February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Anybody who has been in the trenches with regard to Ireland and presidential politics is aware of the near Herculean efforts employed in the past to attract the eye and interest of those who would be president.
Nothing of the sort was needed with the junior senator from Illinois. A mere two days after he officially declared himself a candidate and presto, Obama’s campaign issues a statement that covers all the Irish bases in a general sense and gives cause to believe that if it comes to more specific Irish-American concerns, this particular candidate will have something to say, promptly and without too much prompting.
If all of the candidates in the ’08 White House rush take their cue from Barack Obama, we’re going to be very soon awash in Irish statements.
Of course, it can’t be forgotten for a moment that this race is still barely out of the starting stalls and has many months to go before it can even be called a true contest.
And let’s not kid ourselves, Ireland will occupy a relatively small corner in a debate that, in foreign policy terms at least, is going to be dominated by the tragedy that is the war in Iraq.
But it’s nice to be noticed. And it’s even nicer when you haven’t been raising a ruckus trying to be noticed. All candidates from both political parties should take note.