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JEWEL SAMAD/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES People wave as President Obama’s motorcade passes en route to a family picnic during a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
First family back on the Vineyard Amid economic distress, opponents question whether Obama should get a vacation
by Scott wilson
vineyard haven, mass. — For the second straight year, the first family has landed on this is- land of quaint seaside towns, sec- ond homes and working farms for a late-summer getaway. But this year, more so than last, political opponents are try- ing to hang a question over the visit: Does President Obama de- serve a vacation? The Republican National Committee has taken to calling Obama “the Clark Griswold president,” a mocking reference to the Chevy Chase character in National Lampoon’s “Vacation” movies. With unemployment claims climbing again, the GOP was hoping its criticism would have a certain national reso- nance. And maybe it will. One potential complication: Obama has spent far less time on vacation than his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, had at this point in his presiden- cy.
Veteran CBS News White
House correspondent Mark Knoller, a fastidious keeper of presidential statistics, has kept count. By his tally, Obama has embarked on nine “vacations” since taking office, bringing his total days off to 48. Some of those trips lasted a day and some, like his Christmas holiday in Hawaii, more than a week.
By comparison, Bush had vis- ited his ranch in Crawford, Tex., 14 times at this point in his ad- ministration and spent 115 days there. And yes, Democrats let him have it, too, complaining that he was a chronic vacationer. White House advisers made clear in the days leading up to this getaway that a president, es-
pecially a wartime president overseeing a country in the grips of economic distress, is never really on vacation.
Obama will see his family more over these nine days. He’ll likely read more fiction than briefing books. He’ll play more golf and wear fewer ties. And everyone other than his family will see him less; on Sat- urday, he remained out of sight, even to the press pool that ac- companies him.
But the result of the enormous logistical effort to take the presi- dent on the road is that the White House, at least as much of it as he wants, goes with him. As do the problems he’s contending with.
Obama’s chief counterterror- ism adviser, the distinctly un- laid-back former CIA senior offi- cial John Brennan, briefs him ev- ery morning here. Obama is also receiving regular economic brief- ings between beach picnics (like the one the family took late Sat- urday morning), town excur- sions and visits to the links. “Communication systems are
very robust,” Brennan, dressed in a dark suit, tie tight against his throat, told reporters here Fri- day. “We can move information at the speed of light. We can get to him very easily here.” The issue of whether presi- dents deserve time off appears to appeal only to the most vocif- erous partisans on either side. Given the job is a stressful one,
and that vacations are usually in- terrupted with emergencies of varying grade, many people say they believe a president should get a little R&R when timing al- lows. The debate on this island, which has seen presidents be- fore, appears firmly settled in fa-
vor of letting Obama have the time. As an opening gambit in the argument, the Mansion House Inn, where the press corps is staying on Main Street, hung a banner from the roof shading its graceful front porch. “Mansion House Inn Believes
Anyone Who Has . . . Passed health care reform, signed eco- nomic stimulus bills, recast America’s global image, com- mands two war zones, won a No- bel Peace Prize, nominated 2 Su- preme Court judges, overhauled financial regulations . . . deserves a vacation!” the banner reads. Around the corner, Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia made their first public foray Fri- day with a stop at Bunch of Grapes, a bookstore along Main Street. Obama is an avid reader and usually has an extensive book list picked ahead of time. Not so this year. On Friday, he chose “Freedom,” the new novel by Jonathan Franzen (although not officially on sale, the store gave the president its advance copy). Sticking with fiction, he also bought “Tinkers” by Paul Harding and “A Few Corrections” by Brad Leithauser. Then he hit the links at the dif-
ficult Vineyard Golf Club before returning to Blue Heron Farm, a bayside compound along the is- land’s southern edge that he rented last year. The island appears pleased
that the Obamas have returned. A health club is offering
50 percent off family member- ships “in honor of Michelle Oba- ma and ‘Let’s Move,’ ” the youth fitness initiative she supports. The Chamber of Commerce hung out a “welcome back” shingle, and Tisberry Frozen Yogurt put “Obama-berry” back on the
DIGEST TRANSPORTATION
‘Enhanced patdown’ tested at 2 airports Federal security screeners at
two airports are using an “en- hanced patdown” on passengers who decline to go through full- body scanning machines, a tech- nique that is renewing the debate over how to balance privacy and security. The Transportation Security Administration says the tech- nique — a palms-forward, slide- down search — is being tested at Logan International Airport in Boston and at McCarran Interna- tional Airport in Las Vegas before a national rollout. It replaces the old back-of-the-hand patdown. The American Civil Liberties
Union of Massachusetts is ques- tioning whether the new tech- nique is effective enough to justi- fy what it calls a “seemingly con- stant erosion of privacy.” — Associated Press
OHIO
Bear euthanized after killing man, 24 A bear that mauled one of its
Holy Blago, Batman!
