Time in Ireland will not win votes for President Obama

Here we go again. Despite the fact that people here know a great deal about America, the media, and to a lesser extent the public generally, knows next to nothing about Irish-America. Don't ask me how this can be, but it's true.

Today the Irish Independent declared that President Obama's "popularity is likely to soar among the Irish‑American vote in the US when he addresses the Irish people at a rally in Croke Park."

Now if you voted for candidate Obama and you remain a fan of him today, you're unlikely to have your positive views of him soured by a warm welcome at Croke Park or pictures of him being greeted by (very) distant relatives in Moneygall, County Offaly. If you are not a fan of President Obama today you are very unlikely to change your mind about him because 80,000 Irish people cheer him heartily or you hear some in Moneygall singing "There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama." A serious cringe and an upset stomach are far more likely.

This sort of thing really makes me laugh. There are times when people here talk about Irish‑Americans as if they're children waiting for the lead to be given from the ancestral motherland.

This is bad enough when we're talking about aspects of Irish culture - such as dance or music - but when it comes to American politics you think they'd trust Americans to make up their own minds. But no. A selection of happy shots of people in Ireland applauding Obama is all that's required to get Irish‑Americans to throw their weight behind his campaign for reelection.

Sheesh. Regardless, despite what people here anticipate, I doubt that there will be much coverage of the President's time in Ireland; 60 seconds on the nightly news bulletins and maybe a couple of minutes on daytime CNN is the most I'm expecting. I suspect most of the American press will go straight to Britain, where the President is heading for a state visit after his pit-stop here. {Of course, Irish Central will have EXTENSIVE coverage of his time in Ireland.}

If the weather's good - and it generally is in May - there could be some nice scenic shots of the Irish countryside, which will do the tourism business no harm. A picture of the President looking out of Marine One at Clonmacnoise {photo} in 'his' Co. Offaly would be ideal.

That's all the upside I'm hoping for.