It had to be — and was — a media event. The American media lapped up even the run-up to President George W. Bush's South Asian trip. The New York Times wrote two editorials in as many weeks — first describing the bilateral nuclear deal as "misbegotten", and later saying the visit was more important than Bill Clinton’s six years ago.
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The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece supporting the deal. "The nuclear deal with India makes good sense," it noted. Los Angeles Times did a story titled "Bush will find strong backing in Passage to India". It cited a survey, which observed that the majority of Indians felt Bush would "do the right thing".