I just got finished watching Barack Obama's speech from Berlin. It goes without saying -- in present company, at least -- that it was an outstanding speech. Not so much a policy speech, but symbolically very powerful.

On my way into work today, I heard one commentator on POTUS 08 talking about how it might be seen as a bad thing that Obama attracted more people (approximately 100,000, based on estimates I've seen) to a foreign event than he has in any national event. I can see a couple problems with that analysis: First, he is only in the city for one day. I know people from all over Germany (and probably elsewhere in Europe) came to see him speak. If he was doing events everyday in Europe, obviously it wouldn't be so massive. Secondly, I'm not sure how a show of international support could be considered a negative. Is America really that xenophobic that foreign support would hurt Obama? (Stupid question; we tend to elect someone based on whether or not we could drink a beer with them.) Obama enjoys international support because he doesn't have a "with us or against us" mentality. He has a more nuanced and intelligent approach to foreign policy. He knows what he's talking about! Once again, it astounds me that this is a negative thing for some.

What I found striking as the camera panned over the huge crowd were the American flags some were waving. It is so refreshing to see Berliners actually willing and proud to wave our flag. That, in itself was more moving to me than the actual speech. If we want to improve the America's image for the rest of the world, we have to elect Obama.

Watch the speech after the break.