All the World's Obama Stage: Will He Shine?

July 17, 2008 -- Sen. Barack Obama is hitting the campaign trail on a different continent.

Seeking to boost his image on foreign policy, Obama, D-Ill., will travel to Israel, Jordan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom next week and is expected to at some point soon visit both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The trip represents a milestone in Obama's political career: the Illinois Senator has never been to Afghanistan, and his last visit to Iraq was 921 days ago, a fact his opponents are quick to point out.

The Foreign Policy Gap

In order to win the White House, the junior senator must not only seem diplomatic, but also presidential.

"On a trip like this, on a stage like this, there is no room for error, no margin of error. So every bit of this trip needs to be choreographed. He needs to make sure every word is right, every setting is proper, and that he makes absolutely no mistakes," Tad Devine, a Democratic analyst, told ABC News.

The Obama campaign has saturated the airwaves here at home with television ads hoping to boost his national security credentials.

In an ad entitled "America's Leadership," Obama claims "the single most important national security threat that we face . . . is nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists."

The Democratic candidate has argued that diplomacy must be an integral part of foreign policy: "We have to restore diplomacy to its rightful place in our foreign policy, that's gonna be my priority along with ending this war in Iraq and winning the war in Afghanistan, restoring our alliances all around the world."

McCain's International Edge

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 72 percent of Americans -- even most Democrats -- say Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would be a good commander-in-chief of the military. Fewer than half of people polled -- 48 percent -- feel that way about Obama.

The McCain campaign has been on the offensive as his rival takes the world stage, trying to portray Obama's upcoming trip as nothing more than a photo-op.

"Sen. Obama is going to Iraq, " McCain told a town hall crowd in Kansas City Thursday, "I was very interested that he articulated and announced his policies and approach to Iraq before he went, not after. Remarkable. I've been on a lot of trips around the world, usually at your expense, but I usually issue my policy statements when I get back."

The McCain camp also introduced a Web video entitled "The Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand."

The video features Obama changing positions on various aspects of the war, furthering the argument that he is not a leader, but a politician who shifts his arguments with prevailing winds.

The McCain campaign also criticized Obama's for not recognizing progress made in Iraq.

"I think the American people have had enough of inflexibility and stubbornness in national security policy," said Randy Scheunemann, McCain's Senior Foreign Policy Adviser. "We cannot afford to replace one administration that refused for too long to acknowledge failure in Iraq, with a candidate that refuses to acknowledge success in Iraq."

World Watching Obama

The interest in Obama's credentials may be even more intense abroad both among people and their leaders.

"A lot of global diplomatic business is still very personal. 'Can I trust this guy? What is important to this guy?' Those are all the kinds of things other world leaders like to know of somebody who may be joining the club," said Walter Russell Meade, of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Obama's campaign has ginned up tremendous interest in this trip, and any slip-ups could cause their efforts to backfire.

The electorate, and the world will be watching.