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Go Home The Amazingly Superficial Race

POLITICS JULY 21, 2008

The Amazingly Superficial Race

BY NOAM SCHEIBER

For a slideshow of images of Barack Obama abroad, please click here.

So is Barack Obama's foreign trip this week a critical addition to his presidential résumé? Or is it a farce? You'd never know from listening to the GOP. Late this spring, Republicans delighted in bashing Obama for his two-plus year absence from Iraq--the implication being that Obama wouldn't merit a Situation Room seat until he'd boarded a trans-Atlantic flight. But, as Obama's itinerary has taken shape in recent weeks, suddenly the McCain campaign has soured on the idea. On Thursday, McCain spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker complained that Obama's trip would be a "first-of-its-kind campaign rally overseas." McCain himself finally settled on a tentative compromise: Obama's stops in Iraq and Afghanistan would be kosher. But, "What Senator Obama does in the other countries, whether political rallies or not, obviously would then give them a political flavor to say the least." Got that?

It is, of course, hard to not to notice that the McCainiacs had been playing a bit of politics themselves, dwelling on Obama's lightly-used passport as evidence of his inexperience. Except that the politics abruptly changed when the Obamanauts called their bluff--and took every cameraman in the Amtrak corridor along for the ride. Somehow it didn't occur to the McCainiacs until too late that an Obama world tour might become the media event of the season. "[I]t certainly hasn't escaped us that the three network newscasts will originate from stops on Obama's trip," Hazelbaker sniffed to The New York Times last week.

Team McCain has a point. This past week has brought endless chatter about all the potential pitfalls and opportunities Obama faces. For the life of me, I'm having trouble identifying the former. Yes, a gaffe would be damaging amid all the glare. But so much more damaging than a gaffe at home? It's not like Obama's comments on the campaign trail don't already attract incredible scrutiny here and abroad. (The media, desperate to justify its saturation coverage, has taken pains to overdramatize the trip, with mixed results. As an example of the risks Obama may encounter abroad, USA Today dusted off his controversial comments about Jerusalem in June--comments he delivered at an AIPAC conference in Washington.)

More to the point, there won't be many opportunities for gaffes. Gaffes generally require a modicum of spontaneity. And the Obama expedition, far more so than the typical campaign appearance, is being stage managed to the extreme. Obama will be hauled in and out of meetings, as he was this weekend in Iraq and Afghanistan; he will wave alongside foreign leaders; he will pose before iconic vistas. But the words will be kept to a minimum, and when they're offered, they will most likely be offered to American reporters--like the three network news anchors all scrambling for face time. "It's not a knowledge quiz. It's more visceral than that," Richard Haass, a top former Bush State Department official told Time last week. "Americans need to have a sense that this person can hold his own." Translation: These trips are about atmospherics, with the foreign locales serving as sophisticated props.

And maybe not so sophisticated, come to think of it. A rough analogy for the Obama overseas extravaganza is The Daily Show's international "coverage": A correspondent stands in front of a green screen, the Eiffel Tower or the West Bank appears in the background, and voila!, a foreign dispatch is filed. Yes, Obama's actual backdrops will be more authentic. But I doubt we can say the same for his experiences.

Obama, as is his wont, actually lodged a version of this complaint during the primaries, when the topic was the knowledge Hillary had supposedly gleaned from her own globe-trotting: "You get picked up at the airport by a state convoy and a security detail. They drive you over to the ambassador's house and you get lunch. Then you go take a tour of some factory or some school. Children do a native dance." Replace "ambassador" with "chancellor" or "prime minister" and you have a reasonable summary of this week's itinerary. A term as National Security Advisor it is not.

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board. On the other hand, this minority may roughly coincide with the dwindling number of Americans who still admire George W. Bush's circus-cowboy sensibility. For the rest of us, the prospect of an American president who doesn't have to be hustled through the international terminal to avoid spitballs and war-crimes indictments may come as a relief. (The Obama road show also risks drowning out this week's round of McCain economic gaffes, as Frank Rich pointed out. But John "a Google" McCain and Phil "nation of whiners" Gramm should still be here when he gets back.)

