Washington Post: Campaign Advisors Release Details of Remainder of Obama Trip

[Hissyspit]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/22/details_of_obamas_trip_release.html?hpid=topnews

Details of Obama's Trip Released
By Dan Balz
AMMAN--Now that Barack Obama is on his way out of Iraq, his campaign advisers have released details of his schedule for the rest of his trip to the Middle East and Europe.
Obama is scheduled to leave Iraq Tuesday morning and arrive in Jordan early Tuesday afternoon (still morning Washington time). He will hold his first news conference of the trip outdoors, at the historic Citadel, which overlooks the city of Amman and was selected for its visual backdrop.

Although technically his tour switches from an official congressional delegation to a campaign trip once he arrives in Jordan, Obama will be joined at the news conference by Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the two senators he's been traveling with in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Later Tuesday, Obama will meet one-on-one with Jordan's King Abdullah. The meeting will be followed by a dinner that will include Hagel and Reed, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan, Daniel Rubinstein, and retired Air Force Major General Scott Gration, an Obama adviser. The Jordanian delegation will include the king, his wife, Queen Rania and three senior government officials.
King Abdullah was in the United States on Monday speaking in Aspen, Col., and was scheduled to arrive back in Jordan shortly before his meeting with Obama.

Obama is scheduled to leave Jordan Tuesday night for Israel, where he has a full day of events and meetings on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, he'll meet with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Likud Party chairman Benjamin Netyanhu in Jerusalem. After a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, he will then meet with Israeli President Simon Peres.

The rest of his day includes a visit to Ramallah, where he will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Another stop will be the town of Sderot, one of the most heavily shelled cities in Israel. His day will conclude with an evening meeting with embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Obama leaves Israel early Thursday for Berlin. There he'll meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Merkel was publicly critical of the campaign's consideration of staging its major public event of the seven-nation trip at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate, where heads of state have spoken in the past. The campaign has since moved the event to the Victory Column in Tiergarten park, although the Brandenburg Gate will be visible from that site.

MORE

[tekisui]

1. President-to-be Obama with the heavyweights,

I like it!

[Inuca]

2. More about today's schedule

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/07/obama-to-stroll-through-temple.html Obama to stroll through Temple of Hercules (get the metaphor?) Issues, trip details briefing.

I wonder if this is the same temple where McCain had Lieberman whisper in his ear a reminder about the distinction of sunnis vs. shia. Obama will have Reed and Hagel by his side there and almost the whole time in Jordan, except a one-on-one meeting with the king. As per the article + other sources I came across, the moment they land in Jordan it is officially a campaign trip, no longer a codel. I see this as a de facto endorsement from Hagel (if he did not want to do it, he could have caught the first plane home).

By the way, somewhere else I read that the press conference of the three is scheduled at 10 am ET. I hope it will be carried live.