By GottaLaff
Ben Smith got an e-mail from an Air Force officer who had the good fortune to meet the whole White House gang:
[...] I have tremendous respect for the president and all his staff. They were nothing but sincere and gracious to all of the troops over here — we’re very thankful that they stopped by. I also love the Chicago roots that many of the president’s team has (most of my family is from around that area) — I miss that city so much!"
He goes on:
Once I found out President Obama would be coming to Baghdad, I immediately started thinking about how I (out of several hundred folks) might get the chance to greet him or his staff members. So I positioned myself along the rope line where I anticipated that folks would be passing by — and I guess I chose correctly.
First person I saw was David Axelrod, so I shouted “Mr. Axelrod!” a couple of times until he looked up and saw where I was, and came over towards me. I cheekily asked him how he thought the Cubs would do this year, because I knew we were both big Cubs fans. He approached me and laughed, stating that “just like every year, I’m hopeful.” That’s when Robert Gibbs, who must’ve heard us, came up, interrupted and said, teasingly, “probably just like every other year.”
A few minutes later, I saw Rahm Emanuel hovering near the rope line and making small talk with people. [...]I remembered reading somewhere on Politico.com yesterday that today was the Special Election in IL-05 to replace him, so I thought I’d tease him by asking whether or not he’d remembered to return his absentee ballot. He paused for a second, looked at me, and said, “I f***ed up!” I was caught off-guard a little, but his answer at least seemed to fit the caricature of his profile through the media! He then said something about how his wife had remembered and bugged him but that he had forgotten, I believe. [...] I told him before he walked away that he was nothing like the media had portrayed him — not nearly as scary or mean in person!
He went and got David Axelrod and we talked some more about the congressman who had given me my Air Force Academy appointment. Again, both men were very gracious and personable. I thanked them, along with press secretary Gibbs, for stopping by Baghdad to see the troops and they in-turn thanked me for my service. I think Mr. Axelrod could see that I was a little bit nervous and overwhelmed talking to them, and he leaned into me a bit, looked me in the eyes and said, “I’m proud of you.”
Shortly thereafter, President Obama worked the rope line, and sure enough, I managed to shake his hand and get in a mini-conversation about my hometown in Illinois [...]
Definitely wasn’t expecting the opportunity to have this encounter this morning, but I’m flattered to death that they took the time to talk to me. President Obama was very well-received by the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines in attendance.
One word: Howcoolwasthat? And how reassuring to find out that this team was interested and caring enough to not only take some time with this man, but had an unscripted, spontaneous conversation instead of hurrying by with a canned response or unctuous phony folksiness.
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