Obama has decided to visit Iraq and Afghanistan but as part of a much wider visit to some European countries as well. Initially, the McSame surrogates and the candidate himself were crowing how Obama had folded. That was until they realized they had actually handed Obama an opportunity to garner national and international media coverage on an unprecedented scale.
From yesterday's New York Times:
WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain’s trip to Iraq last March was a low-key affair: With a small retinue of reporters chasing him abroad, the NBC News anchor Brian Williams reported on Mr. McCain’s visit there from New York, including it in the "in other political news" portion of his newscast.
But when Senator Barack Obama heads for Iraq and other places overseas this summer, Mr. Williams is planning to catch up with him in person, as are the other two network evening news anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, who, like Mr. Williams, are far along in discussions to interview Mr. Obama on successive nights.
And while the anchors are jockeying for interviews with Mr. Obama at stops along his route, the regulars on the Obama campaign plane will have new seatmates: star political reporters from the major newspapers and magazines who are flocking to catch Mr. Obama’s first overseas trip since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. A "Meet the Press" interview is also being planned.
Oops! When Senator McSame had made a similar trip a few weeks ago, it barely merited a 30 second segment on the nightly news programs and the occasional piece on the cable news networks (except you-know-who of course). And to compound the problem for the McSameites, the Europeans are enthralled with and fascinated by Barack Obama. The press he will receive overseas will be enormous. McSame & Co will be lucky if they get barely noticed during the course of Obama's trip.
Does the possibility exist that Obama will do or say something that could come back to haunt him and damage his campaign? Of course. Anything is possible. But let's not forget that what we are dealing with here is the most highly organized and tightly run political campaign in decades. They beat the previous holders, the Clintons, didn't they? My bet is this trip is going to have an astonishing effect on the presidential race.
So now the campaign that last week accused us of being a bunch of whiners are now themselves the whiners. How else to explain this bit of sour grapes?
McCain Now Criticizes Obama for Travels
Earlier in the day, Mr. McCain’s communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, dismissed Mr. Obama’s trip as nothing more than "the first of its kind campaign rally overseas."
The moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for.
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