For all of this, the McCain campaign has only itself to blame. The problem with making an incredibly superficial critique of an opponent is that it can be rebutted incredibly superficially. The Democrats fell into this trap into the 1990s when, rather than critique Republicans on policy grounds, they denounced them as racist meanies. Then, as my colleague Jon Chait has written, Bush came along and surrounded himself with cute black and Hispanic kids. This didn't affect his policies one lick, but it did defuse the Democratic charges.

The McCain campaign made a similar mistake by equating Obama's foreign travel with his fitness to be president. As with the Democrats and Bush, they may have a case to make on the underlying merits. But, if things go according to plan for Obama this week, they will only have helped ensure it won't be heard.

Noam Scheiber is a senior editor of The New Republic.

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42 comments

"Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board." Funniest line of the month

-

July 21, 2008 at 2:25am

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I gotta tell ya Noam, after reading yours' and Yossis' articles on "the one we have all been waiting for", I'm thinking that, maybe you guys need a new religion. I know that Jewish people are STILL waiting for a Messiah. But I had no idea that you were so desperate. You should try ours'. Jesus. He fed the hungry, embraced the poor, healed the sick, and raised the dead. All the while, teaching his followers about Peace and Love and Forgiveness. So far I haven't detected any of those qualities in the Community Organizer with the thin resume, the Racist Rev, the TERRORIST buddy, and the Convicted Crook benefactor. Beware false Prophets. This guy is a FOOL in sheeps' clothing. This guy is DANGEROUS. Mark my words. If this Empty Suit gets in the White House, the forces of Evil will be on the march. They will smell his fear, and they will act upon it. So please, wake up and smell the Con Man. And if you still need that Messiah, you can have ours. Did you know that he was a Jew?

- Timothy L. Pennell

July 21, 2008 at 7:56am

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Obama will almost certainly pass up a prime chance on this trip to hoist McCain and Co. on their own petard by not asking Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, in words of one syllable, whether he does or does not favor a timed American troop withdrawal from Iraq over (let's say) the next two years. If Maliki said -- as he almost certainly would -- that he DOES insist on such a withdrawal, on some timetable or other (and one, moreover, that does not leave the United States with any "residual presence" in Iraq of any kind; certainly not in the form of those "permanent bases" so beloved of Republicans), McCain would be forced to openly oppose the will of the very Iraqi government on which the United States has bet so much in order to go on attacking Obama's supposed "defeatist" attitude. I have been waiting for months now for some incautious -- but honest -- Republican to publicly utter the H-bomb of all Iraqi comments: "We are going to maintain bases in Iraq after major combat operations have ceased; with the will of the Iraqi government and people if possible, but without it if necessary." If Obama could maneuver McCain into saying those words, or their equivalent, THEN we could really start having a national debate on this hideous subject.

- helios

July 21, 2008 at 7:58am

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OF COURSE it's McCain's fault! Who else would be to blame?

- Selish70

July 21, 2008 at 7:58am

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Obama will almost certainly pass up a prime chance on this trip to hoist McCain and Co. on their own petard by not asking Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, in words of one syllable, whether he does or does not favor a timed American troop withdrawal from Iraq over (let's say) the next two years. If Maliki said -- as he almost certainly would -- that he DOES insist on such a withdrawal, on some timetable or other (and one, moreover, that does not leave the United States with any "residual presence" in Iraq of any kind; certainly not in the form of those "permanent bases" so beloved of Republicans), McCain would be forced to openly oppose the will of the very Iraqi government on which the United States has bet so much in order to go on attacking Obama's supposed "defeatist" attitude. I have been waiting for months now for some incautious -- but honest -- Republican to publicly utter the H-bomb of all Iraqi comments: "We are going to maintain bases in Iraq after major combat operations have ceased; with the will of the Iraqi government and people if possible, but without it if necessary." If Obama could maneuver McCain into saying those words, or their equivalent, THEN we could really start having a national debate on this hideous subject.

