Huffington Post joins White House press pool

By GottaLaff

The bloggers are invading! Who next?! Barbie McLipSchmutz, ace Facebook ghostblogger? Nooooo! We're all doomed!

On December 20, a HuffPo reporter will have White House pool duty, a role that requires following Obama throughout the day and filing reports that can be used by the rest of the press corps who will not be in such close proximity to the president.

Joining the pool falls in line with HuffPo's goal of increasing its Washington footprint, which surely has grown during the first year of Obama's presidency.

There goes the neighborhood.

President-elect Obama visits WaPo, gets cheers

By GottaLaff

Come on, Helen, tell us what you really think:

From a pool report:

After three and a half hours at his transition office, PEOTUS Obama took another 6 minute ride through Washington, arriving at 1:57 pm at the nondescript soviet-style building at 15th and L street that houses the Washington Post.

Around 100 people -- Post reporters perhaps? -- awaited PEOTUS's arrival, cheering and bobbing their coffee cups.

Pool is holding in a van outside, while Mr Obama does his Washington Post interview, and will exercise enormous restraint by ending report before saying what [she] really thinks about this turn of events.

-- Helene Cooper, New York Times

"Bobbing their coffee cups"? I've heard of bobbing hair, and bobbing for apples, but coffee cups?

Maybe the WaPos and their cups were responding to this Fox News report*:

Most people think that President-elect Barack Obama is meeting -- if not exceeding -- expectations so far, according to a FOX News poll released Thursday.

*There's more to the poll than that, but I felt like using that part to make a point because I'm biased that way.

Obama watch: A moonlight visit to Mr. Lincoln

By GottaLaff

(Photo: Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Getty

Obama family outing:

After riding in a motorcade from their temporary home at the Hay-Adams Hotel, Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha entered the grounds around the memorial shortly after 7 p.m. Bundled in coats in the near-40 degree weather, they walked up the dozens of steps in a close pack and into the memorial.

Once inside, Obama and his family had the opportunity to gaze at the nearly 20-foot statue of the 16th president and see the carved inscriptions of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address and his Gettysburg Address on the walls.

After touring the memorial for about 20 minutes, including the lower part of the memorial that houses some exhibits, the Obamas walked out, facing the reflecting pool and Washington Monument. They waved to some onlookers standing around the memorial's lower steps.

Hilariously detailed pool report here, and you know how we love those.

Oh dear. Being the Muslim terrorists they are, I hope the Obamas weren't using this wholesome little outing as an excuse to scout out locations for that future attack on a national monument they've been planning. That would take some real coordination, and all you parents out there know how complex and stressful that kind of family activity can be!

Pool report: Obama checks watch at 12:22, smiles at 12:23, rolls his eyes at pool at 12:24

By GottaLaff

Pool reports are hilarious. The detail that they go into over the least little thing makes me wonder how they consistently miss all the really big important obvious news stories:

For the third time this trip, President-elect Barack Obama left the Kailua compound where he and his entourage are staying for a round of golf at an area course. It was the second time this trip that Obama has played at the course. At 12:05 p.m. Obama's motorcade left Kailuana Place in Kailua, arriving at the course at 12:15 p.m. Obama greeted Punahou classmate Greg Orme with a hearty handshake and hug.

Obama is golfing with Chicago friends Eric Whitaker, Martin Nesbitt, aide Eugene Kang, and Punahou classmates Bobby Titcomb, and Greg Orme After loading his clubs onto a cart, Obama, wearing sunglasses, a white shirt, khaki shorts, white and brown golf shoes, and a red baseball cap emblazoned with the City and County of Honolulu's Ocean Safety logo, drove down to the driving range. At 12:21 p.m. he bent over a grey plastic trash can and filled a bucket half-full with range balls.

Standing next to Whitaker, Obama , with a white glove on his right hand, spread the range balls out on the grass before putting an iron behind his back and stretching. Obama took three practice swings. His first shot was a ground ball straight ahead. His next shot went airborne but created a divet that Obama walked out to pick up and replace. After several more shots and one more replaced divet , Obama looked up to the pool and pointed at the photographers and reporters with his iron. The pool was then moved into the course's clubhouse.

