Inside the Beltway

UNDER THE BIG TOP

While Republicans struggle to lure more demographic groups under their proverbial “big tent,” President Obama has a big, fat tent moment of his own Tuesday night. It’s his first official state dinner and it’s a doozy: 400 guests on the White House lawn, in a tent, in the rain. There will be a 21-gun salute. And forget any traditional American roast beast at table: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a vegetarian.

Will there be curry on the menu? Will Michelle Obama wear a sari? Will vegetables from the White House garden make it to the prime minister’s plate? The press has spun its wheels upon all three possibilities.

Then there are all the back stories. India is supposedly irked by Mr. Obama’s recent cuddly relations with China and vexed by the appointment of former pro-Pakistan lobbyist Robin Raphel as a State Department aid coordinator for that country. Oh, and India may like former President George W. Bush’s policies better. And of course, Mr. Obama need India’s help to finesse some control in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is attending the soiree, but not Bill Clinton. Prominent Indian-Americans Deepak Chopra, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal are on the guest list, which has been repeatedly described by Indian journalists as “the hottest ticket in town,” along with a host of deep-pocketed Democratic donors and Hollywood heavies.

Despite the distractions, White House appears strategically simple and in broad strokes.

Why India, why now? That was a singular question posed to press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“It’s the importance of our relationship with India on a host of issues. Obviously, counterterrorism is important; the economic recovery and the world economy; our relationship with them in terms of energy and climate change,” Mr. Gibbs said. “I think India obviously is in a very important region in the world. And I think it demonstrates the importance that that relationship has in the world.”

OBAMABUSH

Who’s really in the White House? That’s subject to interpretation.

Newsweek’s Howard Fineman says President Obama is starting to look like Ronald Reagan, with distinct “Gipperish traits.” Newt Gingrich and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews claim Mr. Obama now resembles Jimmy Carter. But wait. There’s more.

“When he entered office, President Obama promised to inject US foreign policy with a new tone of respect and diplomacy. His recent trip to Asia, however, showed that it’s not working. A shift to Bush-style bluntness may be coming,” says Gabor Steinhart of Der. Speigel, the German publication.

As in George W. Bush.

“Even the president seems to have lost his faith in a genial foreign policy,” he adds.

WAGGING THE DOG

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