Riding the wave of a well-timed European trip, President Obama on Tuesday was greeted by a 41-gun salute, treated to a state dinner at Buckingham Palace and embraced by Britain’s most popular newlyweds in scenes of extravagance befitting a sitting commander in chief. Just a day earlier, it was 25,000 screaming Irish citizens who welcomed Obama more as a rock star than a head of state.
As spectacular as it was, the grandeur enveloping Obama presented a daunting image to Republicans back home who are lining up for the chance to challenge the president in 2012 and who, by contrast, have yet to capture public attention or generate much excitement even among conservatives.
The displays also showcased a unique aspect of the presidency: Even as they suffer the slings of blame for just about anything that goes wrong, presidents occasionally bask in the glow of a spotlight that never shines on other politicians.
Obama’s six-day European trip, in many ways, has amounted to a victory lap for the president after he launched the mission that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — played out in front of crowds that were overwhelmingly adoring even by campaign standards.
For a nascent Republican field hoping to topple Obama, however, all the glitz and glamour underscore the attention gap that comes with challenging an incumbent who can dominate headlines with each overseas trip, military victory or tour of a storm-devastated area.
“Republicans should be jealous of the attention Obama is getting,” said Charles Walcott, a political science professor at Virginia Tech. “But you can’t help it. You play the hand you’re dealt.”
Besides, he said, such spectacle is fleeting.
“The evidence is overwhelming: It doesn’t make a major difference with voters,” Walcott said.
Republicans vying to challenge Obama are now focused on winning their party’s nomination and that requires not massive campaign rallies but retail politicking in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire, he said.
Still, competing with a sitting president can be daunting, as former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty learned recently when he announced his presidential candidacy in front of a few hundred people in Des Moines, only to have networks cut away to coverage of Obama speaking to thousands of screaming Irish.
It was eerily similar to Obama’s 2008 trip to Germany where, though he was still just a candidate for president, tens of thousands turned out to hear him speak.
It also highlighted an advantage Obama enjoys that even the most loyal Republican can only envy: No matter how much they batter the president’s record, conservatives will be hard pressed to match his star power.
Veteran Republican strategist Mark Corallo, however, said GOP candidates should not be deterred by Obama’s firm grip on the news cycle.
“With the economy in such chaos, there is no reason Obama should get a bounce from running around Europe trying to suck up to them,” he said. “There isn’t a Ronald-Reagan-going-to-the-Berlin-Wall moment here. He’s not coming off as the leader of the free world but just the leader of another country in a family of nations.”
