Ist er ein Berliner?

Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech today at an outdoor venue in Berlin. That harks back (no mere happenstance, one supposes) to two historic presidential speeches in that city.

The first, by John Kennedy on June 26, 1963, is best remembered for the line, delivered in Boston-accented German, "ich bin ein Berliner". (I am a Berliner).

The second of those speeches was made by Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1987. Addressing the Communist general secretary of the Soviet Union, in absentia, Reagan said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Both of those speeches were given in front of the Brandenburg Gate which stood, during those years, just behind the Berlin Wall. Kennedy's main purpose was to show support for West Berlin, a few months after the construction of the Wall, which began August 13, 1961. Reagan wanted to hasten the demise of the Wall, which began on November 9. 1989.

Obama wanted also to give his speech at the Brandenburg Gate, but that was opposed by the German chancellor (head of government) Angela Merkel. He will instead speak at a park called the Tiergarten.

National leaders need to be careful to avoid the appearance of interfering in other countries' elections. The main practical reason is that they will need to work with the winning candidate, and it would make for frosty international summit meetings, if one head of government had opposed the election of another head of government.

Merkel reportedly felt that the site that had become known as a venue for U.S. presidents to speak, should not be offered to a candidate for that office.

During Obama's current trip, much has been written about non-Americans' opinions of the U.S. presidential race. Obama is preferred by large majorities in major European countries. However, polls in Israel show a large lead for McCain.

One thing that points up is how much more attention people outside the U.S. pay to American politics, than the average American does to theirs.

UPDATE: Here is the text of Obama's Berlin speech.