Barack Obama returned home to lots of press about his World Tour--but not the press he had hoped for. The candidate has been criticized for canceling his visit to wounded U.S. troops in Landstuhl, Germany. ABC's Jake Tapper says, "The campaign had initially said that Sen. Obama had said he thought it might be inappropriate to visit the troops since the campaign was funding his European swing." Then an Obama adviser said that the Pentagon disapproved of the visit because it was a "campaign event." Then, according to Tapper, "the Pentagon said that wasn't true, that Obama was more than welcome to come, it was just that he couldn't bring the media or campaign staff." What did Obama do? He went to the gym.
The Corner's Kathryn Lopez asks, "Is the world tour a campaign event or a citizen of the world event? If the latter, why couldn't he visit troops in Germany?" Hot Air's Allahpundit explains the mess and concludes that "he and his team have handled this lamely." Drew M. at Ace of Spades adds, "Obama almost made it through his World Tour without screwing up but he couldn't quite do it and even the MSM has followed up on the troop visit story."
The McCain camp responded with this ad:
Time's Mark Halperin calls it McCain's "toughest attack ad yet." At Contentions, Jennifer Rubin says, "The McCain camp successfully introduced two story lines: Obama snubbed the troops and he has too many excuses." Although Obama supporters like Chris Bodenner at Andrew Sullivan's blog say the ad is "nasty, petty, and desperate," Hot Air's Ed Morrissey counters that this "is very much fair game for McCain to highlight--and for voters to consider. Obama gave an demonstration of his priorities, and thanks to his media entourage, the nation saw it."
Power Line's John Hinderaker concludes, "Brutal. In the end, this character-revealing blunder may be the only thing voters remember about Obama's international excursion."