bears and 12 wolves, he said at a bankruptcy filing in May. — Associated Press
Bedbugs hit Empire State Build- ing: Exterminators had to clean out an employee changing room in the basement of the Empire State Building recently after bed- bugs were found there. Officials said the problem is now under control. Bedbugs have been dis- covered recently in New York City theaters, clothing stores, office buildings, housing projects and posh apartments.
LANE CHRISTIANSEN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
With another criminal trial just ahead, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich takes a seat in the Batmobile at the Chicago Comic-Con on Saturday. Blagojevich, who is broke, charged fans $80 for each photo taken with him. A federal jury last week convicted the Democrat of lying to the FBI but deadlocked on 23 other charges.
caretakers to death in Ohio was euthanized Saturday at the re- quest of the victim’s family. The bear attacked Brent Kan-
dra, 24, when he opened its cage Thursday for a routine feeding at the home of a man who kept a
menagerie of wolves, tigers and bears on the property southwest of Cleveland. The owner, Sam Mazzola, had said Kandra’s family would de- cide the bear’s fate. Mazzola owned four tigers, a lion, eight
Woman drowns in manhole:A 23- year-old woman drowned after getting trapped in an uncovered manhole during heavy rain in Illi- nois, authorities said Saturday. Springfield police say the woman and a man were riding in a car Friday night and got stuck in a flooded area. Both got out of the car to start pushing, and the woman slipped into a manhole and underwater. She was sub- merged for about four minutes before the man and a police offi- cer were able to free her. Au- thorities say up to 1.4 inches of rain fell on parts of Springfield in less than two hours Friday. — From news services
menu for the duration of the family’s visit. “It’s a super-fruit flavor, so
that’s why we call it Obama- berry,” said Marion Le Coguic, a Boston University senior work- ing at the shop for the summer. Ingredients: Goji berry, acai, blueberry and pomegranate. When Obama leaves the island, the flavor reverts to its usual name, Pom-berry. “Everybody deserves a break,”
Le Coguic said. “And he’s got a tough job.” The sentiment is shared out- side the Black Dog Bakery, a popular stop for tourists and lo- cals alike near the ferry terminal. Bill Schweizer, a California
lawyer on vacation himself, pon- dered Obama’s rest worthiness over coffee and a muffin on the bench outside the bakery. “He’s accomplished a lot, and he works all the time,” said Schweizer, who supported Oba- ma in the 2008 election. “I think he’s done a good job and deserves whatever rest he can grab here and there.”
At the other end of the bench,
Rick Mahoney, a carpenter from Oak Bluffs, agrees. “I didn’t even make $60,000 last year, and I still spent two weeks in the Caribbean,” Maho- ney said. “You’ve just got to do it.” Mahoney said his business has been very slow — nonexistent for months at a time last year — but appears to be turning around. There’s some new home con- struction. A hotel project, frozen after the financial crash, is start- ing back up. He thinks Obama has had something to do with that. “Now he needs a break like all
of us,” Mahoney said. “And he came to the right place.”
wilsons@washpost.com
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