As global leaders gather, Obama chews gum
By ANDREW MALCOLM
Posted 06/19/2012 07:54 AM ET
If it seems like President Obama has been holding or traveling to some kind of summit meeting every 10 days or so in recent weeks, you're right.
Camp David. NATO summit in Chicago. South America. This week's big-shot party is the G-20 in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Besides talking a lot in closed meetings to no particular end, the various presidents also issue joint statements of great concern and manifestos that are little-read and quickly forgotten. Obama claims to be confident the G-20 will produce something worthwhile. What else can he say? "I wasted $182,000 an hour flying Air Force One down here."
Getting away does give Obama some respite from his relentless fundraisers and golf games and lets an unfettered Mitt Romney make additional campaign advances in crucial swing states with only 140 days to go.
But these gatherings do give credentialed media much to report and analyze for the folks back home to skip over too. That open mic in Seoul last March caught Obama's disturbing plea to Russia's leader for patience during his bothersome presidential campaign back home.
And as we learned from the summit in Colombia earlier this spring, such foreign trips also provide opportunities for Obama's Secret Service agents to enjoy stimulating leisure time activities.
It's true the world economy remains slow, except in the cities where the G-Something leaders and their fawning entourages pack the hotels. Greece remains in serious financial trouble. And now Spain is lining up for the same. Nothing these leaders do will change that.
But the summits go on. Each country's leader gets a meeting souvenir that says: "I Was at the G-20 Summit in Los Cabos and All This President Got Was a Lousy T-Shirt." Just kidding. They don't really.
However, one of the most important rituals of these G-summits is the official, formal group photo.
How you look is very important to show to the folks back home. Also who stands where. According to the Obama Rule, tall guys stand up front. Especially in election years. He's always there, as the most VIP of VIP's.
This Los Cabos' formal summit group photo was scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday night. The leaders began sauntering into a makeshift auditorium shortly after 7 p.m. -- hey, it's Latin America! As the world's most polite country off the hockey ice, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper was first in, of course. Then came Russia's dour Vladimir Putin (he was wearing a shirt this time).
Obama. Germany's Angela Merkel. Britain's David Cameron. Australia's Julia Gillard. They mill around chatting or pretending to. Finally, they assemble on risers.
Obama stood between Presidents Hu of China and Indonesia's Bambang. Just as everything seemed set, in hustled South Korea's President Lee, apparently running on Asia time.
OK, now everybody ready? Oops, not quite. In came India's Prime Minister Singh.
OK, now?
Now. Everybody say, "Queso!"
The leaders were then asked to wave at the photographers. Most did. Putin, of course, didn't. It's not sufficiently tough guy.
As for Obama, he was into his cool casual mode at the formal photo session. The current president of the United States visibly chewed gum the entire time.
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