| By Matthew Struhar - Jul 24th, 2008 at 12:37 pm EDT |
Like Obama, I'm currently overseas. McCain, on the other hand, is in my homestate of Ohio. He's eating lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Schmidt's Restaurant and Sausage Haus, in the Columbus neighborhood German Village. They have, without a doubt, the best sausage in Ohio, and they also brew three incredible homemade beers. McCain is in for a treat.
Schmidt's is, of course, a German restaurant, and McCain is trying to play off of Obama's trip to Germany by showing how he cares about the concerns of people over here while Obama's sucking up to Europeans, or something. The record indicates otherwise, obviously. Be that as it may, Obama's attempt to show strength on foreign policy might be misguided during an election year in which voters are primarily concerned with economic issues. Obama would probably have been wise to play on his strengths rather than go to Europe.
Which isn't to say Obama shouldn't have gone to the Middle East. By answering McCain's challenge to go to Iraq, Obama became fortune's son: Maliki endorsed Obama's plan for withdrawal. The largest foreign policy concern Americans have is getting out of Iraq, and Obama is the candidate with the most credibility on that issue.
He already has credibility with the Europeans. What he needs to do is go to Schmidt's and listen to the people of Columbus, Ohio -- after all, because of our outdated electoral system, we Ohioans essentially have the power to make him president.

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