Politics

Will Obama's Welcome In Europe Translate To Votes?

Presidential Hopeful Gave Public Speech To Crowd Of Thousands In Berlin

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) ― Presidential hopeful Barack Obama captured the world spotlight Thursday, giving his one public speech on his overseas tour. In it, Obama called on America and Europe to come together to make the world safer.

"The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand, the walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand," he said to an enormous crowd in Berlin. "The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand."

There is little doubt Obama has become popular overseas, but will his trip sway voters here at home?

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports the presidential campaign will be won or lost in suburbs all across America. CBS 2 asked voters here what they thought of the unprecedented spectacle -- an American presidential candidate holding a gigantic outdoor rally in Europe.

The huge gathering in Berlin's beautiful Tiergarten reminded some of history-making speeches in that city delivered by John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Those men, though, spoke as presidents. Barack Obama's decision to speak as a candidate for president left the co-chair of John McCain's Illinois campaign unimpressed.

State Rep. Jim Durkin says it's unlikely Thursday's speech in Berlin will help Obama here in the U.S.

"I don't think so. It's hundreds of thousands of people cheering him on who are anti-American," Durkin said. "The country's had anti-American sentiments for years."

While some voters CBS 2 talked to in nearby Naperville agreed, others said they were thrilled to see foreigners cheer for an American leader, and one from Illinois at that.

Marcia Friedman of Osewego said, "Well, hopefully, it's going to be that he'll be elected our next president, and that people will be willing to talk to us and be willing to listen to what we have to say, rather than be so unilateral, with us or against us kind of attitude."

"I was kind of surprised that so many people would come to see him, you know," said Erin Gavin of Naperville. "I'm undecided myself, but I do agree that he's a great speaker."

But Jan Daniels of Aurora said, "I think it hurts him. I think we have too much going on here. He should be spending more time at home."

McCain's Illinois co-chair, Rep. Jim Durkin, said recent polling here in DuPage County showed McCain and Obama in a dead heat. While better than they expected, any Republican needs to win big here to have any hope of winning statewide.

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