Over at Pajamas Media, Jennifer Rubin lambastes the mainstream media for “going ga ga over Obama’s trip to Europe.” I haven’t seen any ga ga, but I have read some news accounts, which are exactly that, news accounts. They report what a particular person is doing or saying. If that’s “ga ga” then I guess the whole world is ga ga over oxygen.
But never mind that. Rubin makes a few salient points even though her own thesis concerning Obama’s trip to Europe completely misses the point. Here she is in her own words:
Watching tens of thousands of Germans listen to his worldly appeal that “this is our [who is “our” exactly?] time,” voters back home may not be impressed. And poll numbers suggest they aren’t. The blatant appeal to international world opinion (why exactly was he giving a campaign speech to tens of thousands of non-voting Europeans?) may not be the recipe for success.
First, let’s get one thing straight. Obama wasn’t giving a campaign speech to Europeans. He was posing for the cameras. He may have been speaking to Europeans, but he was giving his campaign speech to the cameras, which he was aware would be sending his message to voters back home. It was a savvy thing to do, especially when you consider that one of the most ardent criticisms against him by his opponents is a lack of foreign policy experience. His trip was meant to prove that he can appear presidential, act presidential, and carry himself presidentially in the waters of foreign policy, which in essence means diplomatically. Whether he succeeded at that goal is another discussion.
But given that Republicans have missed that point entirely, it’s no wonder that they are stuck on “Obama is a closet Muslim” and “he’s a Harvard elitist who only cares about himself.” That’s what they want to believe. The facts don’t matter.
Die-hard Republicans who refuse to see that Obama has gained clout among independents are going to ruin the election for their own man. McCain cannot win if he doesn’t recognize that Obama has the kind of appeal that he needs. He cannot run on experience when he intends to succeed a president whose lack of experience has butchered everything that America traditionally - and John McCain as a committed American - stand for. The race will go to whomever can convince the majority of voters in the majority of states to “buy into” the idea that he is a marked and distinctive change from the current administration. So far, that’s Obama. Whether he will make a good president or not is immaterial. Whether he is the right man for the job is not relevant. Whether he is experienced or inexperienced, a Muslim or a Christian, or too wrapped up in himself is not the point. That he, right now, has the upper hand in marketing his brand is.
For a good laugh, read the comments on Rubin’s blog post. You’d think these people were preparing for losing grip with reality.
