Obama begins 10-day vacation
President heads for Martha’s Vineyard
WEST TISBURY, Mass – President Barack Obama ditched the Beltway grind Thursday to seek the pleasures of summer on the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, his leisure time competing with a stock market plunge, fears of global recession and restless voters demanding jobs.
The president arrived on this wealthy Massachusetts island retreat Thursday afternoon, where he was joining first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia. They are to spend 10 days in a rented compound.
The departure came after a busy morning in which the president called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. He then met with members of his economic team, which is preparing a jobs package that the president intends to announce shortly after Labor Day.
Obama departed Thursday afternoon wearing business attire – gray suit and tie – that belied his resort destination. Obama was traveling with a handful of aides, including his counterterrorism chief, John Brennan. Though his family was awaiting him on Martha’s Vineyard, the family dog, Bo, traveled with the president on Air Force One.
Republicans complained that the president should stay in Washington to work on the faltering economy.
Criticism of presidential vacations seems unavoidable, but this time Obama leaves with the economy in a particularly precarious state. Morgan Stanley economists warned Thursday that the U.S. and European economies are “dangerously close” to a recession, and Gallup this week put Obama at the lowest approval rating of his presidency in terms of handling the economy – a measly 26 percent.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president would continue meeting with economic advisers throughout his vacation as he prepares for his September jobs speech.
“The president of the United States is the president of the United States wherever he goes,” Earnest said. “I don’t think the American people begrudge the president spending a little time with his wife and daughters at the end of the summer before his daughters head back to school.”