He then inhaled, and exhaled, repeatedly, as he put one foot in front of the other to form step after step, which eventually propelled him into the clubhouse at 12:25. The clubhouse was decorated in pleasant shades of taupe, eggshell white, and off-mauve. There was a noticeable tear in one of the clubhouse curtains. Obama, who removed his now-sweat-soaked white glove at 12:28:03, shot us a look of "are you kidding me?" as we took copious notes about how many chews it took until he swallowed his food at lunch.

At 12:29, Obama turned his head three inches to the right, swatted a fly with his now-ungloved hand, sighed heavily when he caught sight of one of the pool reporters measuring the length of the now-dead fly, and continued to chew his food until swallowing. This act was repeated several times until all the food was gone from Obama's plate, at approximately 12:32:05. The plate was made of kiln-baked ceramic, awash in a pale seafoam green crackle-glaze, and measured exactly 10.019 inches in diameter.

Before the pool was able to notice, Obama slipped away, apparently placing right foot after left in a series of sequential steps, and disappeared for hours. Pool is still waiting. It is 3:48.22.

Mele Kalikimaka! Obama at the Gym on Christmas Eve

By GottaLaff

No wonder he looks so good. He doesn't even take a holiday on a holiday: From the pool report:

President-elect Barack Obama started off Christmas Eve the same way he has every day of his Hawaii vacation - with a workout at Semper Fit Center gym at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.

Obama's motorcade left his Kailua rental home at 7:39 a.m. [...] Michelle Obama was not with him.

Afterward, he greeted and shook hands with a throng of about 60 people that had gathered in the parking lot of the fitness center, where Obama has started his mornings each day since arriving on Saturday.

"Hey, man, how's it going," he asked one person before wishing everyone, "Mele Kalikimaka!" (The Hawaiian translation of Merry Christmas.)

He then turned to some children and asked, "You guys got your Christmas lists all together?"

[...] (The pool, as has become customary during Obama's workouts, went to the nearby McDonald's on base.)

Mahalo, pool reporters.

Home from lunch. Posted Obama pool report, 3:45 pm.

By GottaLaff

Have you ever wondered what pool reporters do? Lynn Sweet tells us in her posts. It can be pretty boring, kind of like my junior high diary.

Dear Diary, today I woke up, got dressed, walked to the bus stop, saw Kathy, giggled, ate lunch, came home, had a snack, did homework, watched TV...

Obama weekend

SUNDAY

Pool report #4

President-elect Obama left the Marty Nesbitt home at 4:40 pm CST after a 3
hour-20 minute visit. Motorcade proceded back to the Regents Park apartment
building where he worked out this morning. Obama press aide on board the bus
said she does not know the purpose of the trip.

Sun Nov 30 14:42:07 2008
Subject: Third pool report

President-elect departs his home at 1:20 pm CST, as motorcade takes him just about 3 blocks to the home of friend Marty Nesbitt. Some in media pool catch momentary glimpse of Obama as he enters the Nesbitt home. President-elect's spokeswoman offers no other details.

------------------------------
President-elect Obama leaves the Regents Park complex at 10:23 am CST after about a 90 minute workout.

Motorcade arrives back to his residence at 10:29 am. Media pool on bus in Hyde Park neighborhood.

First pool report

President-elect Obama departed his Hyde Park home for his daily workout at 8::47
am CST, arriving at the Regents Park apartment building gym at 8:55 am.

Motorcade encountered very light snowfall, the beginning of what's expected to be Chicago's first major winter storm of the season. Press pool camped out in nearby coffee shop. No word on the rest of Obama's Sunday schedule, but it's expected that he'll be watching this evening's nationally televised Bears-Vikings game.

From the pool reports........

SATURDAY NIGHT
The president-elect and Michelle Obama left their home at 7:38 p.m., stopped nearby to pick up friend Marty Nesbitt and headed north on Lake Shore Drive to the Frontera Grill on Clark Street just south of Illinois Street, arriving at 8 p.m.

 While the motorcade was on Lake Shore Drive, a car pulled alongside the convoy just south of McCormick Place, but a Chicago Police squad car quickly pulled the sedan to the side of the road.

Pool report #3 11-29-08

Obama left the Regents Park at 11:04 a.m., returning to his house at 11:07 a.m.


...washed hair. Went to bed at 10 pm. Meeting Kathy tomorrow, usual spot.