Jeers and (some) cheers as Obama goes on vacation
| Washington
When President Obama planned his annual August break on Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, he could predict he鈥檇 face some grief for going off and relaxing a bit with his family while the nation goes through tough economic times.
But Mr. Obama couldn鈥檛 predict the stock market would tank again. Not that there鈥檚 anything he could do about that, no matter where he鈥檚 physically situated. Still, the posh locale for this summer break 鈥� once again, Blue Heron Farm in the charming village of Chilmark 鈥� just seems especially bad optics for a president who is obviously financially comfortable while so many Americans are not, politicos are opining.
And ultimately, they say, he just shouldn鈥檛 be on vacation, period.
鈥淣ow, Martha鈥檚 Vineyard is in my home state of Massachusetts, so I don鈥檛 want to say anything negative about people vacationing there,鈥� said the state鈥檚 former governor, Mitt Romney, a top contender for the GOP presidential nomination. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e the president of the United States and the nation is in crisis 鈥� and we鈥檙e in a jobs crisis right now 鈥� then you shouldn鈥檛 be out vacationing. Instead, you should be focusing on getting the economy going again.鈥�
Mr. Romney was speaking Tuesday on the 鈥�Don Wade & Roma Show鈥� on WLS-AM in Chicago. Other candidates, former and current, chimed in as well: Donald Trump slammed Obama on Fox News for taking 鈥渕ore vacations than any human being I鈥檝e ever seen.鈥� That, of course, is rather an exaggeration 鈥揺ven when comparing Obama with his predecessor. Obama has taken far fewer vacation days (38) than President George W. Bush, who had taken 102 days off at this point in his first term, not including either president鈥檚 trips to Camp David, according to Mark Knoller of CBS.
Then there鈥檚 former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who said Obama should cancel his vacation. Interestingly, Gingrich said this as he prepared for a campaign visit to Hawaii, even though it鈥檚 not an early primary state and, oh by the way, his wedding anniversary is also right around now.
All the usual reasons for proceeding with a presidential vacation are also being trotted out: The president is really never on vacation, and will still get his regular briefings and be prepared to respond to a crisis if one arises, White House press secretary Jay Carney said earlier this week.
鈥淔or heaven鈥檚 sake, let the poor man go on vacation,鈥� says Stephen Hess, a veteran of multiple White Houses, starting with President Eisenhower.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always something going on,鈥� says Mr. Hess, an emeritus scholar at the Brookings Institution. 鈥淭hese are strange and dangerous times that we鈥檙e always living in.鈥�
The positive side, he adds, is that presidents need vacations. 鈥淭hey need to recharge their batteries, and we hope they鈥檙e better off coming back than going,鈥� says Hess.
