Uh oh - "Obama Ditches Press Pool To Take Daughters To Amusement Park"

[Pirate Smile]

Obama Ditches Press Pool To Take Daughters To Amusement Park

From the Obama press pool report:

Dec. 26, 2008 Pool report No. 4 Kailua, Hawaii
President-elect Barack Obama left his vacation home with daughters Malia
and Sasha about 11:45 a.m. His motorcade left without the pool, the first
time he has done so on this Hawaiian vacation. Your pool, which had a lid,
was not informed in time and is now en route to the Kailua home to be swept
by Secret Service. Pool will attempt to meet up with the Obamas shortly.

The Obamas are apparently at Sea Life Park, a marine amusement park near
Waimanalo and Bellows Air Force Station.

Updates to come once the pool is taken to the park.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/26/obama-ditches-press-pool_n_153623.html

:evilgrin:

edit to add more:

Obama gives press pool the slip

HONOLULU - President-elect Barack Obama left behind the pool of reporters assigned to follow him this morning when he and his daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, headed to Sea Life Park, a marine amusement park near Waimanalo and Bellows Air Force Station.

It is the first time Obama's motorcade has traveled without his protective press pool during his vacation and perhaps since the election. Obama has largely avoided the press during his first half of his 12-day vacation on Oahu, and has not spoken to the reporters following him daily.

Obama's press aides sent reporters home for the day around 9:30 a.m., after the president-elect went returned to his Kailua vacation home from the gym. Reporters returned to Waikiki, which is about a 30 minute drive from Kailua.

Around 11:15 a.m. reporters on pool duty received an email saying that they were to meet again in the lobby of the hotel where they are staying because the president-elect was going somewhere. They made it to the amusement park at 12:10, an hour after Obama arrive there.

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt issued a statement explaining: "With no further scheduled events for the day, a lid was called until further notice. The President-elect decided to take the girls to a water park and we assembled the pool as quickly as possible."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16867.html

[panader0]

1. Brings back memories.......

I used to stay in bungalows at Bellows with my Air Force dad, and visit Sea Life Park too, circa '67.

[Lisa0825]

7. Me too!

My dad was in the CG, and we lived there from 75-78. We loved Bellows Beach :-)

[IndyOp]

2. How can we trust this family with a puppy if they can't manage to remember to take the pool with

them everywhere they go? Isn't have a pool like having a fish? If you can care for the fish then you can move up to a cat and, then eventually a dog?

;)

:hi:

[BrotherBuzz]

4. Don't forget the hamster and turtles, too

[IndyOp]

6. That's right. Pool, then fish, then turtles, hamsters, cat and then dog. That's right! :-) (n/t)

[RichGirl]

3. Good for him!

[elehhhhna]

5. lol GW musta ditched the pool a LOT -- you NEVER saw him on a Daddy/Daughter outing with his kids.

[PCIntern]

10. Yeah..all 3 .bellying up to the bar...

[firedupdem]

8. He's a good dad....let that family have a little private time before

life in the White House.

[Pirate Smile]

9. More info - from TIME's Swampland - Karen Tumulty who thinks TIME really screwed by not sending a

correspondent to Hawaii. I'm going to include her entire post, including before the lid was blown when the press thought the pool was going to have the entire day - from 9:45 am on to do what they wanted in Hawaii.

Friday, December 26, 2008 at 2:42 pm

Okay, Now They Are Just Bragging...

Posted by Karen Tumulty | Comments (28) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

These pool reports from the Obama press office are killing me. Note the time on this one:

Dec. 26, 2008
Pool report No. 3
Kailua, Hawaii

The wonderful Samantha Tubman called a lid at 9:27 a.m., so your pool is
returning to Waikiki Beach. President-elect Barack Obama is not planning
other movements today, but if he decides to leave home again your pool will
be called back to Kailua.

Philip Rucker
The Washington Post

URGENT UPDATE: The lid is blown! Cue the Drudge Siren! Having survived his brush with seaweed and Spam, the President-elect now apparently has been in close proximity with an "interactive dolphin." High Sheriffs, I implore you: We must dispatch a correspondent (preferably one with the seasoning, judgment and razor-sharp reflexes of, say, our National Political Correspondent) to Hawaii at once. Look what we have already missed: Dec. 26, 2008

Pool report No. 6
Waimanalo, Hawaii

President-elect Barack Obama and his daughters Malia and Sasha left Sea
Life Park about 1:40, after spending 90 minutes at the marine amusement
park. Pool is now in motorcade and may make another stop before returning
to the Kailua vacation home.

Your pool was not allowed inside the park. Obama did not pose for pictures
or talk to reporters, but your pool could see him, the daughters, his
half-sister Maya and several other family friends leave the park from the
interactive dolphin area.

Tourists who were inside showed the pool photographs they took of
President-elect Barack Obama and his family and friends. Obama is wearing a
casual cream-colored shirt tucked into olive shorts and sandals.

The Obamas and friends were seen attending the dolphin show, the tourists
said. It is unclear whether the Obamas swam with dolphins, and Obama's
clothing did not appear wet.

When they left the park, about 50 park guests, many wearing life vests,
stood near the motorcade to see the president-elect. When he came out, they
screamed, "We love you, Obama" and "Obama Ohana!" (Ohana means "family" in Hawaiian.) Obama stood and waved at them and smiled.

