Obama Wants to Bask in Ronald Reagan's Glory

Barack Obama attaches great importance to having the Brandenburg Gate appear in the television broadcast background. Ever since Ronald Reagan’s 1987 speech, the Brandenburg Gate has been the symbol of Cold War victory for conservative voters in the United States.

On Tuesday, all day long, American television showed Obama playing basketball during his visit to the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. It was a symbolic image of Obama’s success during the next stop of his trip, Iraq. While in Iraq, he agreed with the Iraqi government on the withdrawal of American troops by 2010.

Thanks to the interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by the German news magazine “Der Spiegel,” in which al-Maliki adopted Obama’s troop withdrawal timetable, the young candidate suddenly appeared to be in complete command of the political situation. Never in recent years has a German magazine been cited so often in the United States as “Der Spiegel” is now.

McCain does not know Chechnya

His opponent John McCain botched an interview on the day Obama started his trip. He spoke of the serious situation on the “Iraqi-Pakistani border,” two countries which in fact do not share a common border, when he really meant the situation in Afghanistan. In June, he spoke of Czechoslovakia (which no longer exits) when he really wanted to speak about Chechnya. On Tuesday morning, when he faced the news media together with George W. Bush’s father, both of them appeared to belong to the same generation. George H. W. Bush turned 84 last month, and McCain will turn 72 in six weeks.

“Der Spiegel” caught McCain’s mistakes. Iraq was the centerpiece of his campaign. McCain planned to portray Obama as a mythic Percival searching for the Holy Grail, someone who in early 2007 dismissed the new American strategy in Iraq and, through his inexperience, jeopardized a victory within reach. Now McCain suddenly looks like someone who doesn’t recognize the signs of the times.

On Tuesday evening, McCain called for a substantial reduction in the troop presence in Iraq over the next two years. McCain and George W. Bush had actually wanted to announce this initial withdrawal sometime in August to claim some credit. The withdrawal was supposed to be presented in the campaign as the result of a limited troop surge, which the Republicans had pushed through against the intense opposition of Democrats.

Obama reaps what he has not sown

Thanks to “Der Spiegel,” nothing was left out during the interview with Iraq’s Prime Minister. Nuri al-Maliki seized the opportunity to grasp the arms of an American presidential candidate, whom he evidently considers to be the likely election winner. Obama is reaping the fruit whose seeds he has not sown. But he is reaping them anyway.

Obama also has another good, newsworthy reason why he chose Germany as the location of his speech to the Europeans. The previous reasons had more to do with American domestic politics. Many voters in important swing states like Ohio trace their ancestry to Germany. In southeast Ohio, these voters form an agenda setting majority. Obama was defeated by Hillary Clinton in the Ohio primary, and he would like to prevent some of the Clinton supporters from either staying at home on November 4th, or voting for McCain. A great speech in Germany should arouse emotions, which may be decisive in determining whether Ohio ends up in the Democrats’ corner.

Obama attaches great importance to having the Brandenburg Gate appear in the television broadcast background. Ever since Ronald Reagan’s 1987 speech, the Brandenburg Gate has been the symbol of Cold War victory for conservative voters in the United States. Reagan racked up the victory because he united socially conservative working class people and the affluent upper class into a broad voting coalition.

Obama would very much like to forge the same kind of coalition of voters as Reagan. He wants to bring conservative working-class people back to the Democratic Party. His appearance in front of the Brandenburg Gate serves the purpose of reclaiming the legacy of Reagan for himself. It will be a powerful scene. On Thursday Obama will probably speak to the largest crowd he has been able to mobilize thus far. His record is 70,000 to date. In Berlin, this crowd will be more – much more. John McCain is considering whether to name his vice-presidential running mate tomorrow to divert some attention from the images of Obama.

Whether the cheering overseas will influence conservative skeptics in Ohio or Kentucky or Tennessee is a critical question for Obama. Conservatives in America like to dismiss good or bad advice from overseas. That is why Obama’s visit is risky. But he has traveled well on audacity thus far.