Rockstar Politics

This week Obamania has well and truly hit Europe with the highlight undoubtedly being his trip to Germany where he gave a speech in front of a staggering 200,000 people. The scenes were reminiscent of a rock concert and Barack Obama certainly lived up to the billing. I have followed his progress since visiting the US a year ago when his name was first being brought to our attention championed by the likes of Oprah Winfrey and the momentum has seen the Obama steam train now grab the attention of Europe's citizens and leaders. It was interesting to watch this speech to see how he came across, what he had to say and how he said it. It was a tightrope that he had to walk as he could not speak as an elected world leader but as a citizen of the world but he had to make an impression, partly for the Americans watching back home which was all but guaranteed by convincing all three US television networks to send their star news anchors to follow him. This was bordering on to a state visit with the motorcade and security as big as any presidential visit. Obama needs to restore America's standing in Europe and as one American newspaper put it "when Bush talks about freedom Europe groans, when Barack invokes the same word Europe cheers". He spoke of his own family, Berlin's history, terrorism, environmental and nuclear issues, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, America's mistakes and freedom all crammed in to less than 30 minutes. He looked every inch the president and certainly has the charisma and popularity of any greats that have come before him. There have been comparisons made to previous visits from Presidents, Kennedy drew a crowd of 120,000 in 1963 and Reagan 20,000 in 1987, McCain in a thin criticism of Obama said he too would like to give a speech in Germany but only as a president but I sincerely doubt he would attract a crowd anything like the 200,000 that came to see and hear Barack. This was a campaign rally for a crowd that could not vote, four out of five Europeans want to see Obama elected, America is not so sure. America can be assured that Obama could step in to the role easily, meet foreign leaders as an equal and have the foreign policies to lead into the next chapter of world politics, what he now needs to do is tackle America's own fragile economy which along with employment and fuel prices is more likely what the election will hinge on.

Full video of speech is available here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-9ry38AhbU running time 26 mins.