While leaders from Europe, the Middle East and Africa linked arms for Sunday’s march through the boulevards of Paris, the United States was represented by its ambassador to France. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris for security meetings but did not attend the march.However, it could have been worse. Imagine if Mitt Romney had seized the moment and gone! He'd really have been the perfect choice, as he could even have made a statement in fluent French! What a coup!
“It’s fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. The administration also announced that Secretary of State John Kerry, who was on a long-planned trip to India Sunday, will visit France later this week.
The White House appeared to have been caught off guard by both the scope of international representation at the rally and by the criticism of the decision to send only Ambassador Jane Hartley. Monday’s admission of error seemed aimed at blunting criticism that the decision was tone deaf or disrespectful of the longstanding U.S. alliance with France.
However, I still think he's not actually running, so going wouldn't really have gained him anything personally. But it really would have made the administration look bad.
They're lucky none of the leading Republicans thought of that.
