How will Barack Obama's Berlin speech stack up?

As destinations for landmark Presidential speeches go, Berlin is up there on the to-do list.

Echoes of John F. Kennedy's 'Ich bin Ein Berliner" and Ronald Reagan's "Tear down this wall" still hover around the city. Small wonder then that Barack Obama chose the German capital to make the sole public speech of his foreign trip.

With rumours of a million-strong crowd, Obama is trying to downplay the comparisons:

They were Presidents, I am a citizen.

But all ears will be listening for a new catchphrase. Here's how the respective speeches measure up so far.

John F. Kennedy:

Date: 1963
Crowd Size: 120,000
Location: Rathaus Schöneberg
Catchphrase: Ich Bin Ein Berliner
On the agenda: Kennedy was there to show his support for West Germany following the erection of the Berlin Wall by Communist East Germany
NB: John F. Kennedy scrawled the famous 'Ich Bin Ein Berliner' line on a cue card minutes before he climbed up on stage. And no, it does not necessarily mean 'I'm a jellied doughnut.'

Ronald Reagan

Date: 1987
Crowd Size: 20,000
Location: The Brandenburg Gate
Catchphrase: Tear Down This Wall
On the agenda: Reagan was hoping to encourage the spread of democracy in Germany. And, well, tear down this wall.
NB: Colin Powell disliked the passage and suggested it be omitted. Reagan disagreed.

Barack Obama

Date: 2008
Location: Tiergarten's Victory Column
Crowd Size: Estimates stand at a million
Catchphrase: ...Watch this space...
On the agenda: Obama is expected to call on Europe to do more in Afghanistan. The speech is also intended to bolster his image as presidential candidate with strong foreign policy credentials.
NB: All eyes will be on the size of the crowd. Obama may be adored here but will there be a backlash back home?

Comments

[Nicholas]

Most Germans know very little about Barak Obama. His popularity stems from his opposition to the Iraq war, his criticism of the Bush administration and his ability to impersonate the future as well as the 'other America'. A well conceived speech in Berlin today could give the necessary substance to this 'love affair'.

[RushIsRight]

Yet another story about "The Great Obama". In my opinion he is a sparkling jewel of colossial ignorance. I'm sure his speech will be good because if nothing else, he can read from a teleprompter. But when it comes to his policies and everything else about him, he's an empty suit. Don't get sucked into the Obama-mania! He's nothing but a Socialist and an extremist!
He already uses a phrase that has no meaning, why would we care that he adds another to it. He talks about change, but the only change he wants is for government to pay for everything and for individuals to take no responsibility for their own lives. No thanks!

[Matthew]

Ich Bin Ein Beginner

[Greg]

RushIsRight (Not):

Sorry, Rush is wrong, and you are too. Obama will be the next President of the United States!

[Sigmond]

I hope nobody throws a tomato at him while he delivers his speech to the German left. An incident like that could ruin the campaign video of the event.

[m-antony]

Empty words, thinks he is already the President. He is just a typical politician that has lied to the American people. He associates with very questionable people . He is the pinnacle of arrogance, he changes positions every day to play to the gathering that is in front of him. He is currently being exposed as the fraud he is.

[jon]

Hey, come home and debate for the people who are actually voting!..ya know, Americans. Germans like him cause he is a socialist and likes to bash America and it's policies...if were lucky we will hear some of that on Europeon soil. What a shame this is.

[BlueMax372]

Most Americans know very little about Barack Obama. His popularity stems from his opposition to the Iraq war, his criticism of the Bush administration and his ability to impersonate the future as well as the 'other America'. A well conceived speech in Berlin today could give the necessary illusion of substance to this 'love affair,' and he could very well become the first black chancellor.

[gamom]

The difference in the speeches is that Kennedy and Reagan were both experienced politicians who actually had accomplished something. Here we will have the inexperienced, unaccomplished boy wonder using his same old, tired words of "hope" and "change." Oh, by the way, the significance of both of these men were that they both were Presidents and had every right to act presidential. Obama does not have this right. I have not seen John McCain jetsetting abroad acting president. Have you? At the end of the day, we will have heard the same message, just a different backdrop.

[judy]

Obama finally makes me proud to be American! After the last few years with Bush trying to destroy everything great about my country, we now have the chance to bring integrity back into our government.

[Nicholas]

RUSHISRIGHT asserts in a single sentence: ..."when it comes to his policies and everything else about him, he's an empty suit ... he's nothing but a Socialist and an extremist!" This is nonsense: how can you be an 'empty suit' and an 'extremist' at the same time. Obama's rhetoric about change and a-different-kind-of-politics certainly lacks substance, but to refer to him an extremist is completely inappropriate.

[Todd]

It amazes me how McCain lovers forget that it was McCain who made such a big deal over Obama not going to Iraq. Even had a clock on his web site counting the minutes since Obamas last visit. Now Barack makes a sweeping trip abroad and you right wingnuts are upset that McCain is looking like a deflated windbag. Truley amazing, amazing....