- helios

July 21, 2008 at 7:59am

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No risk? The risk has already occurred ......OBAMA is making foreign policy as he goes along ..... What an incredible spectacle a half wit politician demanding to be treated by foreign governments as the leader of our nation. This trip is all about "image"? American voters are not stupid, you can dress this pig in a silk suit, but he will always be a pig.

- cramos

July 21, 2008 at 8:31am

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No risk? The risk has already occurred ......OBAMA is making foreign policy as he goes along ..... What an incredible spectacle a half wit politician demanding to be treated by foreign governments as the leader of our nation. This trip is all about "image"? American voters are not stupid, you can dress this pig in a silk suit, but he will always be a pig.

- cramos

July 21, 2008 at 8:31am

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It's Jill Hazelbaker, not "Hazelbacker"

- Elliot

July 21, 2008 at 9:07am

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The GOP has egg on it's face over this one. They can't have it both ways and in this day and age of the internet those words keep coming back to bite them. Obama is showing the world that America does have a future, that we will work with other countries and that America will lead a global move to the future. I'm sure the million Germans who would vote for Obama only encourages those of us here in America to take notice that fear dosen't have to be a part of our daily lives.

- Deanna

July 21, 2008 at 9:13am

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This whole trip to the War Zone is about the Surge and how it worked and how Obama opposed it then refused to acknowledge its success. Now he is trying to take advantage of a tactical and strategic policy that he was never for as cover for a mistaken and craven desire to pull our troops out and abandon Iraq to Al-Qaeda and the extremists. He will come home wearing a beret and looking foolish. Merci Beaucoup and Danke Schoen!

- Pete Kent

July 21, 2008 at 9:27am

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It is interesting that obama, as a sitting committee chairman, saw no reason to go to Iraq until he was goaded into it by The Right. Has he ever cast a vote which meant something or will he continue to be known as Mr. Present.

- Frank Johnson

July 21, 2008 at 9:33am

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I find it rather amazing that Senator Obama has 300 advisors for foreign policy on his staff. Does ne not know how to read what all the TV's and newspapers and the Democrats have been stating for so long. The Iraq war is lost and America must leave now. He even stated it on his website which has since been modified. Today he stated that he had to meet the leaders in all the countries he is visiting as he will be working with them over the next 8 years while he is President and yet, I do not remember him being elected as of this date. Keep on pulling for him and maybe the people of America will wake up and vote for him.

- Gene44

July 21, 2008 at 9:35am

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McCain as visited Iraq eight times and still does not know the difference between a Shite and a Sunni; thought that Iran was training Al Qaeda until corrected by Senators with him. This and his denial of having made statements even after being shown video clips of his statements seems to suggest that McCain is too old and lacks the memory to be president.

- Ricky

July 21, 2008 at 10:14am

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Ah, troops -- the vitriol-to-fact ratio is getting a bit too skewed here. Let's pray no one brings up the subject of the White House finally doing the culturally appropriate thing during the Surge and buying off Sunni tribal elders. That would lead to charges of bribery and taking one to know one and God knows what else. Tim Pennell, careful with the Christian fundamentalist jibjabbery. We're electing a President, not a Messiah. We have to dial down the religious intolerance and mania during the campaign in order not to spook the sheep. We can get back to the kooky metaphysics after November.

- Flying Monkey Commander

July 21, 2008 at 10:57am

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Timothy: I hate responding to posters but I'd like to take the time here to remind you that capitalizing words like terrorist and etc. does little other than make it clear just how much of a reactionary you really are. Also, forming opinions based on chain emails is a poor idea.

