Press Hubris

Marc Ambinder puts today's Press Meme in context ... of course ruining it in the process.

SPRINGFIELD, MO -- Writing a Messiah Watch could get me kicked off the bus here, but onward! Dana Milbank teed this up, quoting Obama's boast to Democratic members of Congress:

"I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," he said.

Slam dunk, right?

Well, actually...I asked the Obama campaign about the quote, and they provided some context that makes this particular utterance more digestible.

"It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have just become a symbol..." Obama said, according to the campaign.

And here's the thing about that.

He's kind of right. Not universally so, and there's real way to know how Iraqis or Jordanians viewed his visit, but if the European elite even marginally reflects or influences the views of Europeans, then a whole lot of them associate Obama with a restoration of American (a) glory or (b) humility, depending on the country. To put it another way, Europeans see Obama as being on the right side of history. Not all of them. But a lot of them.

A few other points:

The Capitol Police and the Secret Service, not the Obama campaign, closed the halls for Obama to pass yesterday. If you're inclined to think Obama presumptuous for this, then John McCain is also on your list; last week in Columbus, the police department there gave him full intersection control during rush hour. Oh, and that was David Cameron to whom Obama "gave some management advice," not to Gordon Brown, although Brown could probably have used it!