B-rock is back. Barack Obama’s rock-star tour of seven major Middle East and European locations in seven days has come to an end.
Obama traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Israel, Berlin, Paris and London, making friends and gaining admirers at every stop.
In Berlin, he proved he is bigger than the Boss, drawing a crowd of 200,000 screaming people waving American flags.
Sure, Bruce Springsteen might have felled the Berlin Wall, but his 1988 concert, the largest in the history of East Germany, only pulled in 160,000 people.
I hate to say it, but you do the math.
So what does this mean, other than Obama has an amazing PR machine behind him?
As for the political ramifications, I think this trip was definitely more show than tell. Pundits say it’s too early to see any effects, but the waves have already been made.
What did Obama really get out of this trip?
The timeless sound bites, incredible photo ops and a trail of drooling journalists were more than worth the airfare, but Obama has now established himself as a player on the international political stage.
Some pollsters say that the foreign excursion may end up hurting Obama’s numbers, but come on, the United States is already in love with Obama. That’s undeniable.
This trip was a smart move to prove that Obama-mania isn’t confined to American soil.
The moment the trip began, pundits started whining all over the airwaves that Obama was trying to upstage the president, and supporters adamantly denied it.
The truth? Hell yeah, he was trying to upstage both George W. Bush and John McCain, and he did a phenomenal job.
McCain made a huge mistake when he double-dog-dared Obama to make the trip: He thought B-rock would take the chicken. Sorry, Johnny.
A quick juxtaposition of photos from the two campaigns last week drives the point into the ground.
McCain’s best photo came from a supermarket in Pennsylvania; a photographer snapped a picture of him in front of some processed cheese.
Really? I admit that watching McCain try to eat string cheese would have been amazing, but could that even compare to the iconic images of Obama inserting a note into the Wailing Wall or schmoozing with Gordon Brown? I don’t think so.
I think the joint press conference between Nicolas Sarkozy and Obama was the nail in the McCain campaign’s sad little coffin this week.
The two young political powerhouses were absolutely smitten with each other. Sarko was probably doodling “NS + BO” on his speech notes.
Remember when McCain tried to win Sarkozy over in March? He barely got a handshake.
So what did Obama gain? Everything McCain tried to gain but couldn’t grasp.
And who knows? Maybe Sarko’s new wife and B-rock will tour together.
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