Obama Wants to Make the Most Out of His Indonesia Trip

Faced with luring tepid Democrats to pass health care reform legislation, President Obama canceled his trip to Indonesia yesterday, but that doesn't mean he won't go back.

The trip has been rescheduled for June when, Mr. Obama told RCTI TV network in Indonesia, his already trimmed schedule would not be so truncated. "[W]e contacted the Indonesian government to let them know that we thought rather than rush the trip it was better for us to do it at a more leisurely pace so that we can have an opportunity to travel and my hope is that that way it's also easier for me to bring my family."

President Obama spent four years of his youth in Indonesia, [1967-1971] so it's no wonder he'd want to get the most out of his visit there.

The President told RCTI the benefit of going when there isn't a major domestic initiative being debated is that he can see things he would not see had he left Sunday, as planned. "Because my hope was that I was going to be able to spend a few days in Indonesia, not just in bilateral meetings, but also buying some bakso [meatball soup] and some sate [satay]... going to Jogja or going to Bali, you know, as opposed to just being in Jakarta the entire time."

The White House has not set an exact date in June for the rescheduled visit, but Mr. Obama is also expected to stop in Australia.