I happened to switch to the Public TV station that was carrying Obama's news conference at the end of the APEC conferece in Honolulu.
I was born in the same hospital as Obama, and have the same style birth certificates, so my nationality and loyalties are equally at question, but one thing I do know is Hawaiian oceanic vistas. Obama's press conference was given, apparently, on a grassy lawn surrounded by palms (we saw their fronds) and backdropped by the severe horizon of an azure sea. As a surfer, it bugged me that I couldn't identify the offshore terrain. On Oahu, almost every ocean view is characterized, among surfers at least, by the name of the surf spot nearby. I'm guessing, just guessing, mind, that the conference was held on the grounds of the Hale Koa hotel, a military recreacition facility on the grounds of Ft. Derussy, the greenest bit of turf and beach along Waikiki Beach. But that's not what I'm here for.
As Obama responded to questions I wondered what it would have been like had any of the current Republican nominees would have handled the scene.
I don't care how friendly the press in general is, or how well your handlers manage the gaggle of reporters who show up. Eventually, you're going to have to handle a tough question. Every one of the questions Obama fielded had it's own jeporady. He responded like a guy who could see the trouble coming. Like a guy who could see how important the response of the President of The United State is to even the most innocuous question.
Rick Perry would have charmingly admitted he didn't know what the questioner was talking about, while grinning, bobling his head, and acting like the question was so out-there that nobody could have a good answer. Herman Cain would have challenged the questioner, would have accuesd the questioner of liberal media bias for asking whatever it was, and could you please repeat the qustion? Romney would have replied with one of his many policy statements that cover almost all ground, given that they do agree with both sides of almost every issue. In short, he would have looked like the chump that all the other leaders at the conference wished they could get into a room so they could take him for every dime he has.
Face it, we've got a real President now. The guys running for his office would be less than that, and that's scary.