Ekkert "Royal handshake" fyrir Hillary

Það hefur vakið nokkra athygli að ekkert verður af því að Segolane Royal, forsetaframbjóðandi Franska Sósíalistaflokksins, hitti Hillary Rodham Clinton, eins og til stóð.

Eins og kemur fram í fréttaskeytum um þetta, er Segolane lítt reynd í utanríkismálum og hefði það án efa hjálpað henni forsetaframboðinu að fá "photo op" með Hillary, en Clinton hjónin eru feykivinsæl í Frakklandi.

En ef til vill má segja að Frakkar séu ekkert of vinsælir í Bandaríkjunum, og reyndar ekki Evrópskir stjórnmálamenn sem hallmæla utanríkisstefnu Bandaríkjanna, eða tala illa um Bandaríkin.  Það telst því ekki klókt af Öldungardeildarþingmanni sem er að hugsa um að bjóða sig fram til forseta, að sjást með "þannig fólki" á mynd.  Því varð ekkert af fyrirhuguðum fundi Clinton og Royal.

Ég velti því óneitanlega fyrir mér hvort  að Repúblikanar hafi þegar tryggt sér myndir af þessum fundi, og hafi jafnframt látið þýða nokkur vel valin ummæli Ingibjargar yfir á engilsaxneskuna.  Það skyldi þó ekki vera :-)

Hér eru tvö sýnishorn úr frétt NYT um "Royal" málið:

"Speculation about the power women's relationship rose in France after a newspaper said Royal had postponed a U.S. trip planned for this month because Clinton did not want to see her.

Socialist regional leader Royal, 53, a relative political newcomer with little foreign policy experience, has made little secret of the fact she would like to meet Clinton to bolster her international credentials.

But after gaffes by Royal on a trip to the Middle East, the Democratic Senator from New York, who is believed to be eyeing a White House bid in 2008, was less than enthusiastic about being seen together with the French candidate, Le Parisien daily said at the weekend, quoting a Clinton adviser.

"Hillary, whose candidature is far from assured, is very vigilant and cannot afford the slightest false move,'' it quoted the adviser as saying. ``She does not want to be associated with Royal's recent comments. It wouldn't be good for her image.''"

"Royal earned much criticism from her political opponents after she apparently agreed with comments from a Lebanese Hezbollah politician condemning U.S. foreign policy and analysts said it could be risky for a U.S. candidate to be linked to her.

"The Clintons are very popular in France,'' said Hall Gardner from the American University of Paris.

"It would help Royal to be seen with Hillary. But the contrary isn't the case. ... Royal's contacts with Hezbollah may not go down well with Hillary's Democratic supporters.''

On her recent Middle East visit, Royal waited a day before condemning comments made in front of her by Hezbollah politician Ali Ammar who described past Israeli occupations of the country as Nazism. She said she had not heard his words.

She was also forced to clarify her position after she seemed to agree with Ammar's assessment of U.S. foreign policy as ``unlimited insanity.''"

Fréttina í heild má finna hér.