The Presidential Media Tour

Whatever you think of it politically, the recent Barack Obama tour of Iraq and Europe was media relations at its finest. Compare this with the tours that John McCain has made to Iraq and Afghanistan, which flew under the media radar to a large extent, and you see a stark difference with respect to each candidate's ability to work a media relations angle. We can have a discussion as to which approach is better politically, or which approach was more sincere and effective, but from a purely media relations standpoint, you just can't beat having all of the major news outlets' anchors accompanying you on an important photo opp.