- Isher

July 21, 2008 at 11:00am

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This may all be political theater, but it's IMPORTANT political theater. Obama is showing his Democratic base the sort of foreign welcome that Bill Clinton used to get. This is a GOOD thing. It shows Americans that Obama can LEAD the free world, not pressure it into complying. It gives us hope for more support from NATO and E.U. forces in Afghanistan. It gives us hope for better cooperation in hunting terrorists. Obama is making a very powerful image: He is not just hope for America, but hope for the world. And if McCain complains about Obama's appeal to international cooperation, then McCain is tying himself to BushCo cowboyism. This trip has McCain in a no-win situation. Obama can't lose. And while Obama is overseas polishing his foreign policy image (which was his weak point), McCain is at home destroying his own economic message. So Obama looks stronger on his weak points, McCain looks even weaker on his: I can see this being a big bounce week for Obama.

- Chredon

July 21, 2008 at 11:12am

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Obama's trip was at the instigation of that idiot McCain and now that he has taken his advice? LOL It has backfired and gotten to poor little Johnny Boy. He could not have it both ways and the reality was he didn't want it anyway. Obama is more experienced than McCain because getting shot down and held captive does not give one experience....it only means he wasn't very good at his job........but hey just this morning he again confused the county we are at war with......

- Deanna

July 21, 2008 at 11:13am

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Timothy Pennell, Thank you so much for the laugh. Your parody of a clueless right-wing hack was pitch perfect. You should write for the Onion!

- Sean Wright

July 21, 2008 at 11:19am

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I gotta warn you Timothy (#2)...your comments border on the racist and delusional... If you want to see "the forces of evil" you just have to look in the mirror...you and your pathetic ilk have enabled the most evil and stupid presidency in the history of the US! The "terrorists" and "crooks" you are so worried about all reside in the White House and are destroying this country from within... Please go away and come back when you grow up! (probably never)

- wagonjak

July 21, 2008 at 11:54am

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McCain wondered why it was so important to know how to use technology. He and many of his supporters are under the false impression that it is okay for the leader of the free world not to be able to do basic tasks like sending emails. The thing is that the computer is central to the present and future of the world. Not knowing how to use it is like saying you do not know much about managing finances but you want to run the US Economy as commander in chief. If McCain was better versed in internet use he could have read about the lessons of others that made the same mistake of challenging your opponent on something he could easily remedy and turn into a strength. McCain if he knew how to look up blog posts would have gotten views separate from his staff which are paid to stay on message. But alas he is dependent on them for info like a child suckling his mother's tit. He better pray to god his advisers are never horribly wrong.

- TJustSaying

July 21, 2008 at 12:07pm

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I think Obama's trip is significant. I support Obama, and I like that he is taking the time to go to the middle east and learn firsthand. I trust Obama to be commander-in chief. We need a diplomatic president, not a war-mongerer. I support Obama!

- uuforyou

July 21, 2008 at 12:08pm

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McCain complaining:"What Senator Obama does in the other countries, whether political rallies or not, obviously would then give them a political flavor to say the least." That is rich. What about the visits he made to Europe? I guess that was different, that had to do with his senate duties, right? Give me a break, McCain and his supporters are terrified of the enormous show of support Obama might get in Europe. When will the US finally realise it cannot do without its allies in Europe? Be it financially, military or diplomatically, the US needs the full support of its Nato allies if it is to accomplish anything these days. The times that the USA was calling the shots single handedly are long gone. Obama realises this and is doing what is needed to secure the support of the allies so he can accomplish what he sets out to do. That is vision a leader needs. That he is very popular in Europe will only help him to achieve his goals. Don't blame the man for using his advantages over the old fool McCain.

- Hans-Erik Iken

July 21, 2008 at 12:10pm

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By pointing out how things have improved in Iraq, Obama will be able to use this fact as support for withdrawal. Once he's elected and begings or steps up withdrawal, critics from the left should be satisfied. At that point, conditions may interfere with the pace but not the promise. Obama's plan differes from Bush and McCain in that he rejects a long-term presense or bases in Iraq. The Campaign should focus on one thing only: anticipating the horrific charges the GOP will trot out in the fall and 'making McCain the issue' as they want to make Obama. @horribledictu.com

- CAMtwo

July 21, 2008 at 12:11pm

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Obama's trip has a big downside for him - by drawing attention to the fact that with few exceptions, the media is nothing but his cheerleaders, which voters are finally starting to realize and resent.

