In March of this year, Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, traveled to Europe and the Middle East, attempting in doing so to appear more “presidential” than the then-primary embattled Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Recently, he took his tour to Latin America, acting very presidential in the process once again.

His staff passed out scheduling booklets on those trips that were virtual reproductions of the size, style, and font choice as those used by the White House.  He’s also begun giving Saturday radio addresses, just as the current White House occupant does.

We watched Senator Obama with not a little awe as he drew crowds akin to those of Presidents Reagan and Clinton during his trip to Europe, preceded by his tour in Iraq and Israel.  He’s had something of a flap over his failure to visit U.S. troops before leaving Germany, rightly so. There is no excuse for a man who presumes to be the American Commander in Chief not to visit those who have put their lives on the line for the country he hopes to lead, and shame on him no matter the reason.  Yet, there is no denying he certainly looked presidential in front of all those folks.

The New York Times even wrote today about the respective efforts to appear as though the election has already taken place and both of them won.  However, it’s really not that monumental a task for either to look presidential in those travels when no one who is, in fact, the U.S. President looks presidential these days.  Mr. Happy is already on the horizon, an erstwhile political figure in the distance, virtually irrelevant to our daily lives now.  Many await the shower scene á la “Dallas” in the hope of revealing that the last seven plus years have been just a bad dream.

On more than a few occasions last week during the Obama European visit it was pointed out that it isn’t America or Americans that are unpopular; rather, it is the current administration that holds that distinction.  While American foreign policy decisions should be made based upon America’s best interests and not necessarily world approval, it is fair to say that diplomacy becomes an easier task when one is respected and trusted.

If there is a message in the size of the crowds that turned out for Obama last week, it is two-fold:  his suggestion that it is in every country’s interests that there be a stable world economy, and, that it is also in every country’s interests to find peaceful means to resolve differences, are well received messages; and, that Mr. Happy’s administration is not trusted to find either means.

Nature hates a vacuum, and rushes in to fill one with something, anything.  People hate a political vacuum, too.  In the absense of political leadership, the electorate wherever situated will turn to anyone for it. In that sense, how hard is it, really, for either of the two major candidates to seem presidential on just about any stage – - in a small New Hampshire town, or in Berlin?