Obama Will Not Be Tested and for Good Reason

By Elizabeth Roach (bettanne@online.no)

Paris, London, and Germany - Barack Obama broke crowd records everywhere he went in Europe. It was touching to see the enthralled faces of Obama's intent listeners who believed that he could bring peace to the world and change the order of things. In Germany they complained that his speech was too short - they had waited for hours on end to hear him, and they wanted to hear even more!

The McCain campaign sulked and labeled him a rock star, and a celebrity. They made an offensive video depicting Obama, superimposing images of Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears . I would not have been offended if they had superimposed images of Bob Geldorf, Bono and Bon Jovi. At least those men are known the world over for their intelligence, generosity, largeness of spirit, humanity and desire to make a difference in the world, much like Obama. But then McCain's petty little point would have been lost. The video did more to underscore the McCain campaign's pettiness and meanness of spirit than to diminish Barack Obama.

In dismissing and deriding Obama's phenomenally successful tour in Europe, the McCain campaign argued that "Europeans don't have a vote". I would contend that they do, in subtle and not so subtle ways. Remember how hard it was to get France and other allies to join us in the preemptive strike against Iraq? I'd say that was a vote against the Bush/McCain policy whose childish response was: "change the name "French fries" to freedom fries"! That’ll show ´em! and don't drink French wine, either”!

"What do you make of the Obama-mania that seems to have swept not just France, but all of Europe?" Fareed Zakaria, respected Newsweek journalist and host of CNN's Global Public Square asked that question of his guests. The French author and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy answered: "If (Obama) were to (run for) President of Europe, he would be elected by 85%...If you ask me the reason for that, I would say that he's the re-embodiment in one person ... of the two greatest heroes, in our eyes, of modern American history, Martin Luther King and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. ...We see in Obama a sort of mixture of realism and idealism."

On another GPS program, the Singaporean United Nations' Ambassador said, "Obama understands the Muslim world in a way that McCain cannot. If elected, 50% of the anti-Americanism would disappear." This is huge! What kudos for Barack! These two remarks come from men of stature, with the world knowledge and political savvy that the McCain-Palin ticket so sadly lacks.

When Joe Biden said that Obama would be tested within the first year of his term in office, McCain and surrogates jumped on those words as if the sky had fallen. It is, however, a matter of public record that almost every President in our history has faced a crisis within the first year. John F. Kennedy was tested when the Russians placed missiles on Cuba. So the McCain campaign's reaction to Biden´s words reflects only one thing - that they don't know their history.

Now to my point: Barack Obama will not be tested if within the first year the Israeli-Palestinian crisis is put back on the table in a meaningful way. It must be solved with all the leverage we have, putting equal pressure on both sides to go the extra mile to achieve a fair solution. The headway made by President Clinton was shamefully squandered as the Bush administration turned its back and allowed the situation to deteriorate.

Solving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, as well as that of Iraq, would relieve us economically and allow us to turn our diplomatic efforts elsewhere. As it stands today, we are increasingly being perceived as anti-Muslim. The diplomacy in the Middle East has been driven by the neo conservative, largely pro-Israel elements in the Bush War Department. New headway must be brokered by a strong, yet even hand, and the playing field has got to be level. Obama must reject neo conservative policies and agendas that ruled the White House Defense Department these past 8 years and led us down that woeful path to Iraq!