What Used To Be Called a Listening Tour

NBC's Andrea Mitchell just relayed unattributed reports of criticism of Barack Obama's highly publicized overseas tour while appearing on the MSNBC program "Morning Joe." I hesitate to attach my name to those of other critics when I don't know who they are, but I have to admit Mitchell's report conveyed an interesting point.

It seems Obama is backpedalling on his comments made at AIPAC about not wanting to see a Jerusalem "divided by barbed wire" now that he's meeting with non-Israelis in the Middle East. Quite apart from the politics of the matter, Mitchell put her finger on something that has bothered me in this election cycle. There is an overseas element to this campaign that is greater in its scope and visibility than ever before: almost more of a difference of kind than degree.

Mitchell talked of people who say we "only have one president," and accuse Obama of conducting diplomacy while in the Middle East instead of having a true legislative-style fact-finding trip. It would seem it's part and parcel of Obama straining to appear presidential despite his lack of foreign policy experience. Campaigning and positioning are one thing: Radically influencing American policy without benefit of having been elected to the Oval Office is quite another. I would caution the Obama campaign to make it clear they are working to elect their candidate, not assembling a cabinet-in-waiting.