Nightly News   |  May 22, 2011

Irish eyes are smiling on Obama

The president leaves for Dublin, Ireland tonight where he'll visit some towns where people are very excited to greet him, but it won't necessarily be an easy trip. NBC's Chuck Todd talks with Lester Holt about the trip.

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This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

LESTER HOLT, anchor: As we mentioned, the president is on his way to Europe tonight where this story will clearly be following him. NBC 's chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd is in Dublin tonight. Chuck , good evening.

CHUCK TODD reporting: Good evening, Lester . It will be following him. It's a six-day, four-country trip. The first couple of days a bit ceremonial. Here he'll go to his hometown in Ireland where there's a great-great-great-grandfather of President Obama 's. And he will visit that little town. He'll hit London for a Buckingham Palace meeting with the queen. But it's a G-8 meeting in France where this issue of the Middle East and how much support the president gets for his vision on the road map for the peace process. The White House aides tell me that if they can get a good endorsement of his plan, that would mean this trip was worthwhile.

HOLT: And Chuck , I suspect the president will be keeping an eye on domestic politics here at home. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels the latest Republican joining Mike Huckabee , Haley Barbour as saying no thanks to a run for the White House . Where does that leave the Republican Party establishment as they seek someone to go up against President Obama ?

TODD: Well, Lester , I've done a ton of reporting about this this afternoon, actually, even being here in Dublin . I can tell you this. A majority of the Bush fundraising machine is still sitting on the sideline. These were the folks that were going to get behind Mitch Daniels . A lot of them will probably stay on the sidelines at least for the summer. Think of this summer as a summer of speculation. We're going to hear a lot about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie . We're going to hear more about Paul Ryan , the Wisconsin Republican congressman who didn't quite slam the door shut on " Meet the Press " today about running for president. Maybe even a Jeb Bush rumor. But at the end of the day , this could be very helpful to Tim Pawlenty , former Minnesota governor . He officially launches his bid tomorrow. He's hoping to

grab some of those donors. Lester: All right. Chuck Todd in Ireland tonight. Chuck , thanks.

HOLT: