On vacation, buck still stops with Obama
The Associated Press
In a mere 18 months on the job, President Barack Obama has rolled up an impressive record of diversions, interruptions, delays and outright cancellations of planned family travel -- all thanks to the nonstop demands of a turbulent presidency.
The visit to Acadia National Park follows last summer's Obama family trip to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park, which included whitewater rafting and peach-picking.
However, that schedule was altered to include town meetings in Montana and Colorado, so Obama could address the growing furor about his health care plan.
It set a pattern, which has continued this year.
Their Memorial Day weekend in Chicago was overtaken by the Gulf oil spill. After the Obamas slept at their Chicago home for the first time in a year, the president got up and left for a daylong Gulf inspection tour.
That followed the Obamas' Christmas trip to Hawaii, interrupted repeatedly for briefings and comment on the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jet.
That, in turn, followed last summer's Martha's Vineyard stay, marred by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, whose Boston funeral Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended.
Then there was the planned visit to Indonesia, where Obama spent part of his youth. He'd hoped to show his daughters his old haunts; but the trip was scrubbed twice -- first in March as health care neared its climax in Congress, then again in June because of the oil spill. It's now expected late this year.
The spill could further scramble the family's plans. In an NBC interview Thursday, Obama didn't rule out a vacation trip to a Gulf beach.
Despite two wars and an economic collapse crowding his plate, Obama's taken comparatively little time off.
According to a tally kept by Mark Knoller, a CBS News reporter long recognized by the White House as authoritative on such matters, Obama has spent all or part of 65 days on vacation, including days at Camp David. At this point in his tenure, George W. Bush had logged 120 days. That included 13 trips to his Texas ranch.
That hasn't stopped critics from complaining. GOP Chairman Michael Steele, for one, has been scathing -- calling it incredible that Obama goes on golf outings while oil flows into the Gulf.
The White House dismisses such gripes.
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form
Copyright ©2010 MaineToday Media, Inc.
11 COMMENTS
Seriatim said...
Why is it incredible for Obama to go on vacation while the oil spill is still ongoing? Last I knew, the President was not plugging the hole with his finger. I fnd it more incredible that Democrats and Republicans will devote more energy to trying to make the opposiing party look bad than they will to the real issues.
July 17, 2010 at 2:01 AM Report abuse
cleverdav said...
He doesn't care about our republic...he just wants to make the most of his 4 year term...on our dime (dollars?). We must find another to start to lead our country...because he is no leader!
July 17, 2010 at 2:07 AM Report abuse
Snoot said...
Seriatim...you are sooo RIGHT! People rant about the President no doing anything about the oil spill...tell me, what is he SUPPOSE to do and what would THEY do if they were in his place?!! Cleverdav...This president has done more for our country in his short tenure than Bush EVER did.
July 17, 2010 at 2:16 AM Report abuse
DTOM said...
“Michelle Obama: Take your Vacation in the Gulf, America — ... If You Need Us, We’ll be In Maine” ++++ A trip to the Gulf Coast, of course, would hardly be much of a vacation for Mr. Obama, whose political fortunes were undercut by the spill. But the flap does point up how politically fraught the modern presidential vacation — or, for that matter, presidential leisure time in general — has become. ++++ Every president’s calculus is different. Mr. Bush quit playing golf after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad; he later said, “Playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.” ++++ Mr. Obama, too, is a wartime president, yet he does not conceive of himself as one in the way Mr. Bush did. ++++ He is also an avid golfer, and has maintained a steady diet of the sport, DESPITE its appearance as a rich man’s endeavor in economic hard times. ++++ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/17/us/politics/17memo.html?src=me
July 17, 2010 at 6:08 AM Report abuse
DTOM said...
cleverdav... What he 'does' show is READERSHIP, via his 2 teleprompters. ++++ Snoot, I would put that another way... This President has done more TO our country than Bush ever did. "TO" our country.
July 17, 2010 at 6:12 AM Report abuse
RightwMainer said...
snoot he sure has 9.7 % unemployment and a 14 trillion dollar deficit .gr8 job barry
July 17, 2010 at 6:46 AM Report abuse
DTOM said...
Here's some numbers for you : Just 23% now believe the federal government has the consent of the governed. ++++ Sixty-eight percent (68%) believe the nation’s Political Class doesn’t care what most Americans think. - Rasmussen ++++ UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, state by state comparisons... http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/gapmap/index.htm ++++ Obama quote - "Now, every economist who has looked at it has said that the recovery did its job," Obama said. "It put a brake on the collapse of the economy. We avoided a Great Depression. We are now growing again. The problem is, No. 1, it’s hard to argue sometimes, things would have been a lot worse. Right? So people kind of say, yeah, but unemployment is still at 9.6. Yes, but it’s not 12 or 13, or 15." ......... or 17, or 20, or 33%. Right Mr. President ?
July 17, 2010 at 7:03 AM Report abuse
roughrider said...
If Bush were in Maine or any place else during this oil spill the country would be calling for his head. This is his third vacation since the spill. Amazing how this guy gets a passing grade for failing.
July 17, 2010 at 8:02 AM Report abuse
TmFIMk8%3D said...
I'm sorry, is this the media reporting news or the Team Obama Cheerleading Squad? Give me a break, the man spends far less time at the White House and far more time running all over the country campaigning. The girls have already been on vaca on the left coast earlier this summer and they live in the White House for goodness sakes, that's a tax-payer funded vacation everyday - if they don't like it, the door is open for them to leave ANYTIME! Can't wait to put that bumper sticker on MY car in 2012 - YES WE DID - see through your HOAX and break free from your CHAINS!
July 17, 2010 at 2:21 PM Report abuse
williealso said...
What has this trip for Obama coat the tax payers of Maine for him to ride a bike and stand on some rocks for pictures taken. When The Great President Bush came to Maine all you heard was the cost for his security. what about this fraud. I have to show my birth certificate to get a driver license after 53 years of driving,living in Maine over 40 years able to cross both oceans without a passport only a Military ID Card and still need to show my birth certificate, but he can become president without showing his birth cerificate, what a fraud. I am still waiting for that big check that he promise to everyone when he was out telling lies to become a president, what a fraud. Democart please take of your eye patches and see what did person has done to this great former country in less than two years. What a fraud.
July 17, 2010 at 5:10 PM Report abuse
Justin+Dougl said...
for you negative comment leaving people - why do you blame the pres when congress is full of time and money wasting people who all contribute to this circus we call society. none of you realize that even when the guy wants to make changes there is a big group of idiots who would rather argue and make things as difficult as possible. for all the whining I see about the prez, here and in washington, how many republicans are actually being constructive? this one comment from TmFIMK --- ""The girls have already been on vaca on the left coast earlier this summer and they live in the White House for goodness sakes, that's a tax-payer funded vacation everyday - if they don't like it, the door is open for them to leave ANYTIME!"" thats the dumbest thing i ever heard..put down the bottle
July 17, 2010 at 5:19 PM Report abuse