Like millions of holiday shoppers, President Obama does his bit for the economy
Obama's Thanksgiving weekend: Pardon a turkey, keep an eye on HealthCare.gov, sit down for a Barbara Walters interview, buy a bunch of books to highlight 'Small Business Saturday.'
President Obama, with daughters Sasha and Malia, pays for his purchase the the local bookstore Politics and Prose in northwest Washington, Saturday.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Like millions of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers, President Obama did his bit for the economy Saturday.
No, Mr. Obama didn鈥檛 join one of those frenzied mobs fighting their way into a big box store. That would have required more than the usual phalanx of Secret Service agents and perhaps a squad of Marines.
Instead, the president chose to highlight 鈥淪mall Business Saturday,鈥� taking daughters Malia and Sasha to the Politics and Prose bookstore and coffee house, a local independent business not far from the White House.
Paying by credit card, he left with sacks of books that that included 鈥淗arold and the Purple Crayon," "The Kite Runner," and "Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football." (See the full list below.)
鈥淲hen our small businesses do well, our communities do well,鈥� Obama tweeted. 鈥淛oin me and visit a small business near you today to celebrate .鈥�
Like everybody, presidents try to relax some on Thanksgiving weekend, although there鈥檚 still work to do.
There is that turkey to pardon, guests to entertain at dinner (where, reportedly, nine different kinds of pie were served at the White House this year), China and Iran to keep an eye on, HealthCare.gov computers to fix over at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Obamas sat down with ABC鈥檚 Barbara Walters for an interview at the White House broadcast Friday night.
He addressed the problems with the Affordable Care Act website, and what this has meant for his own plummeting poll numbers,
"I've gone up and down pretty much consistently throughout," Obama told Ms. Walters. "But the good thing about when you're down is that usually you got nowhere to go but up."
As for Obamacare, he said, 鈥淚 continue to believe and [I'm] absolutely convinced that at the end of the day, people are going to look back at the work we've done to make sure that in this country, you don't go bankrupt when you get sick, that families have that security.鈥�
"That is going be a legacy I am extraordinarily proud of,鈥� Obama said.
Looking ahead to the time when he鈥檚 an ex-president, Obama said the family decision on where to live 鈥� they all count Chicago as their home town 鈥� may depend largely on daughter Sasha, who鈥檒l be a high school sophomore. (Malia will be in college by then.)
"You know we gotta make sure that she's doing well ... until she goes off to college,鈥� Obama told Walters. 鈥淪asha will have a big say in where we are.鈥�
Meanwhile, there was more presidential work to do between Thanksgiving Day feasting on Thursday and 鈥淪mall Business Saturday鈥� shopping.
For Obama, that was a 40-minute visit with activists fasting in a tent on the National Mall, protesting congressional inaction on immigration, some of whom have had nothing but water for two weeks.
A White House statement said Obama聽thanked the hunger strikers "for their sacrifice and dedication and told them that the country is behind them on聽immigration聽reform."
Then it was off to Politics and Prose.
According to the White House, here鈥檚 the list of books Obama purchased for gifts as well as for his own reading:
鈥淗alf Brother鈥� by Kenneth Oppel
聽鈥淗eart of a Samurai鈥� by Margi Preus
聽鈥淔lora and Ulysses鈥� by Kate DiCamillo
聽鈥淛inx鈥� by Sage Blackwood
聽鈥淟ulu and the Brontosaurus鈥� by Judith Viorst and Lane Smith
聽鈥淥ttoline and the Yellow Cat鈥� by Chris Riddell
聽鈥淢oonday鈥� by Adam Rex
聽鈥淛ourney鈥� by Aaron Becker
聽鈥淭he Lowland鈥� by Jhumpa Lahiri
聽鈥淩ed Sparrow鈥� by Jason Matthews
聽鈥淗arold and the Purple Crayon鈥� by Crockett Johnson
聽鈥淎 Constellation of Vital Phenomena鈥� by Anthony Marra
聽鈥淭he Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance鈥� by David Epstein
聽鈥淐ollision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football鈥� by Nicholas Dawidoff
聽鈥淏allad of the Sad Cafe: And Other Stories鈥� by Carson McCullers
聽鈥淢y Antonia鈥� by Willa Cather
聽鈥淩agtime鈥� By E.L. Doctorow
聽鈥淭he Kite Runner鈥� by Khaled Hosseini
聽鈥淏uddha in the Attic鈥� by Julie Otsuka
聽鈥淎ll That Is鈥� by James Salter
聽鈥淲ild: From Lost to Found On the Pacific Crest Trail鈥� by Cheryl Strayed