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Obama May Yet Speak At The Brandenburg Gate

The saga of Barack Obama's proposed speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate rages on today. (Dare we call it Brandenburg Gate-gate?)

A quick recap: As we discussed Wednesday, Obama is expected to stop in Berlin during his foreign trip later this month. The Berlin Senate was reportedly approached about the propsect of the presumptive Democratic nominee speaking at the historic landmark – where, in 1987, Ronald Reagan asked Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."

Through a spokesman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel initially expressed significant skepticism over the prospect, questioning "whether it is appropriate to bring an election campaign being fought not in Germany but in the United States to the Brandenburg Gate."

But the chancellor now seems to be softening her position. The Associated Press reports that a Merkel spokesman now says "we are confident that we will reach a mutual and good solution which does justice to the interests of all involved." Most Berlin city officials reportedly support the prospect of an Obama speech at the Gate.

In related news, Ben Smith over at the Politico notes that "the Bush adminstration's opposition to an Obama speech at the Brandenburg Gate comes across as more heated — and more overt — than previously reported" in the German press.

A few German-speaking readers helped Smith unearth reports like one in the tabloid Bild quoting Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt saying "it would be nice if the German government would focus on strengthening its contacts to us rather than already beginning to look for our successors."

He also quotes a report that "It's said that the Chancellor's foreign policy advisor, Christoph Heusgen, was berated by a member of the Bush team over Obama's plans at the G-8 summit in Japan."

Obama is expected to be in Berlin on July 24.

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