Back Seat Diplomacy

From "smart diplomacy" to "road bumps":

Simply put, the White House is prioritizing the president's reelection effort. Most heads of state will be here all week, but the president will be in New York less than 24 hours, and even then will spend most of his time away from this conference.

After landing in New York Monday afternoon, the president headed straight for a sit-down -- not with visiting leaders, but with the ladies of "The View," for an interview to air tomorrow.

Last year at the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama held 13 one-on-one meetings with major leaders.

But this year diplomacy is taking a back seat to campaigning, despite a worsening civil war in Syria, rising tensions between Israel and Iran, and the recent attack in Libya.

I guess he thinks he's got better places to be these days...