Obama Gets Royal Treatment in France

A French reporter reminded Sarkozy that when he came to power, he sought a break with the policies of his predecessor Jacques Chirac. "Do you want to see this kind of break and this kind of change taking place in the United States?"

Sarkozy offered this response: "Well, madam, a French president has to work with an American president whomsoever that may be. I mean, we respect the choice of the Americans. We've worked and we work with the administration, the Bush administration, as one would work with any friendly country, with any ally or friend."

Then he continued: "But the idea of an America that would set as a priority being sensitive to and listening to the concerns of our friends is obviously very attractive."

Just how much a French presidential hug can help or hurt a U.S. presidential candidate is a matter of debate. If he was worried about it, Obama did not show it, except perhaps when a French reporter recalled how 2004 Democratic candidate John F. Kerry had been criticized as being too friendly toward France.

"Is it a good thing to be loved by the French in the United States?" the reporter asked. "Isn't this likely to work against you? And does that explain why you're spending so little time in France, whereas you have spent much more time with our German friends?"

Obama knew better than to offend either his French hosts or, more important, the American audience at home, so he mostly skirted the question. As for his short stay in Paris, a decision that may prompt questions about his judgment, he said his tight schedule forced him to move on quickly.

"I don't know anybody who doesn't want to spend more time in Paris," he said.