The most jaded cynic would be hard-pressed not to have melted a bit watching today's political and social bromance blossom between a new prime minister and an outgoing U.S. president.
Perfect weather, spectacular optics, adoring crowds and fawning speeches meshed into a Justin Trudeau red-carpet-rollout at Barack Obama's White House unlike anything most of us have seen before.
A new Canada has been branded in many American minds.
But before succumbing to the rapture from tagalong media afflicted with giddy symptoms of Stockholm syndrome, it's important to realize the elephant in the room is actually on the campaign trail.
And that elephant could well be a Republican who doesn't embrace climate change or freer trade or a more porous northern border.
While there's little sign Obama is going quietly into the night without fighting for a legacy, there are also few signs he can accomplish much in his final nine months as president facing a hostile Congress.
Today's climate change pledge, filled with lofty goals and joint endorsements, is a hopeful echo of the can-kicked-down-the-road agreement the Prime Minister inked with premiers last week. In other words, stay tuned for the walk after a lot more talk.
And the accelerated entry deal into the U.S. isn't dramatically different from the open-border deal Stephen Harper negotiated with Obama, beyond a few more airports and train stations getting U.S. customs pre-clearance.
If this president was sticking around, Canada could celebrate a partnership on the scale of the Brian Mulroney-Ronald Reagan axis of influence, which delivered generational change with the acid rain and free trade treaties.
But economic over environmental considerations and protectionist sentiment are alive and well in the Republican field - and there's bound to be copycat spillover into the Democrat campaign as they watch the GOP message resonate with voters.
That means getting along with the Next One is far more important than the current president.
If it's Hillary Clinton, the afterglow may linger, although anything after today would have to be described as a cooling trend.
But we're still the mouse in this lopsided co-existence.
And the restless sleeping elephant could well become a relationship-redefining Republican named Donald Trump who is now campaigning, in policy if not in name, as the anti-Trudeau.
That's the Last Word.
