The meeting, held on July 31st in the margins of a meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in Brunei, marked much the highest-level contact between the two countries since the election of President George Bush.

ECONOMIST: More talk than action | The

Still, a visit to his services found an overwhelmingly pro-Obama crowd, and Thompson says the enthusiasm level about this election is unprecedented in his two decades as the inner-city church's pastor.

CNN: African-American enthusiasm could tip scales toward Obama