[Chris]

According to many, GW Bush had the necessary experience to be President. Look where experience got us. Obama has a brain. Perhaps that is much more important than "experience".

[Berliner]

"And no, it does not necessarily mean 'I'm a jellied doughnut.'"

You may want to brush up on your German a bit because grammatically speaking that is exactly what it means. However most people know that he really meant to say 'Ich bin Berliner'.

[Ben]

I love it. First he trots around the globe acting as if he were the President. Now, after making this trip he has strong foreign policy credentials. What a joke. The US does not need a socialist as President.

He claims to be different and to bring change. Yes we can! Only problem is that he has flip-flopped on so many issues & missed o many Senate votes that he IS a politician. At least McCain stands up for his beliefs and doesn't cave even when the far-right want him to.

[He's a phony]

He is a complete empty suit. He has no experience for the job and just hopes nobody figures it out before he gets elected. What a complete and utter phony! The American and European leftist media will coronate him on this trip but fortunately they don't have the final say.

[Benabong]

I love when the haters come out of their caves to spew venom toward Obama. It lets me know he's speaking the truth.

[Harper Maddox]

Yes, and McCain's backdrop is "puke" green. He certainly gives me *a ton* to be hopeful for next year ... yawn. GET OFF MY LAWN! He tried to get to Europe and give a speech but there were no tickets available to Czechoslovakia (he tried 4 times).

[Josh]

"You may want to brush up on your German a bit because grammatically speaking that is exactly what it means. However most people know that he really meant to say 'Ich bin Berliner'."

Not according to Germans. Yes, Ein Berliner can be a doughnut - but it can also be someone from Berlin. The difference is all in context. If he had been in Hamburg, would you think he'd been calling himself a meat pattie? Or if he'd said 'I am a Chicagoan', that he was a hot little latin-american lady from Goa?

[Lector N. Connu]

That old canard about jelly doughnuts is back. JFK's comment, "Ich bin ein Berliner," was checked by his translator and by Willy Brandt before the speech. See the discussion at http://www1.stadtkind.com/item/135/ich-bin-ein-berliner-john-f-kennedy-west-berlin.htm or at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner

[Viv]

Obama can make fine speeches but he cannot answer hard questions, he stumbles and babbles his way through those. The media will not show or report these incidents as they are so 'in love' with the man to the point where it's sickening. He has become such a bag of contradictions he cannot even remember what his pricciples or policies are supposed to be...he will tell anyone what they want to hear to get elected. However, many are beginning to wake up to the slick musings of the slimey senator, with all the media adoration and attention he should be at least 20 points ahead in the polls but he isn't...ask yourself why! When he finally has to debate McCain face to face, the lead he does have will disappear fast.

[sunshine484848]

"Barack Obama has proved himself an extraordinarily cynical politician. He doesn't believe in much, but he certainly believes in his own power to make voters believe whatever he says, even when what he says today contradicts what he said yesterday, and even when it constitutes a bald fiction, such as his claim that the Senate Banking Committee is '[his] committee.'
Some day it may begin to dawn on attentive observers that Obama represents a type that flourishes on many college campuses. The technical term that applies to Obama is b.s. artist. Obama is an overaged example of the phenomenon, but his skills in the art have brought him great success and he's not giving it up now."
When people have no religion or God, they will fill the void with something or someone to worship. Obama is the new Messiah here in the U.S. and now in the world. Move over, God.

[Esther]

Viv - so how do you know about Obama's stumbles if the media doesn't report them? Are you personally stalking him on the campaign trail?
Maybe people are ready for a little uncertainty now, after eight years of a president who never once entertained an ounce of doubt about anything. A little indecision can sometimes indicate that someone is taking the time to assimilate the question instead of just giving a kneejerk response. It can also be a sign of humility and a willingness to learn.

[MBA]

Actually, Americans know a lot about Obama. They know he doesn't have a resume or experience and folks, he's not on the banking committee in the U.S. Senate either. Oh no! Another lie! My IQ is higher than his and in the States even ivy has dummied down. Dare I mention back when it was hard to get into ivy Bush graduated from both Yale AND Harvard! Check out affirmative action, even a B student with the right color skin can go to ivy. Now me, I earned my seat in the classroom.

[Keith]

I've just watched the speech. Whether you like him or not,and personally I'd not vote for him, it can not be denied that he gave a fine speech and I saw no teleprompters.

[cherry]

I listened and I was bored to tears. This was just an opportunistic way of trying to present himself as another Kennedy, which he is not.

[athan scribner]

Obama is scarry not becuase he is a charismatic empty suit beholden to radical left wingers...but because he is a media creation, the sharp end of a propoganda program that manifests the end of balanced journalism(see CNN,NBC,ABC,CBS,MSNBC, etc) and morality in public servants, and the start of kremlin like power politics,vote McCain, don't enable this power grab.

