This just in from the Department of Credit Where Credit Is Due, it’s nice to see the presidential candidates maintain a sense of humor during hard times, and John McCain seems to be keeping hold of his. The image to the left is a fake press pass that the McCain team was handing out to reporters who were “left behind to report in America” and referring to them as the junior varsity squad of reporters. The treatment Obama has received during his trip has, of course, been non-stop and mostly flattering, but the candidate’s own actions have been even more shocking in some cases.
You can argue either way about how appropriate it is for a candidate not yet in the seat of power to be getting one on one engagements with all of these world leaders, but it does seem like Obama is acting as if he already has the job. As Ben Smith reported, there have been White House type protocols instituted on Air Obama for the press pool. As the recipient of such an avalanche of good fortune, (with reports that the initial press estimates of Iraq’s support for his withdrawl timetable may have been less than accurate going largely unnoticed) one would think that Senator Obama might make humility his watchword. Overstepping is a definite possibility if Obama continues to treat this tour as if it were the preamble to his coronation.