We’d get along with everyone, or so has been the storyline of his recent tour of the Middle East and Western Europe. At the halfway point of his trip, Obama’s met with literally everyone: Hamid Karzai, Nouri al-Maliki, Jalal Talabani, King Abdullah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Mahmoud Abbas, Shimon Peres, Ehud Olmert, plus several governors, mayors, and other dignitaries. His reception has been overwhelming friendly, complete with smiling photos ops, glowing praise, and fawning media coverage.
- Obama with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani earlier this week.
And that doesn’t even include the Western European portion of the trip, where Obama is expected to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The New York Times reports the Germans are expecting the crowd at Obama’s public Berlin address to be as high as ONE MILLION (!). What, one million protesters (like when Bush visits)? No — more likely one million adoring fans, German no less.
Obama’s media team has been careful to remind reporters that there’s only one president, that this trip is not a policy-making trip, but come on, what kind of US senator gets one million Germans to turn out for a glorified campaign speech? Maybe one who’s getting a little ahead of himself? Does Obama mean to suggest that as President he’d enjoy this kind of international support?
Or maybe we’re all to blame — perhaps we’ve bought in so easily to Obama’s charm that it’s blinded us to the fact that he’s a politician who does stupid things domestically (supporting the farm bill, destroying campaign finance) and is likely to do them abroad given the chance. The New York Times even reports that comedians are struggling to find funny Obama material. Apparently he’s too pure. Huh?
It’s easy for leaders like al-Maliki and Karzai to cozy up to Obama when he’s a media-managed starlet, but once he’s been in office for a time and had to make hard decisions, he probably won’t draw a million Germans to hear him speak. Or if he does, they’ll be there to protest his decision to stay in Iraq for another year or his unrelenting support for American farm subsidies that impoverish the third world. As David Aaronovitch, columnist for the Times of London, tellingly observes, eventually we will all hate Obama.
jaf2106–you seem determined to cast Barack Obama in a bad light, which is just as ridiculous as the media’s (aka the Obama ‘08 public relations team) swooning behavior. Admittedly, journalists are making Obama’s trip through the middle east look like the re-enactment of a certain carpenter’s journeys through that territory some two millenia ago, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t feel hopeful (excuse the term) about what’s coming out of the “yes we can” bandwagon. Important players in the middle east from Arab kings to US generals do seem to be genuinely warming to this guy, and that probably would spill over into a presidency.
Yes, he is a politician and he will make errors, but it is also entirely possible that he’s a very different politician with a chance of having an unusually large fanbase–and positive influence–abroad. Perhaps the media should not be so quick to crown him, but you should not be so quick to chastise him either.
Interesting article from the Times. Despite all his rhetoric on “change” Obama is still a politician. I think if he does win the reality of being President will force him to abandon some of his principles (see the surge flip flop). The first to dislike him will be the far left who so ardently promote his candidacy.
hzl2 – it’s not my intention to cast Obama in a bad light. I quite like Obama. I take issue with those who expect Obama to be a miracle cure for this country’s problems (and there are many). When push comes to shove Obama will have to make difficult decisions like any other politician, and we’ll probably disagree with a lot them as will our international allies. That’s the nature of politics. The point of criticism is not to expose Obama as a fraud (he is not), but [1] to temper out of control expectations, and [2] to hold Obama accountable for his mistakes and hope he does better next time.
Black coffee & bourbon – Thanks for the comment. And you’re right, the far left will be the first to abandon Obama. He can’t be as principled as they want because politics forces compromise. At the same time, some “flip-flopping” (compromise) on certain issues might not be so bad. The surge merits reconsideration on his part, for both political reasons and good reasons.
A bit tangential, maybe:
“I think by now I have made it fairly clear that I am not very happy with the word ‘hope.’ I don’t believe in people just hoping. We work for what we want. One has no right to hope without endeavor, and so we work to try and bring about the situation that is necessary for the country. We are confident that we will get to the negotiation table at one time or another – not because we hope and pray blindly, but because we work tirelessly for it.”
- Aung San Suu Kyi
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I’ll be curious to see how the “hope” movement responds to the call of duty if Obama’s elected. I think it’s easy to talk about how great we want America to be; do we have the commitment to follow through on that vision with the effort and sacrifice it might require?
Sometimes I worry that people believe that Obama is the deus ex machina w.r.t. America’s troubles domestically and abroad (I’m not accusing anyone here, btw). He’s not. I like Obama a lot for providing a coherent vision of what many of us would like America to be, and for raising ex ante excitement and enthusiasm for working towards that vision; that’s what leaders should do. But the importance of follow-through can’t be overstated.
From a complete outsiders point of view, this general liking for Obama post the last head of state is a good thing. popular opinion is not positive for the leaders of the US in too many places and that he can generate this kind of following, PR et all is still quite phenomenal. The point i’m trying to make here is that there must be something very real about a guy who isn’t president yet of a country whose last president (i won’t say most) quite a few people did not like and is going into the elections witha lot of populr support. I think its already a step in the right direction in terms of international diplomacy for the US as a country, and maybe instead of calling down Obama on it, Mccain should possibly start thinking about starting with his best foot forward.
If people like him ( either of them and i use light terms here) they will give him another chance. if they don’t, if he starts badly, it’s already downhill without giving him a shot to make his bones.
Arjuna – I agree that it’s a good thing, but do you think it will lead to inevitable disappointment when he fails to transcend “politics”? Or rather, what’s your sense, as an outsider, of what people believe about Obama? Do they think of him as just a good choice for president, or do they feel something more for him?
Arjuna & MMM – I think the excitement surrounding Obama will eventually fade. And that will only magnify the cynicism already appearing in more mainstream media:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece
Anyway, check out the new post by avschwarm at:
http://knowthecauses.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/american-idealism/
The discussion of idealist vs. optimist is a good one.
My thoughts are he’s a good choice for president and personally someone likeable. which doesn’t happen very often.