[Gary Smith]

I have nothing against Obama, but he is inexperienced and has not run anything. Unlike JFK who was in the Pacific theatre during WWII and a senator of some years standing, Obama has feeble record. This man if elected will be the leader of the free world. I lived in USA during Nixon's Watergate scandal and watched how the president can keep on lying, and the Senate impeachment hearing were filibustered many times by Republican senators. No one knew how to deal with that president having elected him. At that time I wondered why Americans elect such poor quality president, and now after 34 years I still do, looking at the presidents since then. Watergate, Irancontragate and now Iraq and Afghanisatan. In a few years, we will find that I am sorry to say this, our soldiers would have died in vain as Iraq reverts back to sectarian strifes and Talibans win.
The American voters there seem to like good soundbites and short phrases, and do not pause and think. The divisions are very extreme among voters. After Nixon, Carter perhaps after Bush, Obama. Which is some one who is with different soundbites. Carter was governor of Atlanta before he became presidential candidate promising a different era than discredited Nixon's, but Obama says change about what in a conservative America, where change is difficult to achieve surprisingly. But I always wondered whether conservative America is ready for black president and particularly the one who stands at the White House lawn,hand on the bible, and takes the oath saying, " I Barak HUSSEIN Obama..."

[Courtesyguy]

2 all the McCain supporters eat your hearts out.
Rush, Lou Dobbs and all the other negative-minded Americans who refused to give up the "Good Old Boys Mentality" All that has changed...
BITE the BIG "ONE", President Barack Obama Rules!!!

[Alice]

Experience is not everything. Good judgement is.
And good judgement involves having the ability to acknowledge that you have been wrong, and to change your position. It is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of pragmatism, courage, and strength.
Yes, he is young, and yes, he is idealistic, but if you think that that makes him a weaker person, then you are the cynic, not Senator Obama.

[t Trebilcoc]

A carefully calculated theatre piece that weaves together reference to orginal great people turned one big media Hype of what everyone likes to hear delivereed in a preacher style to the global masses...inoxication and forgetfulness

[t Trebilcoc]

what about the content in reality??

[mogul]

In the span of a week we learn that Obama is already setting US foreign policy, timehorizons for withdrawal from Iraq and direct negociations with Iran. The Obama trip is a total success (so far) and McCain campaign falls apart at home. At this rate it should be a total walkover in Nov.

[Gary Holbrook]

It's unfair to compare this speech to JFK or Reagan. The World was a much different place with a true stand-off with Russia. Today? The media has saturated us with Obama and his TV ads will lose there power.

He seems to have little if any originality. He is a political plagarizier.

[lydia]

Anybody Mickey Mouse, even Scooby Doo anybody who can 'out that dammed spot' of the Bush administration and their assault on the sensibilities of the World. The havoc and destruction Bush wreaked on the Iraqis, G'tmo, Abu Graib, torture, debauchery lies. Their journey to the dark side dragging the US and the World along.
Bush ripping up the constitution, Bush emasculating the UN. Bush ignoring the Geneva convention. The sub prime debacle, the oil mess. Israeli a manifested scourge on the ME because of his backing.

McShame is a doddering old fool who if elected would continue Bush's shameful 8 years for another term. Each time McSame opens his mouth he is a down right embarrassment. The fact that he was a POW gives no credence that he would make a better President than Bush.

By the Mercy of God we have in Obama another chance to redo America, reintroduce 'Hope' to the American vocabulary stand up with pride before the Whole World. A charismatic educated energetic leader who can string more than one sentence together. A Leader whose heart is obviously in the right place. This for all of us makes Obama a savior, a tall order to fill, but fill it he must.

[Faqi]

What ever people say about Obama, no one can deny that he is the better option for America right now. Many I know object to him here do so because of his color and not because he is incompetent. McCain will just follow the 'old boy' policies that has got America in such a damn mess right now. No end to wars overseas, young men dying an getting injured for no reason, the economy in ruins- that is Bush's legacy that McCain hopes to build on. Get Real people, elect a young educated man with better ideas for America than an Old has been.

[Norah]

Yes WE ARE citizens of the world, WE ARE one, please listen to the lyrics of this song WE ARE that I found on Youtube. his name is Francis Jocky, he is so right, we're all of one, one of all... Just beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t5F6jZlFbc

It is amaizing how a country is torn up in pieces not on the basias of compitance or incompitance but the corlour of one two.my the american people for their country's safety and for peace to rain in the world,for the betterness of the economy,security around the world,elect a batter candidate not on the basis of what or who they are rather what they can deliver.

[Sigmond]

Speaking to the German left does not reflect the sentiments of an entire country. Germany, like France, Italy, and Great Britain, have voted for more conservative leaders in recent times. It is doubtful that Americans will suddenly take a sharp turn to the left and adopt socialism, as would be the case with an Obama administration.

[Sigmond]

There's no beef in the hot dog named Obama.