama bias. You can tell when you read the text that accompanies the polls. There are also polls with misleading questions.

I would argue, that right now, the pollster's purpose is to influence the election. The pollsters will get serious in their sampling after the convention. Then it will be apparent that Obama is leading by a LOT.

I only post the good polls, like the one that says Obama is leading big among Latinos, the voters that all the Hillaries said Obama would never get.

Occidental Rebranding of America Report

2008-07-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

A group of right, left and center college students at Occidental, politically speaking, came up with a report to help rebrand America and get it through some of its toughest problems. They drew up monthly and yearly steps to achieve the goals.

They even concluded a timetable was the best way to get out of Iraq. the report covers Iran and nuclear proliferation, torture, oil and energy, Afghanistan, Pakistan...
Here is there plan, that apparently is being looked at by both campaigns and other bigwigs around the nation.

A little about the report from the professor who taught the class.

However, at the urging of many students, I agreed to offer a prescriptive course in the spring term of2008—“American Grand Strategy.” The course’s purview was the future—what ought to be US foreignpolicy for the new administration that will come to power in January 2009. Students first looked at national and global public opinion and concluded that in the years after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush and his administration had squandered an enormous amount of international goodwill, lost considerable moralauthority for the country, and approached the world with an Us vs Them mentality. Such a divisive attitude rather than a levelheaded strategy did not make for successful foreign policy.

Here is the mission statement:

The Mission of the United States of America is to ensurethe government abides by the values enumerated in itsfounding documents; to secure the rights of its citizens; tobuild upon existing relations and foster new relationships inan effort to promote the economic and social well-being ofthe global community; to protect the United States and itsallies from traditional and transnational threats; to enhance the position of the developing world; and to guarantee theprinciples of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are universally obtained, for the sake of the Common Good.

The way it starts out:

During the Bush administration, the United States has severely diminished its international credibility, influence and position as a global leader. However, as the world’s predominant military, economic and political power, the United States not only has the opportunity to build a secure and prosperous environment for its own citizens, but also has a historically unique chance to act in the interest of the international community.

The 44th President of the United States will thus have to live up to the imperative of
promoting the Common Good in the international arena by developing a strategy to
reassert the United States as a responsible, accountable and credible global leader.

In general terms, the strategy of the United States during the next presidential
administration (and beyond) must include a renewed commitment to multilateralism. The US will have to reengage its traditional political and military alliances and partnerships to signal its readiness for broad international cooperation and ultimately leadership. Additionally, the United States will have to delineate issue areas of strategic importance that demand immediate attention.

I believe that was the signal Obama gave in his speech today.

U.S. Showing Signs of Diplomacy

2008-07-24T12:18:00.001-07:00

And the folks on the right are angry?

NPR: In its waning days, the Bush administration is showing new flexibility toward Iraq, Iran and North Korea — the countries it once called the "Axis of Evil." The administration says it would still include Iran and North Korea on the list, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week participated in talks including her North Korean counterpart, and she sent a top diplomat to Geneva last weekend for talks with Iran's nuclear negotiator.

There used to be bright lines in the Bush administration's approach to the world. Just a couple of months ago, President Bush compared talks with Iran to appeasement. And the U.S. didn't want one-on-one talks with North Korea, accused of cheating on a past nuclear deal. Now, the U.S. is trying to push forward a new nuclear deal with Pyongyang.

Rice's meeting with her North Korean counterpart angered her critics on the right.

"This is the Obama administration beginning six months early," said former ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, who is now with the American Enterprise Institute. He says we are witnessing the "intellectual collapse" of the Bush administration. read more

What we are witnessing is a shift in the level of enlightenment.

Afghanistan More Dire Than We know

2008-07-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

If Bush McCain hadn't been so eager to trample on another country, and we would've done the job right in Afghanistan -- building it back up -- we wouldn't have to be arguing right now if the "surge worked" in Iraq or not.
I have confidence that Obama, while running for president, is hashing out these issues behind the scenes so that he'll be prepared come Day One. I think McCain is just trying to keep up.

Swamp: Both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have recently talked of surging U.S. troops to Afghanistan in order to beat back the Taliban and al Qaeda.

But adding more troops is the least of what the U.S. needs to do in Afghanistan, according to Anthony Cordesman, a national-security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

After reading Cordesman's latest analysis, it's easy to come away wondering if it won't actually be a much longer and more difficult problem for the U.S. to solve than Iraq.

Working with the ANA and ANP (the Afghan national army and police) is different enough from working with the Iraqi forces so that special training is needed, and more fully qualified US advisors are even more important than more US combat troops. Recent GAO and DoD reports show that the combined NATO/ISAF/US force only has 30-40% of the qualified trainers and embeds needed for the Afghan Army, and the police effort is experiencing so many problems it has recently been zero-based and is now focused on a district by direct (sic. should be district by district) effort to reform the over 350 police districts at a rate of one critical district per month.

