Love this title! :rofl:
Obama Overseas! In Presidential Mode! Back Home, It’s McCain in a Golf Cart.
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
Senator Barack Obama visited Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday.
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Published: July 23, 2008
It wasn’t a television blackout of John McCain; it was worse: split-screen contrasts that at times made it seem as if Barack Obama was on a state visit while back home his opponent chafed at the perks and privileges of an incumbent commander in chief.
On Tuesday, Mr. McCain held a town hall-style meeting in Rochester, N.H. In the shadow of the ancient Temple of Hercules in Amman, Jordan, Mr. Obama solemnly described his vision for peace in the region while standing at a lectern, the Middle East sprawling out behind him. Reporters were cordoned in front of him like the White House press corps — except that an audio snag kept their questions inaudible.
All three cable news networks carried Mr. Obama’s news conference live and in full. They showed only parts of Mr. McCain’s forum and focused mostly on his reaction to Mr. Obama’s statements. Even Fox News broke away from Mr. McCain midevent to cover the rescue of a bear cub wounded in a California fire and nicknamed Lil’ Smokey.
Mr. McCain’s surrogates complained bitterly about the Obama news blitz; on Tuesday the McCain campaign put out a Web video mocking reporters’ doting coverage with a montage of anchors’ gauzy looks and glowing praise set to the tune of the Frankie Valli hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.”
But it’s not pro-Obama bias in the news media that’s driving the effusion of coverage, it’s the news: Mr. Obama’s weeklong tour of war zones and foreign capitals is noteworthy because
it is so unusual to see a presidential candidate act so presidential overseas. Mr. Obama looks supremely confident and at home talking to generals and heads of state, so much so that some viewers may find the pose presumptuous — as if Mr. Obama believes that not only is his official nomination at the Democratic convention in August a mere formality, so is the November election.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/us/politics/23watch.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&adxnnlx=1216833423-FRdKEkNc40DAuD77xRFqIQ