A debate has been raging in Washington DC ever since United States President
Barack Obama arrived home as to whether or not his recent trip to Asia was a
productive, successful and positive one.
But why did the rest of the Obama family stay home? Did it affect the outcome?
These are important questions.
First Lady Michelle Obama has accompanied her husband on visits to eight
countries so far, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, have proven to be
enthusiastic companions on several of these trips.
For starters, the fact that the First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia
and Sasha elected to skip this trip might have been a mistake. That said, there
is no attempt here to question the decision. It was certainly justified and
acceptable. In fact, it made perfect sense. Simply put, because the Obama
daughters are school-aged, if and when school-based scheduling conflicts arise,
school is likely to prevail.
However, this does not mean this decision is somehow off-limits to discrete
analysis. Too bad that thus far, other commentators have simply elected to
concentrate on other aspects of the trip.
Take James Fallows, national correspondent at The Atlantic magazine, for
example. His six-part series [1] entitled, "Manufactured Failure" examined the
president's trip in detail, especially Obama's live town-hall session in
Shanghai.
Fallows makes it clear that most Americans have a very limited understanding of
Asia.
About Obama's decision to bow to the Japanese emperor, Fallows wrote that,
"[from] the Asian perspective bowing to the older Japanese leader is a sign of
strength. One does that because the power is not questioned, not because it
is".
Besides, Obama is just too darn polite, always.
Despite Fallows sharing these and many other interesting insights, the missing
Obamas go unmentioned almost entirely. Perhaps decades from now, when the
circa-2009 edited tapes of the first family's cozy life in their posh living
quarters in the White House are finally released, their Asian trip-related
conversations may sound something like this.
"But Barack, Beijing is so boring especially now that the Olympics are over,
and I understand it's snowing there already," said the First Lady. (Followed by
lengthy gap in the transcript thanks to an inaudible recording caused by the
family dog, Bo, who has a habit of successfully seeking out and chewing on many
of the microphones installed in the White House.) "If I want cold, snowy
weather, I can always go back to Chicago. First stop Alaska? I don't think so."
"Dear, you always said you wanted to see the Great Wall of China," said the
president. "And besides we have to go up to Alaska once in a while. Sarah
Palin's new book is out. That makes Alaska a must stop now. A quick stop in
Saskatoon - I've always wanted to go there - is out of the question, I guess."
"What? You think I want to be frozen solid in the Forbidden City or out on a
stroll along the top of a wall in a snowstorm? You really think so? You are
about to see another great wall right here in the White House," replied the
First Lady.
"OK, you win. I will go up to Beijing by myself. You and the girls can just
stay in Shanghai for an extra day or two, and then join me in Seoul," said
President Obama. (Inaudible portion follows.)
Or how about this excerpt.
"Barack, the moment the girls see Tokyo all lit up, their eyes are going to pop
out of their heads. By the time we finally get to Seoul, let alone Singapore
and Shanghai, well, everyone will be exhausted," said the First Lady - adding,
"Malia wants to meet a Japanese robot, see Mount Fuji and go for a ride on the
bullet train. Sasha goes on and on about panda bears. Both of them say that
Seoul has more high-tech gizmos than you can imagine. Singapore seems to have
them both puzzled."
"I know dear, but the kids will settle down," replied the president. "They will
have plenty of time to do their schoolwork on the plane."
"Right," said the First Lady. "OK, let me check with my astrologer. Are you
bringing your basketball shoes on this trip?"
There is this one, too.
"Barack, what about me and Miyuki Hatoyama? [wife of Prime Minister of Japan
Yukio Hatoyama] If we get into any long conversations in Tokyo, you know the
press will go crazy. She is so charming, and so smart. But I can hear all the
chatter now about my quizzing her about voyages to other planets," said the
First Lady.
"She lights up the room," said the president. "Yukio is lucky indeed. Here,
have some more sushi."
Finally, this brief recorded comment will be of great interest to future
historians.
"I told you that some day that a few Mandarin lessons would pay off, but no,
all you wanted to do was play basketball," said the First Lady. "Not stopping
in Honolulu makes no sense at all. What time zone is Singapore in anyway?"
Again, these are made up - merely fictional transcripts - as the real ones will
not be made public for decades.
In the end, common sense prevailed, and Obama jetted off to Asia all by
himself. In the process, the energetic retailing arm of the Obama family never
reached out to Asia. In other words, the widely recognized robust engine
driving the global economic recovery - revived US consumer spending - was never
showcased at all.
