Andrew, I didn’t argue Obama’s speech in Germany wasn’t smart politics, only that it strikes me as an inappropriate and telling choice.
That he will get good coverage is of course a given with Obama, and that many Europeans (and surely many Americans) will like it seems right to me too. The question is what does it tell us about Obama, and to me it seems like another indication of an extraordinary arrogance. The Germans should ask themselves what they would make of a candidate for Chancellor holding a rally on the National Mall in Washington.
In fact, their Chancellor (and surely other European leaders too) have begun to wonder about just this point.