Over the past few months conservatives and members of the GOP (Grumpy Old Party) all but dared Sen. Barack Obama to go to Iraq and Afghanistan, figuring any success that additional troops in Iraq have provided would make Obama look bad and his idea of pulling out troops seem questionable.
Instead Obama was photographed time and time again with foreign leaders, giving Obama the impression of being presidential. Add to that Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, was quoted as saying that he backed the senator’s plan to bring home all US combat troops within 16 months, and American TV viewers were treated to scenes of troops eager to meet with Obama, and Obama looking like a statesman while reviewing the mess in Afghanistan.
And all of this before Obama even got to Germany where 200,000 people came to hear him speak in Berlin. But Sen. John McCain had his own foreign "trip," eating lunch at a German sausage shop.
Somehow the idea of large crowds scare conservatives. Perhaps it destroys the myth that liberal policies are not popular and instead shows that conservatism is of limited appeal. Afterall the only way George Bush could have adoring crowds was to screen the crowds to limit the average American from attending. Nothing like being scared of your own people.
The key for Obama though will be turning the large crowds into large voter turnout. If people don't think the election will be close they might not vote.
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