BEDFORD HEIGHTS, OH – Will he give up the blackberry or won’t he? That’s one of the (not relatively speaking) big questions facing President-elect Barack Obama as he is set to take office next week.
At a recent press conference he told reporters he fired off an email to one of his Secret Service detail leaders to congratulate his son for winning a football championship game, but presidents have not traditionally used email – even those in the email age. But Mr. Obama has been hesitant to give up the crackberry, thinking it will isolate him from the real world.
Well, four days from his inauguration, President-elect Obama is still using the device. As he was getting out of his Secret Service limo at Ronald Reagan airport today, reporters caught a glimpse of the storied blackberry when it tumbled from his grasp onto the tarmac.
A Secret Service agent standing nearby quickly picked up the blackberry, which had separated from its plastic holster, and returned it to the president-elect. Clutching it tightly, he soon boarded the plane which would ferry him to Cleveland for a speech on the economy.
On board incoming press secretary Robert Gibbs joked with reporters that Mr. Obama has been “discombobulated” due to the recent move to Washington, DC. “He can’t seem to find anything.”
HONOLULU – One year ago today, Senator Barack Obama was fighting to win the all-important Iowa caucuses, holding multiple campaign stops across the state. Then the underdog, Mr. Obama capped off a busy day with a nighttime rally in Ames, where he correctly predicted 2008 would be the year of the Democrat.
“Democrats have been waiting for 2008 for awhile and it’s just about here – it is just about here,” he told a crowd of about 1,000 on the campus of the University of Iowa on the cold December night. “Thank you so much, all of you, for taking the time to help celebrate, help ring in what is going to be an outstanding year for Democrats and an outstanding year for America,” he continued before he shared then-breaking news that he led Hillary Clinton in the latest Des Moines Register poll. “We might just pull this thing off, Iowa!”
Eager for publicity, the Illinois senator even took the time to share his plans to ring in the new year before an interview with FOX News’ Major Garrett.
This year, President Elect Obama is planning on staying out of the media spotlight as he enjoys the final day of his Hawaiian vacation. A transition aide expects Mr. Obama to stay at his Kailua rental home and ring in 2009, the first year with a President Obama, with friends and family.
No word on any resolutions, but last year he told reporters that other than winning Iowa, “I usually try not to make too many unrealistic resolutions. I try to make simple ones. I try to be a better husband, I try to be a better father. To be on time so that I don’t make [incoming Press Secretary Robert] Gibbs nervous.”
CHICAGO – Barack Obama and Joe Biden will meet tomorrow with former Vice President Al Gore at the President-elect’s transition offices in Chicago. The meeting, confirmed by the Obama-Biden transition team, was set up so the trio could “discuss energy and climate change and how policies in this area can stimulate the economy and create jobs.”
Of course it’s also fueling speculation that Al Gore will be asked to return to government after eight years as an influential statesman – despite Mr. Gore’s attempt to downplay the notion. “Vice President Gore has said both prior to President-elect Obama being elected and since he’s been elected that he does not have an interest in serving in the administration,” Kalee Kreider was quoted in a Reuters story just last week.
While Barack Obama may have a tough sell, expect a pitch of some sort. When asked last April by a Pennsylvania voter if he would consider the former veep for a cabinet-level position to help deal with climate change, then Candidate Obama replied, “Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem.”
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