Obama in Paris soon

The Telegraph reports that the Barack Obama campaign is planning a multi-country tour this July that will take him through Europe and to Iraq and Afghanistan:

During Mr Obama's visit to Britain, likely to take place around the middle of July, he will call on Gordon Brown and, if time permits, David Cameron, the Conservative leader...

President Nicolas Sarkozy has already invited Mr Obama to visit the Elysee Palace and Downing Street aides are understood to be pushing for him to stop in London before Paris as a signal that he considers Britain to be America's pre-eminent ally.

As the paper points out, "Democratic strategists are concerned that scenes of "Obamamania" in Europe could damage the candidate back home," which while perhaps an unfortunate statement on what can sway the electorate, holds some truth. You can bet that they will try to minimize his visibility to the public during most of the trip, so don't look for any crowd-lined motorcade routes. Besides, the Iraq and Afghan stops will likely be limited to the airport, Green Zone, etc.