Like Obama or hate Obama, there’s no denying that his whirlwind visit came off pretty much flawlessly – and Sderot was the definitely the crowning touch. Kudos to his handlers. The front of the newspaper – Obama kneeling next to a boy who lost his leg in a Kassam rocket attack. Open it up and you’ve got a gallery of charm – his helicopter ride, the wreath at Yad VaShem, the Wall (where Drudge reports that he spent 12 minutes…Roger pointed out to me on Instant Messenger that this was less time than John Edwards spent hiding from the National Enquirer in the bathroom of the Beverly Hilton.)
Obama made the local media happy by giving short interviews to everyone. Feed the press…smart move.
My full report on Obamafest Israel is here.
Some tidbits that came in later — health nut Obama apparently loved the local cuisine – hummus and finely chopped salad, Dates stuff with walnuts. They also reported that while his staff was chugging black coffee, our man was sipping….green tea. Maybe he really is superhuman – overcoming jetlag with no help from caffeinated beverages? Can it be done?
One of the headlines “Our Romance With Obama” topped an article that gushed “Nearly everyone that met Barack Obama yesterday was convinced: This was the next president of the United States. His warm and friendly style fit Israelis like a glove fits a hand and was reminiscent of Israel’s romance with Bill Clinton.”
Clever guy, he even PRAISED the Israeli personality….when asked by Yediot’s Nahum Barnea what he would take away from him on his visit, he said, “One of the things that I like about Israel is that everyone argues all the time. People are interested in politics. People have a firm stand on every issue.”
Barnea quipped: “Just one, sometimes they even have two.”
Obama replied: “That’s the sign of a healthy democracy.”
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