Several kids joined Malia and Sasha, as well as several adults. Your pool
has been promised a full list of those attending the park with Obama and we
will distribute that when it's available.

More to come. Stay tuned.

Philip Rucker
The Washington Post

There's more. Money changing hands! And a blatant attempt to bribe the Fourth Estate (she is joking) :

Pool Report No. 7
Hawaiikai, Hawaii
Dec. 26, 2008

Pres-elect Barack Obama and his family and friends at 1:55 entered the Koko
Marina Center in the Hawaiikai neighborhood near Honolulu for a sandwich
and shave ice. Obama entered Koko Marina Paradise Deli and said, "So what
are we going to get?"

"Let me get a tuna sandwich," Obama said, asking for it on 12-grain bread,
tomatoes and no mayo.

"Actually, can you melt cheese on that?" He asked. "Can you make like a
tuna melt with cheddar cheese?"

Obama then approached the pool to say hello. He placed his shoulder on this
pooler who was scribbling notes and said, "You don't really need to write
all that down."

Then Obama walked with Sasha,
Sasha Obama, wearing a purple, yellow and white dress, to Kokonuts shave
ice. There were mobs of dozens of onlookers swarming the crowded parking
lot snapping pictures and saying hello. Obama waved, said hi, merry
christmas. At one point on the sidewalk, Obama dropped his sunglasses, bent
down and picked then up.

Inside Kokonuts, Obama, with his blackberry on left hip, ordered shave ice
for the kids and friends. He told Malia, "We're going to do it one at a
time." Some ordered banana coconut, pina colada. Sasha ordered a medium
banana.

"Everyone, once you've ordered, step back," Obama instructed the kids.

Obama pulled cash out of his wallet and Eric Whitaker pitched in to pay the
bill. Obama ordered mixed berry shave ice for Sam Tubman and offered shave
ice to the pool.

"Guys, here's your chance," he told pool. "No? I'm telling you, this is
really good.... I don't think this is against policy. You want one, I can
tell."

The pool declined the president-elect's offer.

Then Obama, Sasha, Malia and other kids sat at a blue picnic table enjoying
their shave ice. He asked the kids, "how is it? Good?"

Michelle Obama is not here.

Were still at the shopping center. More details to come.

Philip Rucker
The Washington Post

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2008/12/26/now-they-are-just-bragging/#more-9199

I like when he tells the reporter that he doesn't need to literally write down every word he utters. :D

[onefreespiritedchick]

11. Love it!

I'm lovin the pool reports :)

[Pirate Smile]

18. Oh - we have "two addendums" to the pool reports:

Dec. 26, 2008

Pool report No. 8
Kailua, Hawaii

President-elect Barack Obama, his daughters and family friends left the
Koko Marina Center at 2:25 p.m. After winding along a narrow two-lane
highway overlooking the Pacific arrived at the Kailua vacation home at 3:02
p.m.

Here are two addendums to previous pool report:

Barack Obama ate his sandwich before his shave ice, saying he wanted to set
a good example for his girls by eating healthy food before dessert.

Also, note that shave ice (not shaved ice) is like a snow cone. Barack
Obama ate orange and green colored shave ice. We don't know what flavor
that is.

After what your pool now is dubbing "Waikiki-gate," we are holding outside
the Kailua home awaiting word on possible future movements.

Philip Rucker
The Washington Post

[ellie]

24. What the hell kind of job is that

and how do I get one?

[Lucinda]

12. "...protective press pool"...?

:rofl:
Oxymoron ofthe day

[all.of.me]

16. My first response, too!

Add it to the oxymoran list......

[BeFree]

13. Press pool?

Now that's a pool I'd like to pee in.

[K Gardner]

14. Absolutely hilarious thread, a welcome change here. K&R

[Pirate Smile]

15. kick

[Undercurrent]

17. Hi-

larious!



oops! typo

[busybl]

19. Oh I can hardly stand it

A young couple in the WH, children in the WH. Makes me happycry to think of it.

[busybl]

20. Oh Sealife park

Went a couple times when my mom lived in Hawaii. I want to go again. So beautiful.

[Pirate Smile]

21. kick

[Pirate Smile]

22. kick

[NaturalHigh]

23. Good for him.

I'm all for total information in this day and age, but I think the press will survive without pestering him and his daughters at an amusement park.

[marshall]

25. Maybe the daughters will start a blog or a Myspace page

They can fill in the photos and the stories that the press doesn't get on these private outings. And they will have total control over what information gets out.

The press is going to have a frenzy if they begin to feel they're getting ditched. The Obamas are going to have to come up with a controlled way of releasing just enough information to keep the public placated while at the same time protecting their privacy.

[Jack Rabbit]

26. Good for him

Link

[cwydro]

27. Thanks for the laugh!

Nice to see some humor here.

[Pirate Smile]

28. We need more of it.

:)

[marimour]

29. great move!

:)

[Renew Deal]

30. What is "protective" about the press pool?

:shrug:

[Hekate]

31. ROFL. The press pool reports (and the jealousy from the Mainland) are too funny...

Daddy-Gobama! It should be fun for the girls if he makes a game of ditching the press with them.

Sea Life Park and shave ice--that's the life.

Hekate