Obama Obama?

So there's one thing I've noticed about some Romans that I've had the chance to talk to, they all like Obama. Today, while sketching at the Spanish Steps, a guy started a conversation with me (he wanted me to pay him to draw a picture of me, when I said no he quickly left) and asked the usual question, are you a student, where are you studying, where are you from? Well when I told him I was American, his response was "Oh, Obama Obama." That is now the third person that has responded in the exact same fashion, by saying Obama's name twice, including a bartender and a priest. What I don't understand is why everybody responds with his name twice, are they making sure I know who the president is? Trying to show me that they do? Or do they just like him that much?