Inflating ElBaradei?

by Patrick Appel

Colum Lynch contemplates ElBaradei's role:

 Observers say that Elbaradei's political performance in recent weeks, while generating widespread attention from international media who have followed his tweets and interviews in prominent Western publications, did little to secure a grass roots following, though his standing was boosted when the regime briefly placed him under house arrest last week.  "There was not a lot of excitement when he showed up," says Michael Wahid Hanna, an expert on Egypt at the Century Foundation. "He's not a populist leader; he's not charismatic -- he's stiff out there."