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Obama family goes to Washington |
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Written by Lee-Anne Goodman, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Monday, 05 January 2009 |
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and his family are now full-fledged D.C. residents, moving into a grand downtown hotel over the weekend so that Sasha and Malia Obama could start their first day at an elite private school once attended by Chelsea Clinton.
Seven-year-old Sasha beamed from the back of an SUV Monday morning as she and her sister, Malia, were driven to their new school — Sidwell Friends on Wisconsin Avenue, about a 15-minute drive from the White House in northwest Washington.
Images of her smiling face were aired repeatedly on NBC’s “The Today Show” even as anchor Matt Lauer told viewers the network was respecting the girls’ privacy by not camping out outside the school.
Privacy, clearly, is a thing of the past for Obama and his young family since his historic election on Nov. 4.
Crowds of onlookers have been lining the streets outside the ornate Hay-Adams Hotel — a historical D.C. power-broker hotspot that was once the site of secret meetings to solicit contributions for the Iran-Contra operation — hoping to catch a glimpse of the would-be first family. Michelle Obama and her daughters arrived there Saturday night from Chicago, with the president-elect joining them Sunday night.
The family had asked to stay at Blair House, a guest house near the White House where the president-elect usually resides just before inauguration. But they were turned down by President George W. Bush, who said the building was already booked by White House official for various functions. The Hay-Adams Hotel is also near the White House.
Obama’s first day in Washington in weeks — he last came to town six days after the election to visit the Bushes in the White House — was spent trying to build support in Congress for his financial stimulus package with its current pricetag of almost US$800 billion.
He said he became emotional when he departed his Chicago home on Sunday.
“I choked up a little bit leaving my house,” he told reporters. “Malia’s friend had dropped off an album of the two of them together. They had been friends since pre-school, and I just looked through the pages and the house was empty and it was a little tough; it got me.”
His administration-in-waiting has already been touched by scandal, war and congressional headaches.
Among the onlookers gathered outside the Hay-Adams Hotel on the weekend were those protesting Obama’s perceived lack of response to the renewed conflict between Israelis and Palestinians on the Gaza Strip.
After weeks of scandal in Obama’s home state of Illinois about his Senate replacement, a new controversy involving state contracts in New Mexico erupted on Sunday, prompting the president-elect’s pick for commerce secretary, Gov. Bill Richardson, to take his name out of the running.
On Capitol Hill, it was becoming clear that the staggeringly expensive stimulus package aimed at pulling the United States out of a deepening recession was still a long way from being finalized and will not be ready, as previously hoped, for Obama to sign as soon as he takes office.
Instead, congressional leaders have said it will likely be mid-February before there’s a package on the table.
“The economy is very sick,” Obama said before meeting with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. “The situation is getting worse. ... We have to act and act now to break the momentum of this recession.”
The president-elect has embraced an unexpectedly large tax cut of up to $300 billion in an attempt to get the economy humming again.
“The reason we are here today is because the people’s business cannot wait,” Obama said as he arrived on Capitol Hill earlier Monday to meet with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“The speaker and her staff have been extraordinarily helpful in working with our team so we can shape an economic recovery plan and start putting people back to work.”
With two weeks to go until the inauguration, Obama will be highly visible in Washington this week.
Among other events on his schedule, he’s slated to attend a lunch at the White House with former presidents and to deliver a speech Thursday outlining his economic program.
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