Ich Bin Ein Celebrity
On his first overseas trip as a presidential candidate, then Senator Obama chose Berlin as the backdrop for his coming-out speech to an already enamored Europe. After selecting the Brandenburg Gate for his address — the place where President John Kennedy famously proclaimed his solidarity with Berliners and President Ronald Reagan delivered his ultimatum to "tear down this wall" — the freshman Senator caught flak back home for flying a bit too high. But switching the location to the soaring 226-ft. Victory Column in the center of the city and the lofty rhetoric of his speech before a screaming crowd of 200,000 did little to silence his critics. His opponent, Senator John McCain, panned the performance as a "premature victory lap" and used footage of the event spliced together with shots of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in an ad portraying Obama as a shallow celebrity.