US Election:JOHN McCAIN'S campaign has accused Barack Obama of using next week's tour of the Middle East and Europe as a series of backdrops for political rallies rather than a fact-finding trip, writes Denis Staunton.
Mr Obama is due to visit Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Germany, France and Britain in a trip designed to bolster his foreign policy credentials, an area in which polls show him lagging behind Mr McCain.
He also plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan, although his campaign has not said if those stops will be part of next week's trip.
Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty yesterday criticised Mr Obama for planning "unprecedented" rallies in European capitals, suggesting that the Democrat was "campaigning for president of Europe".
Mr Obama has abandoned plans to speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin but he will deliver a speech at the nearby Victory Column that aides hope will invite comparisons to John F Kennedy's visit to the city in 1961.
Describing the trip as "more of a campaign swing than a fact-finding tour", former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney predicted that Mr Obama would gain little from his visit to Iraq.
"My guess is he'll say, 'Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up'," Mr Romney said.
Details of the trip have been kept vague because of security concerns, but Mr Obama will meet German chancellor Angela Merkel next Thursday and he is also expected to meet French president Nicolas Sarkozy and British prime minister Gordon Brown.
He will meet Israeli leaders in Jerusalem and plans to visit Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. The trip offers Mr Obama an opportunity to persuade Americans that he would be a plausible representative on the world stage.
All three network television news anchors are accompanying him on the trip, but Mr Obama is not taking any European journalists with him and he has not given any advance interviews to the European media.
The campaign's cautious approach to the foreign media reflects its determination to avoid gaffes, but also underscores the fact that the trip is primarily designed for domestic American consumption.
While Mr Obama is abroad next week, Mr McCain will visit battleground states, focusing on domestic issues, where the Democrat is stronger. The Republican will visit Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Mr McCain's adviser Charlie Black said that if all three television networks ran interviews with Mr Obama overseas, the Republican would ask for equal time.
"If they want us to respond to what he's doing over there, I'm sure we could make the time," Mr Black added, making clear that the McCain campaign will not shy away from criticising Mr Obama while he is abroad.
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