Before pondering the adverse consequences from a global economic standpoint,
let us briefly contrast Obama with the First Lady - from afar. Obama looks like
someone who likes to live casually and could probably live comfortably out of
one big suitcase for an extended period of time, perhaps even years. Two suits,
a few shirts, two or three pairs of shoes including basketball shoes, three
ties - get the picture. Frugal, not flashy and definitely not inclined to be a
big spender. So there is little reason for excitement from a retailer's or an
economist's point of view.
The First Lady, Sasha and Malia, on the other hand, look like keen followers of
the bargain-hunting "shop-till-you-drop" approach to life, doing so
successfully on a budget. In a nutshell, they look like they have an ability to
instantly transform themselves into a trio of highly mobile, focused and
fired-up shoppers.
For a quick glimpse at what the First Lady can ignite from a sales standpoint,
consider Reoblan Footwear in China's Sichuan province. Earlier this year, when
Michelle Obama gave this small company's high-heeled shoes a bit of publicity
by simply wearing them, sales of Reoblan's line of "Bandalino Berry" shoes
apparently soared.
According to Reoblan's export manager, Chen Xiang, the president's wife
single-handedly set in motion "a three-month order for 200,000 pairs of the
shoe in March alone, after producing and exporting only 500,000 pairs in all of
2008."
Granted, President Obama did generate some T-shirt sales in Asia on his trip,
but the bottom line is that experts have long contended that if US consumers
stay home and do not spend, the global economy will stall or remain sluggish.
In addition with occasional exceptions, there was way too much distancing
during this trip. As much as Obama's orchestrated town-hall session broke a bit
of new ground in China, there were too few opportunities for him to simply be
seen with people on the street in these different countries. In this case,
coverage of the Obamas mingling with people living everyday lives in Tokyo,
Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul failed to materialize.
Shanghai TV, which was the only Chinese TV broadcaster to air Obama's town-hall
session live, reaches 100 million households. Fallows pointed out that,
"download videos, live streaming videos, etc will circulate over the next weeks
and [the town-hall session] will be widely seen."
So, one can only wonder what the Shanghai TV news team would have done if an
Obama shopping spree was unleashed in downtown Shanghai, especially when
Chinese government censors were scrambling to interrupt politically sensitive
excerpts of Obama's various speeches. Television newscasters would have been
more than happy to test the boundaries and substitute TV feeds showing the rest
of the First Family immersed in all the vibrancy of Shanghai.
"Americans tend to view most relationships through the prism of win/lose.
Asians (as you well know) tend to be more subtle. This is why Americans often
have difficulty bargaining for goods in Asian markets. They want to 'win' the
transaction.," wrote Fallows. "The transaction as seen by the Asian is to try
to find a price where each party feels that they got something of value and
feel that each party is responsible for protecting himself from being cheated.
It's up to you not to be taken."
The First Lady looks like someone who understands this and knows how to strike
a deal. She seems quite astute, and bazaar-savvy to say the least. Her ability
to bargain successfully whether in Asia or elsewhere is probably pretty good.
On this trip, the First Lady with her daughters at her side could have
demonstrated her skillful approach accordingly, in front of all the cameras.
When it came time for President Obama to make his way to Beijing, Shanghai TV
would have no doubt relished the chance to show to the rest of China how
relieved the First Lady appeared as she and the kids remained behind, smiling
on the runway and waving to President Obama as he headed inland to the snowy
city.
So, the next time that President Obama heads off on an extended foreign
excursion, hopefully the entire family will tag along. Presidential advisors
take note.
And where was the basketball, especially in China? Was that a lost opportunity
to set the tone for the upcoming Winter Olympics or what? For a US president to
engage in a bit of pro bono promotional work once in a while on behalf of our
Canadian friends in Vancouver, and in Ottawa, is perfectly acceptable. Overall,
it seemed as if the entire basketball dimension of this trip was another
unfortunate no-show.
Of course, all of this will be overlooked entirely when President Obama
ultimately returns to Indonesia. There is talk of a trip in 2010 and now, of
course, a trip to India, too. Notice, by the way, that Indian Prime Minister
Singh included the entire family - he mentioned all of them - when he
officially invited all the Obamas today to visit India next year.
Millions and millions of people will turn out for these upcoming historic
visits to Asia. Rest assured that huge crowds will be lining the streets of
Jakarta and New Delhi in order to get a brief glimpse of the president's
motorcade. Shanghai TV will certainly want to be there as well.
Notes:
1.) See Manufactured failure
2.) See , Michelle Obama boosts China's shoe sales, Daily Telegraph, April 29
Peter J Brown is a freelance writer from the US state of Maine.
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