You've been talking about those limited missions for a long time. Having gone there and talked to both diplomatic and military folks, do you have a clearer idea of how big a force you'd need to leave behind to fulfill all those functions?

(OBAMA) -  I do think that's entirely conditions-based. It's hard to anticipate where we may be six months from now, or a year from now, or a year and a half from now.

"Sen. Barack Obama's campaign staff and the Pentagon are putting forth different versions of what happened before Obama cancelled a planned Friday morning visit to the Ramstein air base in Germany.

The Obama campaign has suggested the Pentagon interfered with its decision to visit U.S. troops at the Ramstein and Landstuhl U.S. military bases in Germany -- something the Pentagon denied Friday."

"We made it clear to him that campaign staff and press would not be permitted to accompany him," Morrell said of Obama.  "We relayed those ground rules. They made a choice based upon the information we relayed to them.  It was their choice. We had nothing to do with it."

MSNBC 1:02 PM ET

ANDREA MITCHELL: “Spin from both sides: the Pentagon would have told you that these are rules that everyone follows. That he was welcomed, he could have gone if he had gone with just a senate aide, but that no campaign aides could go with him. Privately, some people are suggesting that one of the issues was a general – Scott Gration -- who travels with him who's a campaign aide and retired air force general and that the general was told that he could not use his privilege as a retired member of the military to accompany Senator Obama because he is now joined the political campaign. … So that may have been one of the stumbling blocks. … The Obama people certainly feel resentful. They had a planned event. They were planning to leave the press corps on the tarmac and go in themselves, and that they feel the pentagon made it difficult and reminded them of the rules, about which they didn't need to be reminded having just come from a similar visit in Iraq.  But whatever the result, they feel that they have been treated badly by the Pentagon, and that is certainly creating some bad blood.”

GARRETT: he was scheduled to visit a medical center near ramstein air base. they decided not to do it because it would be viewed as a political act. the pentagon said today both at the podium and in a letter that they never told the obama campaign would be inappropriate. all they said is that there are strict rules about a senator visiting a military base. only still photographer could follow him, but that would be the only media coverage allowed. maybe that had something to do with the ultimate decision not to go. but the cut is making it clear that they did not discourage obama from making the trip, the gist of by some of the restrictions -- they just advised him of restrictions, should he make it.

"I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions."

But I also know how much I love America."

"Much of the rest of the speech fed the illusion that we could solve our problems if only people mystically come together. We should help Israelis and Palestinians unite. We should unite to prevent genocide in Darfur. We should unite so the Iranians won’t develop nukes. Or as Obama put it: 'The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.'

... Obama has benefited from a week of good images. But substantively, optimism without reality isn’t eloquence. It’s just Disney."

"Two top aides to the presumptive Republican nominee said the decision is likely to be announced after Obama returns from Europe on Sunday and before the Beijing Olympics begin Aug. 8."

1:42 p.m.: SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. “Barack Obama will not be coming to us,” a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. “I don’t know why.” Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.

Capt. Ed notes:

I guess this is a question of priorities.  Barack Obama apparently ran short on time in his visit to Germany today, and travelers know how schedules can slip during long tours, even without all of the events Obama had planned.  Those circumstances force people to prioritize their time, and eliminate less-useful stops.

And Jonathan Martin adds:

The optics here are not good: Obama has time to get in a workout and give a speech to a crowd mostly comprised of Europeans, but can't be bothered to visit American troops wounded in action recovering at a military hospital.  Obama's explanation strikes at much of the criticism he's gotten from McCain and the GOP.

"Lots of speculation on the web, and in whispering circles, about why Obama's foreign trip--a slam-dunk success substantively and in photo-op terms (Obama laughing with Petraeus in the helicopter was the best)--hasn't resulted in a polling bump. The emerging conventional wisdom seems to be that the trip is a bit too grand, too...presumptuous and voters are wary of that. (And presumption, of course, always comes with the subterranean tinge of racism.) Maybe so."

"The hourly federal minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 today, but few workers will see the extra 70 cents an hour in their checks."

CO: McCain 46 – Obama 44
MI: Obama 46 - McCain 42
MN: Obama 46 - McCain 44
WI: Obama 50 - McCain 39 

"Since the last joint Q-WashPost surveys of these four states in June, McCain has moved up in Colorado and Minnesota while Obama has moved down in all four."