CNN has been airing a video clip today of the President and First Lady trying out some folk dance moves on their trip to India. The scene isn’t necessarily newsworthy, nor does it stand out. The President should be commended for at least trying to entertain the children and performers at a Mumbai high school. It was a fun moment. But McClatchy reporters went a little over the top with their personal dance review (clip below the jump).
They have dubbed it "the Obama Indian Tango."
It might be better known as "How Barack's Wife Got the President's Groove Back."
One of the biggest questions facing President Barack Obama in the wake of the Democrats' Election Day "shellacking" was whether he'd still have that "Yes We Can" charisma that energized people around the world. Apparently, in India, the answer is yes.
If only he had pulled out these dance moves prior to the election, perhaps the Democratic base would have been equally as energized.
Forced movie references aside, the gushing review doesn’t end there…
The report also finds a witness who was equally enamored with the President’s dance skills. According to the report, one worker at the hotel “gushed” that he “danced from the heart, so never mind!”
Then, speaking for an entire nation, the report declared that “India was captivated.”
I think India may have been misquoted.
Then again, the Indian media apparently took the 20 second dance quite seriously:
Commentators tried to divine its greater meaning for U.S-India relations, while television reporters sought out dance reviews from choreographers and produced retrospectives on the first lady's previous public dancing. One station called it the "Obama Indian Tango."
Discerning the meaning of an off-the-cuff dance for U.S.-India relations? Public dancing retrospectives? This has to be India’s version of Comedy Central.
And if that wasn’t enough to make you try your dinner for a second time around, there’s this:
On the eve of the presidential visit, some Indian analysts were wondering if Obama still had the charms.
"Obama has still to prove to Indians that he is swoon-worthy," Indian newspaper columnist Santosh Desai told The Washington Post last week.
But on Sunday, that concern seemed to have vanished.
Thank goodness that, despite crumbling approval ratings and an historical shellacking in the midterm elections, the President is still ‘swoon-worthy’.
Indians haven't seen such swoon-worthy dance moves since, well, this...
Just kidding libs...
Rusty can be reached at The Mental Recession,or via Twitter @rustyweiss74.
