Barack Obama has had a busy week, jetting through the Middle East and Europe to take the pulse of the world’s attitude towards America and to engage in a series of visits and talks with world leaders.
It’s a trip that should make America proud (particularly given the geographic and diplomatic gaps in the current president’s consciousness), but Americans’ response to Obama’s trip has been curiously tepid.
Despite an anticipated drop in the polls, Obama said he felt the trip was important. Rather than detracting attention from Americans’ concerns about the economy, Obama argued that:
…”many issues that we face at home are not going to be solved as effectively unless we have strong partners abroad….”
What do you think about Obama’s trip? And do you think that Americans’ negative reaction to his trip says something about Americans’ attitude about travel? Sound off below!
Photo: Llima
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There were a LOT of Americans at the rally, actually – Berlin hosts 19,000 US expats and a lot of tourists who were in town went to see Obama as well. I ran into half the Americans I know at the speech, and I'm pretty sure every American I know attended. Being there was pretty neat… Obama said a lot of things that I never expected an American politician to say, like acknowledging that America is actually part of the world and her actions have consequences. Remember, a lot of American citizens have expatriated themselves over the last few years, and we vote too.
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People come to see Obama for a several reasons….. – He is the most talented politician on the global scene at the moment – He gives people hope, which, if you think about it, ought to be what all politicians do all of the time…. but unfortunately, so few of them do. (certainly no neocons) – He is brave and strong-willed – He is an intelligent, studied, and inspirational speaker – He really seems to have thought everything through, and understands how to lift the people (and economy) of USA. I genuinely think that not electing him president would be a bigger mistake than the Iraq war. … to Kira…. even if all 19,000 US expats were there, that's still 181,000 europeans.
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