More significantly, the shortage of qualified civilians and aid workers, and flexible and readily usable economic aid funds is even more critical than the shortage of troops. The latest DoD report on Afghanistan has a table showing that some 2,021 soldiers are assigned forward to PRTs, and there are all of 25 qualified civilians. The quality of Afghan provincial, district, and local governance, development activity, and rule of law is much weaker than even the limited efforts in Iraq, and Afghanistan has virtually no disposable assets of its own and is even more ineffective and corrupt in using them.

Surge Hoopla

2008-07-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

Forget about Obama hoopla. Maybe if McCain and his crew could come up with something more than "the surge worked" and "Obama is wrong on the surge," maybe he'd get some press. This video speaks for itself.

McCain's Confusion May Be Voters Confusion

2008-07-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Chicago Tribune: If there is any fixed position in John McCain's policy agenda, it's that we must never, ever, set a timetable for leaving Iraq. He regularly flogs Barack Obama for proposing to withdraw by the summer of 2010. So it was a surprise to hear him say Monday, when asked if our troops might depart in the next two years, "Oh, I think they could be largely withdrawn, as I've said."

I guess that makes it unanimous. This week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he's amenable to bidding the U.S. goodbye on Obama's schedule. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated his forces will also be heading home soon.
....

Despite creeping toward withdrawal himself, McCain continues to lambaste Obama for setting a timetable. But if the current policy is the stunning success depicted by McCain, it should be eminently practical to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis by the middle of 2010. If it is impossible to do that, more than seven years after the occupation began, how can McCain say the existing strategy is working?

The Arizona senator sounded frustrated this week, insisting that Obama was "completely wrong" in opposing the Bush administration's escalation of the war in January 2007. "The fact is, if we had done what Sen. Obama wanted to do, we would have lost," he declared. "And we would have faced a wider war. And we would have had greater problems in Afghanistan and the entire region."

And did anyone catch Jaywalking on Jay Leno last night? Some people don't even know who the vice president is or what Obama's first name is or McCain's last name, which brings us to this pleasant story about Americans dismal knowledge of government.

I guess we get what we deserve and this is why we got Bush -- twice. Unfortunately, the rest of us suffer for uniformed voters who go to the polls and vote for the guy they'd like to have a beer with or the guy they think will keep us No. 1, trouncing on other nations. That is, after all, very important to some voters.

WaPo: So a bunch of academics decides to revisit one of the defining books of modern American politics, a 1960 tome on the electorate. They spend years comparing interviews with voting-age Americans from 2000 and 2004 to what Americans said during elections in the 1950s. The academics' question: How much has the American voter changed over the past 50 years?

Their conclusion -- that the voter is pretty much the same dismally ill-informed creature he was back then -- continues a decades-long debate about whether Americans are as clueless as they sound.
.....
The question that political scientists have pondered for decades is: If a person can't name the staples of liberal ideology, or can't talk coherently about foreign affairs, or cares only about a few issues, or changes his opinion in response to information that he can't remember later, might he still be able to make thoughtful choices in the voting booth?

How much credit do we give our most precious resource, the American brain? Is it half-empty or half-full?

Obama's Speech in Berlin

2008-07-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Update: Video below

The most excellent photos.

Hordes of people were there. I paraphrased and quoted some of what he said. I'll post the video when it's out.

The overarching message was that the world's nations need to come together to stop terrorism, nuclear weapon proliferation, global warming. (speech transcript).
Obama said today he didn't come as a presidential candidate. "I come to you as a citizen."

He told of his family's history.

"This city of all cities knows the dream of freedom."

Obama then talked about Berlin's and Germany's history.

Obama said the walls that stand between the nation's Christians, Jews and Muslims are the walls that need to be torn down. "America has no better partner than Europe." He said now is the time to join together and build bridges to meet the challenges of the 21st century. "This is the moment when we must defeat terror," he said. No one welcomes war, he said. The Afghan people need your support (Germans are reluctant be involved in U.S.'s wars and opposed our invasion of Iraq). Obama talked about the need to seek a world without nuclear weapons. He said Europe must come together to pressure Iran to give up nuclear weapons building. This is the moment we must come together to save the planet. We must help the other nations in poverty, he said. Obama spoke of equality and fairness and our countries shared experiences.
He said America is imperfect but that for more than two centuries we have strived to form a more perfect union. He talked about Americans ideals and aspirations that are bigger than anything that drives us apart. "We are a people of improbable hope."

CNN's take

MSNBC
CBS
NYT