THE WAY TO  AN AMERICAN'S HEART IS THROUGH GERMANY? 8/02/2008 Ah yes the Obama bounce. About as anticipated as the next lineup of American Idol. Yet the Obama "bounce" was as pronounced as a gnats rotator cuff The media and Chris Mathews (let's be honest here folks, Mathews is not so much a host but a groupie.) have made his world tour of Europe something akin to the Beatles arriving in the US for the first time What is most perplexing is how the media have portrayed this trip as some sort of strategic coup. Obama has no foreign policy experience so a whirlwind tour of three Middle Eastern countries and three European countries supposedly cured this most unfair dilemma. If that is the case everyone in America with a stamp in their passport qualifies to be President. Well the polls are in and it seems the this stunning bit of political strategy back fired. John McCain has moved within 2.6 points of Obama nationally . A Gallup/USA Today poll of likely voters has McCain ahead by four. That's a 10 point swing. The decision may be unanimous in Berlin but back at home Obama is not much more popular than John McCain who coincidentally did not go to Europe. The biggest signal that the European world tour was a failure is no one seems to remember that he went to Iraq. Which is where Maliki supported his troop withdrawal plan. Since his triumphant return to the US he has been lampooned by his own media and the word presumptuous, hubris, and arrogance have replaced the Papal adjectives allotted to him before he went all European. He would have been better off sharing a schnitzel with Senator McCain in that little German cafe in Ohio.. -The New Stereophonic Bert Spivey

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