McCain takes aim at Obama’s foreign policy weakness

Barack Obama’s overseas trip has captured huge headlines — not only here in the U.S., but all over the world. No one is paying more attention than those working on the newly formulated McCain campaign, which has responded swiftly.

With Barack Obama on a mid-campaign Middle East tour, John McCain is in the United States on the offense, pitching Obama’s lack of foreign policy and national security experience as weaknesses. Can Obama put those concerns to rest and force McCain to defend the GOP record on the economy?

"The Takeaway’s" Adaora Udoji and John Hockenberry talk to Princeton Professor Julian Zelizer about why Obama’s trip is unusual, and the effectiveness of the new McCain campaign.

Professor Zelizer says, "We’ve had candidates in the past who’ve traveled abroad before their campaigns, but we’ve never had one that is so covered, almost covered like a presidential visit would be, and that’s pretty unprecedented and unusual."

In a new ad released on the eve of Obama’s trip, McCain directly criticized Obama’s record in the Senate on Afghanistan.

According to Zelizer, the ad hits on all the big themes the McCain campaign is after: Obama’s inexperience, whether he supports the troops, his level of knowledge of foreign affairs, and whether Obama "does everything politically." Zelizer says these kinds of ads have been effective in the past.

"The Takeaway" is PRI’s new national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what’s ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.

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