Budget battles to shadow Obama on Asia-Pacific tour

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Barack Obama's efforts next week to persuade Asia-Pacific leaders of his commitment to the region may be undercut by distractions in Washington, where budget fights may come to a head while he is away.

U.S. President Barack Obama listens to a question during a news conference at the end of the G20 Summit in Cannes, France November 4, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Obama embarks on a nine-day trip to Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia on Friday that he will use to highlight U.S.-Asian economic ties and the long-standing U.S. role in the region's security.
His absence from Washington will coincide with a deadline for Congress to avoid a government shutdown and a pivotal stretch of deficit-cutting negotiations that investors and credit rating agencies will be watching closely.
White House officials said Obama has diplomatic goals he hopes to advance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that he will host in Honolulu on November 12-13 and during his visits to Canberra, Darwin and Bali.
But there is speculation he could face pressure to cut the trip short to rush back to Washington for the budget crunch-time and to avoid criticism that he failed to step up if the negotiations start to go off track.
"There is pressure here not to do the trip," said Ernest Bower of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who said Obama was facing the political reality that "it's always better to be in Indiana than Indonesia."
Obama twice had to cancel plans to travel to Australia and Indonesia in 2010, the first time because the negotiations over his signature health care bill were at a critical stage and the second time because of the oil spill on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
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