It’s only natural, I suppose:
OBAMA, Japan — Just before the results of the big Feb. 5 round of primaries and caucuses reached this snow-covered fishing town hard by the Sea of Japan, a few of its most enterprising residents realized that a man who shared their town’s name could be America’s next president.
And so Obama sprang into action, its desire to escape the countryside’s anonymity interwoven with Senator Barack Obama’s run for the White House. A support group was formed. Primary day events were held. And “Go Obama!” posters were put up.
On Monday, as expectations ran high here that Mr. Obama would sweep Tuesday’s primaries in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Obama, population 32,000, was making plans to buttress its support. Businessmen were getting ready with “I love Obama” T-shirts, a theme song called “Obama Is a Wonderful World” and sweet bean cakes with Mr. Obama’s face on them. City Hall was going to send a daruma doll with “victory” written across its chest, a traditional good-luck charm in Japanese elections.
“We formed our group on Feb. 4,” said Seiji Fujiwara, the leader of the support group and an official at the Sekumiya Hotel here, not far from Obama Park and across the street from the Obama Shoes Center, where a 50 percent sale was under way.
“He put up a good fight on Super Tuesday and then won seven consecutive contests, so I think our support did him no harm and, in fact, carried him in the right direction,” Mr. Fujiwara said. “That happens sometimes. You enter a restaurant and there’s no one inside, but the moment you sit down and order something, customers start coming in one after the other.”
Umm, okay, you go with that.
