Making His Own Luck
By Eugene Robinson
Washington Post
Friday, July 25, 2008
It was as if the fates had conspired to give Barack Obama the kind of foreign affairs photo op that a campaign manager would see only in his wildest dreams. Damp, gray Berlin was alive with bright sunshine. A crowd that police estimated at more than 200,000 filled the heart of the city. They cheered not only when Obama talked about global warming or called for a world without nuclear weapons but also when he spoke of the fight against terrorism and the need for Europe to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common," Obama chided -- and Berlin took the admonishment in stride. What were the odds on that?
There has been much comment about the extraordinary luck that has followed Obama's new Boeing 757 around the globe like an escort plane. Indeed, from the Obama campaign's perspective, it would be hard to script a better series of set pieces. He lands in Afghanistan just as allied commanders and even Bush administration officials endorse his view that more U.S. forces are needed there urgently. He moves on to Baghdad, and Iraqi officials promptly echo his call to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. He tiptoes through the minefield of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and somehow comes out unscathed.
After all this good fortune, the Berlin stop became more like a state visit than a political foray. The huge media contingent traveling with Obama, lacking gaffes or controversy to grill him about, was reduced to asking how it felt to be welcomed by cheering multitudes whose hosannas would embarrass a conquering hero.
(Continued here.)
Washington Post
Friday, July 25, 2008
It was as if the fates had conspired to give Barack Obama the kind of foreign affairs photo op that a campaign manager would see only in his wildest dreams. Damp, gray Berlin was alive with bright sunshine. A crowd that police estimated at more than 200,000 filled the heart of the city. They cheered not only when Obama talked about global warming or called for a world without nuclear weapons but also when he spoke of the fight against terrorism and the need for Europe to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common," Obama chided -- and Berlin took the admonishment in stride. What were the odds on that?
There has been much comment about the extraordinary luck that has followed Obama's new Boeing 757 around the globe like an escort plane. Indeed, from the Obama campaign's perspective, it would be hard to script a better series of set pieces. He lands in Afghanistan just as allied commanders and even Bush administration officials endorse his view that more U.S. forces are needed there urgently. He moves on to Baghdad, and Iraqi officials promptly echo his call to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. He tiptoes through the minefield of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and somehow comes out unscathed.
After all this good fortune, the Berlin stop became more like a state visit than a political foray. The huge media contingent traveling with Obama, lacking gaffes or controversy to grill him about, was reduced to asking how it felt to be welcomed by cheering multitudes whose hosannas would embarrass a conquering hero.
(Continued here.)
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