- Steve from Wisconsin

July 21, 2008 at 12:18pm

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No, Obama's trip has huge potential downsides and many of them seem well on their way to being realized! Most obviously, his trip focuses attention on his opposition to the "Surge" and on how well things are going in Iraq, which for the moment at least is very well indeed. Each of those focus points works to Obama's serious disadvantage. Obama has benefitted from the mainstream media all but suspending their detailed coverage of Iraq as it has improved. Obama is throwing all that away. And exactly what is he going to say to and about the elected representatives of the Iraqis? Perhaps he will look Maliki in the eye and bravely state: "It's nice to be here, but I still wish the United States had never given you the chance to be elected in the first place or sent the Surge to stabilize things. The cost was just too high! And I'm still going to pull the rug out from under you in 16 months if things are not going well here." How will THAT play in the campaign? But how will it play with his base for him to modify or soften his absurdly absolutist primary season posturing? No "downside potential?" What would you call it if his base walks out? And, along those same lines, just what the heck is Obama going to say about the ongoing controversey over whether Maliki agrees with him or not on the 16 months deadline? Already Obama's made his first, bizarre assertions that we should not so much be moving our troops back home, but to Afghanistan, where casualties have recently been higher than in Iraq. And, of course, he's recently made those statements whose natural implications are that the United States should invade Pakistan if that is needed to stabilize Afghanistan. No downside there, huh? How is all THAT suppose to go down with his nutroots base? Then there's the European end of the jaunt. And how about the "downside potential" for European leaders and governments (who are reported to be immune to Obamamania) to leak impressions that Obama is naive and dangerous and even cynical to friendly United States media? Yes, he'll get big crowds. But how many European rock stars has the US elected president? If memory serves, ABBA and the Beetles are busy recirculating their songs into musicals and Vegas shows, not occupying the White House. And are all of the people in those foreign crowds really going to be wishing the best FOR THE UNITED STATES - and say so in intervews with all the US media mavens? "No downside potential?!" Have another magic mushroom, Mr. Scheiber! This trip is full of risks, and the fact that it's happening shows pretty well that Obama is well aware that his current position is so weak that he must take big risks.

- Ken McKenna

July 21, 2008 at 12:23pm

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Everyone is skipping some tought talk of Obama's on Afganistan and Pakistan. Read Lara Logan's interview in Newsweek. Is Obama passing his "dumb war" test on unilateral action is Pakistan? Or escalation in Afganistan? Wait for the platform fight on the war in Denver before grading this trip.

- Bill Baar

July 21, 2008 at 12:27pm

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Keep your religious meanderings to yourself! ever heard of seperation of church and state? duuuhhh, it's written in a little thing called "The constitution"

- Backstage betty

July 21, 2008 at 1:08pm

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WOAH there! worked? don't get to excited there yougster. I spent many years in a combat unit And I can safely assure you that there are no certainties with a situation like Iraq. Working, to some degree, SO FAR, maybe but don't be too quick to wave your flag and do the victory dance; it takes less than a second to pull the trigger.

- Larry Monkey

July 21, 2008 at 1:44pm

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Some of these responses are amazing. Timothy L. Pennell (#2) recommends to Jewish commentators that they adopt his Messiah, Jesus, who taught his followers "Peace and Love and Forgiveness." He then proceeds to demonstrate how difficult it has been for at least one of said followers to get the message. Cramos (#6 & #7 -- apparently one brain fart was not enough for him) avers that "American voters are not stupid," while proving the opposite in his own case. Comments like these truly make one despair for the future of American democracy.

