The Moment
Friends With Benefits
How the Grits cashed in on Iggy’s 15 minutes with Obama By Courtney Shea
Image credit: Jean-Marc Carisse
Harvard graduate, check. Internationally respected academic, check. Accomplished author, check that, too. We wouldn’t be the first to note that Michael Ignatieff has a lot more in common with the new U.S. president than the prime minister does. During Obama’s in-and-out Ottawa visit on February 19, the like-minded politicos met briefly (though not as briefly as Harper would have liked) to talk trade, terrorism and Afghanistan, but also managed to find time for a little mutual admiration. Obama admitted to having read some of Iggy’s lesser-known literary works during his pre-prez days, while the Liberal leader confessed to feeling flattered by the Iggy-Obama comparisons. “Kinship? Look, there is only one Barack Obama,” he told reporters. There is also only one Canadian prime minister, but thanks to some savvy strategizing by the Liberal team, New York– and Nevada-dwelling Americans would be forgiven for assuming it was Ignatieff. This photo (taken at the Ottawa airport) lit up both Times Square and the Las Vegas strip just hours after Obama met Iggy and replayed throughout the following day. The party spent $1,100 on American distribution rights—a small price to pay for huge PR mileage.
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