"Presumptuous?" Going for That Presidential Look, but Trying Not to Overdo It

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Political Memo
Going for That Presidential Look, but Trying Not to Overdo It
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: July 27, 2008

LONDON — He stood in the shadow of the Temple of Hercules, held forth at the Élysée Palace and convened a one-man news conference here on Saturday outside No. 10 Downing Street, all with a simple aim: to make a one-term senator from Illinois look presidential to voters back home in America. But along the way to appearing presidential, did Senator Barack Obama cross a political line — as he and his advisers quietly feared, and some Republicans hoped — by coming across as too presumptuous?...

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Even though Mr. Obama’s campaign intends to shelve his experiences abroad for now — the urgent matter at hand this week are trips to Iowa and Missouri, Florida and Texas — the worldly images are precisely what Mr. Obama hopes voters will begin internalizing in the coming months. “Even if the economy ends up being the dominant issue in the election,” he said, “when people go to the polling place in November, for them to have in the back of their mind, all right, here’s what it looks like for Obama to be in discussions with other heads of state.”...

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While Mr. Obama said he knew the risks of “flying too close to the sun,” as he put it, his confidence has swelled since he claimed the Democratic nomination early last month. These days, his public statements and news conferences often contain four words — “in an Obama administration” — as he settles to find the proper measure of confidence and humility in his pitch to voters.

“How do I avoid looking presumptuous?” Mr. Obama said in the interview. “I’m very much looking forward over the next three months to going back to Iowa, literally and figuratively, and spending a lot of time in town hall meetings, talking to voters and listening to voters.”
The pictures of Mr. Obama’s travels dominated the political news of the last week. While Mr. McCain criticized his opponent’s itinerary, even though he took a similar foreign trip in March, other Republicans conceded that the imagery could help Mr. Obama shore up one of his leading shortcomings. “Americans are seeing a presidential Obama on the world stage, and he fits comfortably,” said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist who worked in the primary campaign for Mitt Romney....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/us/politics/27OBAMA.html?adxnnlx=1217174478-9mosYZUb%20ra0I2Os%20STMBA&pagewanted=all

[BlooInBloo]

1. Cue concerned DUers to pick up the latest republican line.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. I think it was a legitimate concern, shared by Obama's advisers, but, as usual...

his campaign handled it brilliantly -- and the trip, despite grumbling from some, was a successful, pardon the phrase, "mission accomplished."

[BlooInBloo]

4. (shrug) First he's an empty suit. Now he's too Presidential....

whatever.

[janetblond]

2. Obama IS very Presidential ...

unlike the monkeyboy who's currently in office, and the other monkeyboy running against him.
McCain visited the same countries and more by the way, after he got the right-wing nomination.
So much JEALOUSY coming out of the wood-work ...
So many men are JEALOUS of Obama.
He must make them feel very inadequate.
tsk, tsk.
SHAME ON THEM!