Article: Coming Soon; The Non-US Citizen Vote For Obama

When Obama hits foreign shores, some of the billions of people who wish they could vote in the November US elections will come as close as they can get to getting their wish.

The McCain team, after goading Obama on to go overseas must now be kicking theirselves to high heaven.

They finally figured out that when Obama goes to Europe, he will be greeted by tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people who wish they could be voting for him-- as a gesture repudiating Bush and his policies.

The images of those huge masses of people will be very powerful, showing independent voters what they'll be able to look forward to-- a president the world will love, a president they will be able to proud to have representing them.

If Obama's team is as smart as they have demonstrated themselves to be in the past, they will stop down in England, France, Germany, giving advance notice where he goes so the crowds can form. Yes, there will be security risks. Thats' part of the work nations have to do when very important people visit them. In each of those countries, it is very likely that tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands will gather to greet him. The participation in those crowds is the best shot the natives of those countries will have to cast a vote, or at least help Obama.

There will be risks. If significant groups of Muslims show up at the rallies, clad in burkas or other mideastern attire, you can be sure that Fox News and the McCain team will find them and use them as evidence that Obama is a Muslim supported by terrorists. The best way that Muslims can support Obama is to go to the Obama rallies dressed in western clothing or to stay home.

Israel will be an interesting case. Will right wingers demonstrate against Obama? Will the Bush-friendly Israeli leadership prevent large crowds from gathering to show support for Obama? Isreal is probably his riskiest stop. Will settlers from the west bank join together to protest Obama, giving him a blackeye with American Jews?

Iraq could be another trap. There's no way to see what's really going on there. The army runs the show and tell. I'm sure, that while Obama will meet with the Bush appointed military leaders, he'll also meet with leaders and people he sources on his own, who don't sell the Bush-McCain Surge-Pollyana line that all is wonderful. The smart thing to do is to finesse McCain, but going to the power players that McCain never went to because he just followed Bush's and Cheney's footprints. If he shows more creativity and connectivity in his Iraq, Iran and Afghan connections, he could come out way ahead.

Of course, even if he does, McCain's people will spin anything he does as weak, incompetent, friendly to the enemy and evidence of inexperience. That's the best they hav-- nasty spin.