Voluntary Obama Post

During yesterday's visit to Ottawa, President Obama didn't meet the general public at all, except when he jumped out of his car to shop and get cookies - there were only American reporters that were in his press pool with him, which means that the Prime Minister's Office didn't know it was going to happen - where Obama stopped is a few blocks away from the US Embassy in Ottawa, so they must have told him where to stop and shop. Prime Minister Harper and the new Conservative Party have had strong connections with American conservative groups. The official part of Obama's visit had the lowest visual presence of any major head of state visit I've seen - the people who had stood for hours on Parliament Hill only saw him waving for an instant behind bullet proof glass.