<<if he can't go mano y mano with McCain, how in the world will he be able to go head to head with leaders from the enemy du jour?>>
He CAN go mano-a-mano with McSame, only in a forum that favours him, not McCain. At the end of the day, through forums and formats that OBAMA chooses, his message will beat - - will TROUNCE - - McSame's.
When he goes mano-a-mano with a foreign leader, the forum is NEVER in a town-hall meeting. Usually it's behind closed doors. All the advantages that a demagogue gets from the town-hall format are eliminated.
Also, keep in mind the objectives are totally different. IN the town-hall meeting, two citizens are competing for their fellow-citizens' support. They have to at least pretend that everyone is all on the same team. That's where the demagogue has a huge advantage - - he can put the good, honest, principled man on the defensive merely by questioning whether he's really on the team.
In negotiations with foreign leaders, nobody pretends, for example, that the two leaders are on the same team. So a demagogue can not put Obama on the defensive. Also, they are not playing to an audience, primarily they are negotiating one to one - - there isn't a hell of a lot of room for a phony like McSame to wrap himself in the false flag of false patriotism at the expense of the other party, before an electorate many of whom are dumb enough to fall for McCain's cheap demagogic tricks.
Big difference here, BT.