Day Four

In front of a crowd of 200,000 screaming Germans, Barack Obama smiled and waved his hand in a firm, yet gentle manner.  Striding alone towards the center stage podium, he was confident and cool, his arms swinging back and forth, a little American flag lapel pin glinting in the sun. Gazing out over the throngs of people that filled the area in front of the Siegessaeule at the Grosser Stern in Tiergarten, Obama began to speak. "Thank you to the citizens of Berlin and to the people of Germany. Let me thank Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Steinmeier for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you Mayor Wowereit, the Berlin Senate, the police, and most of all thank you for this welcome."

Let's pause this mental image for a moment. Does this sound like a Presidential speech? If you're an American and you live in this century, you already know the twist: this isn't a president of the United States. Hell, he isn’t even the heavily favored candidate to win the presidency. Instead, this is a candidate for the President of the United States. 

Before I even begin to speak my mind, I’ll admit that I’ve been swept up in the Obama frenzy in about every way imaginable. Watching his Berlin address, I felt a strange sense of pride in seeing my country’s flag waved enthusiastically in a European capitol. That strange sense of pride was so strong, in fact, that I went and changed my Facebook status to “Ries Murphy is proud to be an American today.” But as the hours have worn on and I’ve been able to separate myself from the joy and the excitement of that moment, I’ve begun to wonder: what will this speech bring to this candidate? Was it really worth it? 

It's pretty obvious that Obama has a heavy advantage amongst European citizens, but if we're being honest, who cares? It's nothing personal against our friends overseas, but let's face the painful truth—Obama's adventures in the Old World yield an unparalleled press opportunity, but prove absolutely nothing about anything except his ability to look...well…presidential. Sure, there's been plenty of speculation about whether or not Barack Obama has it in him to be the face of America on the world stage. After all, he's a 47 year old senator from Illinois, who one year ago was a self-described "skinny guy with a funny name." But in the context of his entire overseas tour, how did the speech, which was obviously the centerpiece of the trip, hold up to American speculation?

Recent Rasmussen polls show that 55% of polled Americans rated Obama’s Berlin speech as “Good” or “Excellent.” While this figure is impressive, I was more curious as to how the speech fared with the crowd that Obama is still trying to actually win over, i.e. the Independents, and some Republicans who aren’t too pleased with John McCain. What I found wasn’t surprising—while only 5% of polled Democrats found Obama’s speech to be “Poor”, a staggering 39% of Republicans fell into the same category.

So what’s up with these Republican party-poopers? Well, to be honest, I can see where they’re coming from. I disagree with those who call his Berlin speech a “political stunt,” but I do realize the dangerous waters you tread when you bring that kind of attention to yourself.  If Obama was using this world tour to convince people that he’s up to par with McCain’s foreign affairs expertise, it probably ended up coming off more like a photo-op than a true sign of political prowess. And it definitely didn’t help at all when Obama dropped his scheduled visit with wounded troops at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. As is becoming increasingly obvious, McCain’s campaign was waiting for a slip up like that. I’ll bet when it came it was like Christmas.

Taking all of this into consideration, I’m beginning to realize that while Obama’s Berlin speech may have fortified his reputation overseas and given his supporters a new speech to favorite on YouTube, it probably didn’t do much at all to convert voters who weren’t going to vote for him in the first place. I guess the fence-sitters will probably jump on-board, but really, I wouldn’t expect them not to, even without the multi-million dollar expenses of an overseas prom.

Despite all the negative spearheads that are already spewing out of the McCain battle formations, I can't help but feel comforted by the sight of the American flag being waved by Europeans. Actually, I can't remember the last time I saw America greeted so warmly amongst citizens of a different country. I guess the real question now is whether or not Americans think that his actions were appropriate or not. My thoughts on the matter are simple: he promised us dramatic, fundamental changes. So far, I’d say he’s kept his promise. I don’t know if I’m alone on this one, but I’d like to be loved by the world again, and it seems to me like Obama has an idea how to do it that just might work.

After all, there were 200,000 people there.

Maybe he's on to something.

Or maybe he's still trying to show off that American flag lapel pin.