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WASHINGTON -- President Obama retreated to the serenity of Camp David for the first time Saturday, stepping back briefly from a presidency that has quickly found itself tested by a loyal opposition and the loss of the pitch-perfect tone that helped sweep him to office.
But in addition to hearkening back to the heady days of the campaign, the trips also appear to be an admission that Obama's honeymoon period in Washington evaporated more quickly than his advisers ever imagined.
Obama took office promising tough new ethical standards and boasting of the smoothest presidential transition ever. But in the weeks since, three of his nominees have withdrawn under clouds.
Some questioned why the president's vetting procedures missed crucial information. But the problem, aides said, was not that Obama's team was unaware of the multiple tax problems of his nominees.
They knew and dismissed them, believing the public and Congress would see the national crises the nominees were expected to confront as more important.
"We knew he'd get punched around on this and that (Daschle) had made a painful mistake," said John Podesta, Obama's transition chairman.
"But we believed he could be confirmed."
Honeymoon over, Obama aides admit mistakes, retrench | detnews.com | The Detroit News (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090208/POLITICS/902080313/ - broken link)
You've got to be joking. Obama has been on the job only 3 or four weeks and has already "retreated" to Camp David. Obama is simply not a worker. Pathetic. What is he going to do when things really get tough?????
You've got to be joking. Obama has been on the job only 3 or four weeks and has already "retreated" to Camp David. Obama is simply not a worker. Pathetic. What is he going to do when things really get tough?????
Remember how Bush spent the entire month of August 2001 at his ranch in Crawford ... when he should have been in Washington dealing with pre-9/11 warnings?
The Associated Press: Obama impressed with what he saw at Camp David
"It was beautiful. The girls just had a great time. They had a lot of fun," Obama told reporters as he flew from the nation's capital to Indiana for a town hall-style meeting on the economic stimulus bill pending in the Senate. "You can see during the summer it's going to be a nice place to spend a lot of time."
Obama said he hit a few golf balls and played a little basketball while there.
Accompanying the first family were a friend of Sasha's, and a friend of Michelle Obama's who brought her two kids.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090209/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_camp_david (broken link)
Later Monday, Michelle Obama echoed her husband's comments during a visit to the Interior Department, where she thanked employees for their work.
"Barack and I and the girls, as you may have read, just had a little retreat away," she said. "We visited Camp David for the first time, and got to experience the beautiful, the beauty of those grounds, and it was just wonderful to get a bit of a break and to spend some quality time as a family in nature."
You've got to be joking. Obama has been on the job only 3 or four weeks and has already "retreated" to Camp David. Obama is simply not a worker. Pathetic. What is he going to do when things really get tough?????
Obama, family to spend weekend at presidential retreat Camp David (http://www.startribune.com/politics/39219622.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c:3aDhUec7Pa P3E77K_0c:3aDhUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr - broken link)
Obama, family to spend weekend at presidential retreat Camp David
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama and his family will spend Saturday night in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. It will be Obama's first trip to the country estate as president.
Gibbs says the Obamas will leave Saturday and return on Sunday. Gibbs joked that the president was "a bit of a restless soul" who likes walking.
You seen to forget that it was reported that "he retreated" to Camp David stepping back briefly from a presidency that has quickly found itself tested by a loyal opposition and the loss of the pitch-perfect tone that helped sweep him to office.
I wouldn't call him a beaten man. Do any of you have ANY idea what it must be like to be president? Especially come into this trainwreck? Um, no because none of us have had that privilege. Remember Bush took quite a lot of vacations during his presidency, but I'm sure some of you were ok w/that.
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3aDhUec7Pa P3E77K_0c:
