I love how meta we're all getting here. "Well, I liked Obama's speech, but I'm afraid my fellow Americans will be put off by his internationalism".

At least he's not meeting with France's Socialist (gasp!) opposition.

I'm so tired of all this concern trolling about Obama's world tour. The whole point of the trip was to burnish his foreign policy credentials and it seems like he accomplished that. There's plenty of time for him to come back and focus on domestic issues. The media is way too focused on the day-by-day polling. In November, what will people remember more: Obama's speech in Berlin or McCain's sparsely attended press conference in New Hampshire?

Blue22 is on to something: How can he allay fears that he can't read a map of Europe without having gone there? Being president requires both domestic policy and foreign policy, so it's not unreasonable to champion both of them in the venues the candidates think are appropriate. McCain set the stage by challenging Obama to visit the world, so Obama lived up to it and brought the media to boot.

Agree with blue22. Obama and McCain each have deficits. Obama is seen as not as strong on foreign policy (although God only knows why, given his demonstrated better judgment) and McCain is weak on economics. Obama is dealing with his perceived weakness; what's McCain doing about his?

Yes, of course. The polls that were released today were a response to the McCain stagecraft from today. The polls were apparently conducted this afternoon, after Obama's speech and McCain's appearance. And of course, voters instantly absorb and respond to the various permutations.

"McCain set the stage by challenging Obama to visit the world, so Obama lived up to it and brought the media to boot."

Then, McCain pivots to rail against Obama's confusion about who is the electorate, and complain about unequal media attention (even though he made the coverage of his trip exclusive, thereby limiting coverage).

So, basically no matter what Obama does, McCain will Tep him for it. I wonder if this is the part of McCain's domestic policy plan that creates more jobs on American soil filled by American workers.

"... but Obama might do well to skip petit dejeuner with Nicholas and Carla, and head O-Force One straight back to an International House of Pancakes."

Yes, Obama should just crib from the McCain campaign for a while because a single polling agency has reported McCain receiving a small increase in support among certain demographics in a couple of states over a small period of time that ended before Obama gave his speech in Berlin.

McCain's campaign is starting to look like Bill Clinton's 1992 bus tour. Remember how "experts" laughed at his low-profile, grassroots bus tour through the Midwest and the South?

Obama's stadium tour is impressive from media's perspective. However, McCain's no-frills gigs at Wilkes-Barre, Rochester, and similar communities can create a true grassroots phenomenon. In the old-fashioned, non-digital way.

Whenever a new media and strategy comes along, we tend to ignore the old and tried methods. We laugh at McCain's ignorance of new technology; maybe we should advice Obama to embrace the old, tried-and-true methods of kissing babies and shaking hands?

This is shaping up as a tortoise vs hare race.  Flash vs integrity.  Urban values vs rural values.  Nationalist vs internationalist.  And ultimately, which of these guys do people believe in their gut is the real deal.