- Bob

July 21, 2008 at 2:02pm

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Oh Obama going to give his speech in front of the ANGEL. You know the mayor smelled money when he invited him. So what is the prince of all going to be talking about in Germany. Does he speak German? You know he must since he can walk on water and part the seas. Learning German in a week should not be a problem for the great and powerful OZBama. Sen. Obama is pulling the biggest con on the American public since George W. But the Americans are so far gone that they could be taken over by aliens and not notice. Viva Obama

- John Galt

July 21, 2008 at 2:17pm

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As a slightly agnostic Obama supporter, I thought Noam's article dead-on, but less a criticism of Obama than of our CG presidential campaign system. My only addition is that Obama's "spankin'" by Hillary's disengenuous experience position taught him a lot. There are still hundreds of thousands of disaffected Hillary supporters who truly believe that she has the most experience. Obama's certainly no fool!

- Toni

July 21, 2008 at 2:42pm

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American’s are beginning to tune in to this election and they are hoping for a better tomorrow where we change course and go down a new road that they can believe in. By going overseas Obama will pass the commander and chief threshold and will continue to make major gains state by state that may not be reflected in the national poll until sometime after the conventions. If McCain with all his experience doesn’t take any type a lead in any of the national polls after his convention then this race is about Bush & McCain. McCain thought by challenging Obama to go over to Iraq he was doing good politics but politics is like the game chess. If my calculations are right McCain is about to be checked!

- Crews2me

July 21, 2008 at 2:56pm

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Obama is a real FRAEK

- real world

July 21, 2008 at 4:46pm

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Obama is a real FREAK!!! The messiah thinks that spending a few day over sea's will off set hide stupidly!!!!! To bad most of us already he is a BOGUS MESSIAH.

- real world

July 21, 2008 at 4:52pm

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print comments cunts!

- slapcock mcGinty

July 21, 2008 at 4:55pm

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Mr Present has at least made 4/5 of his votes in the past session of Congress, McCain did not vote once. - NPR story today.

- Bravn

July 21, 2008 at 5:02pm

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Oh right Noam. It's all John McCain's fault that Barack Obama is an arrogant know nothing idiot who's completely incapable of answering questions off the cuff and can only speak when all of his remarks are completely prepared. Those are the reasons why Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East is a waste of time. Who does Obama think he's fooling? What are the chances of Obama coming back from this trip less of an imbecile than he was before? Slim to none, I'd say.

- Eye Doc

July 21, 2008 at 9:12pm

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The only thing going overseas qualifies for is frequent miles.

- FloridaCounts

July 21, 2008 at 11:25pm

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>>>On the other hand, this minority may roughly coincide with the dwindling number of Americans who still admire George W. Bush's circus-cowboy sensibility. Bush's job approval is at 28%. Still he is doing better than congress (17%). And, according to Rasmussen, only 24% trust the press to report on the election without bias. It seems there are plenty others who are dwindling too!

- FloridaCounts

July 21, 2008 at 11:40pm

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Tim. It's clear you've been drinking Hanity's coolaid. out you're his agent, put the lies out there and let the opponent sort and defend against them.

- mike

July 22, 2008 at 5:57am

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It's now July 22. The mainstream media has been giving the Obama jaunt saturated, adulatory coverage for the past two days while McCain sits ignored in the US. This is the apparent effect: Gallup Tracking 07/19 - 07/21 ..... Obama +3.0 Rasmussen Tracking 07/19 - 07/21 ..... Tie This trip and its media coverage suggest that the public has indeed "maxed out" on Obama and that the liberal media can do nothing more to help him. That's very bad news for the Democrat.

- Ken McKenna

July 22, 2008 at 2:45pm

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Hey Timothy Pennel: The Jewish definition of a Messiah includes the idea that when he or she arrives, there will be peace on earth. Not later or in a second coming. From your gloom and doom predictions of Obama, certainly from your pov, the world is not repaired, hence the Messiah (by the Jewish definition) has not come yet. And why are you so interested in selling your religion to those who have their own, thank you very much? You mention Jesus fed the hungry, embraced the poor etc. I notice he didn't feed only the deserving hungry, call the poor 'whiners' or advocate supply-side economics. Before you tell Jews to follow Jesus, maybe you should ask your Republican leaders to follow him.

- Beninabox

July 24, 2008 at 1:33pm

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