Jul 18, 2008 5:40 pm US/Central
Obama's Campaign Advisor Discusses Global Trip
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama looks on in a photograph dated July 10, 2008.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Among those expected to travel with Sen. Obama on his upcoming international journey is his longtime campaign advisor, David Axelrod. CBS 2's Political Editor Mike Flannery spoke with him late today about the promise and peril of the Illinois senator's trip.
One goal of this upcoming trip is to bolster Sen. Obama's foreign policy credentials. One highlight is a big speech in Berlin, where Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan both delivered historic addresses.
"It's presumptuous to associate yourself with Reagan, Kennedy and presidents who went and spoke in very different times," Axelrod said. "And there's no attempt to try and create equivalence there, but I think Senator Obama has his own ability to communicate. He does it well and I think he's going to go and deliver a strong message about who we are and about the need to come together in the causes that serve us all. Senator Obama is going over there as a proud American and will present himself as such and if people respond favorably, I think people here will feel good about that."
The "people here," meaning American voters, is Obama's most important audience. He's still merely a candidate, unlike Kennedy and Reagan when they spoke in Berlin. Kennedy drew a gigantic crowd of more than one million in 1963.
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