DeclinetoState
07-29-2008, 03:21 PM
By DAN SCHNUR (http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/author/dschnur/)
Dan Schnur was the national communications director for John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000. (Full biography (http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/contributor-dan-schnur/).)
At many levels, Barack Obama’s overseas tour could have been categorized as a political victory before it even began. The Iraqi prime minister had just announced support for a timeline similar to Mr. Obama’s plan for early American troop withdrawal, the Bush Administration had sent a representative to multination talks with Iran, and a growing military and political consensus had emerged as to the need for a greater military presence in Afghanistan.
. . .
But as every junior political operative knows, it’s all about the photos, which means that the real value of Mr. Obama’s trip was the visual reinforcement of too-good-to-be-true images he accumulated along the way. Many American voters read about his policy and political achievements in print. But a much larger audience saw footage of the Democratic nominee meeting with Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, and Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki; taking a helicopter ride with Gen. David Petraeus; and sinking a three-point shot on a basketball court on a United States military installation in Kuwait.
Before Mr. Obama’s plane left American airspace 10 days ago, polls showed that voters strongly preferred John McCain when it comes to foreign policy and national security matters. . .
Iraq and Afghanistan are the two foreign policy matters of greatest and most immediate concern to American voters, so it was of critical importance that Mr. Obama visit those two countries. Despite some verbal gymnastics on questions related to his opposition to the United States troop surge, this part of the trip was a home run. But the weeklong journey was actually three separate trips, each with a different impact on the American electorate. . .
The third part of the expedition — Germany, France and England — was the least helpful to him.
More (http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/did-obama-wear-out-his-welcome/index.html)
Dan Schnur was the national communications director for John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2000. (Full biography (http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/contributor-dan-schnur/).)
At many levels, Barack Obama’s overseas tour could have been categorized as a political victory before it even began. The Iraqi prime minister had just announced support for a timeline similar to Mr. Obama’s plan for early American troop withdrawal, the Bush Administration had sent a representative to multination talks with Iran, and a growing military and political consensus had emerged as to the need for a greater military presence in Afghanistan.
. . .
But as every junior political operative knows, it’s all about the photos, which means that the real value of Mr. Obama’s trip was the visual reinforcement of too-good-to-be-true images he accumulated along the way. Many American voters read about his policy and political achievements in print. But a much larger audience saw footage of the Democratic nominee meeting with Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, and Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki; taking a helicopter ride with Gen. David Petraeus; and sinking a three-point shot on a basketball court on a United States military installation in Kuwait.
Before Mr. Obama’s plane left American airspace 10 days ago, polls showed that voters strongly preferred John McCain when it comes to foreign policy and national security matters. . .
Iraq and Afghanistan are the two foreign policy matters of greatest and most immediate concern to American voters, so it was of critical importance that Mr. Obama visit those two countries. Despite some verbal gymnastics on questions related to his opposition to the United States troop surge, this part of the trip was a home run. But the weeklong journey was actually three separate trips, each with a different impact on the American electorate. . .
The third part of the expedition — Germany, France and England — was the least helpful to him.
More (http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/did-obama-wear-out-his-welcome/index.html)