By Madeleine Lesser

Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.? Barack Obama was criticized by the McCain campaign for not having visited the Middle East, which they believed displayed a?lack of foreign policy intelligence and experience.? So, Obama and his campaign scheduled meetings in Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel?and Kuwait to show that he is directly informed and has?had personal contact with?American troops.? Such efforts, nonetheless, were not without further condemnation, when the McCain front squashed Obama's gains made, stating that it "took too long," and "it's now just a political move."? No matter what he does, it doesn't seem as though Obama could please McCain.?

Talk?has heightened following Obama's speech in Berlin yesterday.? Despite McCain's judgments of Obama, many believe that Obama's trip to the Middle East was beneficial and frankly, just a smart move; but many also believe that his speech in Berlin was not as strategic.?

Obama spoke to a crowd of about 200,000 in the center of Berlin addressing the need, as world citizens, to put an end to terrorism.??Together, Americans and Europeans can "defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it."? Further, he stated that "people of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment.? This is our time." Never once did Obama utter the words, "When I'm president," or "As president,?I will..."? He spoke in Berlin as a citizen of the world, from one human to another, to rally hope and inspire.? Obama sought to unite all under the purposes of "common security and common humanity."?

Critics view this speech as one where Obama overstepped his boundaries by assuming the role of a world leader, or even as an American president.? Maybe they should have listened to?Obama, and the very words he spoke,?instead of conspiring on ways to condemn him.? In an effort to set the stage for his address, and to diffuse that type of judgment, the first sentence was, "I speak to you not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen."?

Of course, Barack Obama is the democratic presidential candidate - the whole world knows that, but, he was not speaking as a politician.?The underlying notions and principles that Mr. Obama rallied?- the?needs?to strengthen our relations with Europe, to work multilaterally to defeat terrorism, to end nuclear proliferation - were not so different from those that ordinary citizens and political activsts claim every day.? It is not news that we need to?address all these issues, and?one might deem it absolutely silly if someone proposed that only presidential candidates talk in such ways -?the general population does, too.? ?

Maybe some find fault in the fact that Obama assumed a role that gained the attention of hundreds of thousands of people.? I can't really even see that argument either, though, because don't we want, as American citizens, to feel that our potential next president can and has attempted to reassert our role on the international stage, along with redeeming our reputation?? We are so negatively regarded around the world today, we should praise our candidate for having the confidence to speak abroad and try to mend our tainted image.? ?

Barack Obama has the courage to do what others don't - to challenge the norm, to say and do what he thinks is right, even if it is controversial and?not the popular thing to do.? He had the audacity to rise up and gain international support - support that we so desperately need.? Those are characteristics that I want our next president to have, and if that means sometimes breaking down the walls of convention, so be it.