Pool reporter Margaret Talev of McClatchy Newspapers managed to snag some details from President Obama's closed meetings with Democrats Thursday night in Williamsburg, Va. Considering most pool reports stick to what is officially "pooled" to the press, this reporter deserves today's Poolitzer Prize for going one step further.
The pool report, edited only for clarity, follows.
Travel Pool Report #5 - some detail from closed press Q&A at Kingsmill Two Democratic sources in the Kingsmill ballroom for the Q & A (neither on WH staff) provided accounts to your pooler via email afterward on condition of anonymity with understanding they would be distributed via the pool report.As they described the session, at one point Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island asked POTUS if he would lift President Bush's limits on federal stem cell research funding and POTUS said, "I guarantee you that we will sign an executive order for stem cells" but that he wants to work with the House and Senate to make the order solid. "God gave us (the) power to make smart decisions , to cure diseases, to alleviate suffering," POTUS said according to one of the two sources.
Obama also called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "a rock," which he also did in public remarks. He also praised Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and other leaders.
Rep. David Scott of Ga. Made a pitch for the president to continue funding the F-22 Raptor saying it could mean 50,000 jobs in his district. POTUS said he would make that decision with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and always consider how decisions affected security of nation.
He said he always would take into account local economies "but we also have to deal with the debt and it is unsustainable. We have to make tough decisions."
Rep. Dave Loebsack of Iowa asked POTUS for his thoughts on Afghanistan.
POTUS said his administration was "in the midst of a number of reviews" internally. He said military means alone wouldn't work, diplomatic efforts needed in Pakistan. POTUS got cheers when he said he was wary of mission creep without clear parameters and ... don't let it become a safe haven."
President Obama's retreat with Senate Democrats this afternoon was closed to the press, which isn't surprising in and of itself. Pooler Ken Herman of Cox Newspapers sees it in a slightly different light. Lamenting the newspaper industry and skewering Obama in one quick stroke, Herman wins today's Poolitzer Prize.
The pool report, edited only for clarity, follows.
POTUS visits shrine to once-great industryMotorcade rolled from White House at 1:38 p.m. en route to Newseum for POTUS meeting with Senate Democrats who were retreating. Arrived at Newseum at 1:43 p.m.
Pool was ushered to hold. The event - though at a facility honoring the First Amendment and the people's right to know stuff - was closed press. Go figure.
Motorcade rolled from Newseum at 2:46 p.m., with White House arrival at 2:49 p.m.
Any further details about the event, if made available, will come from White House Press Office.
Virtually all schools in the Washington area are either closed or delayed today. The government, while open, implemented its "unscheduled leave" policy in case employees couldn't make it in. The area's roads and Metro traffic were unusually slow for a weekday morning. And the newscasts talked about all of it, over and over again. Yup, it's the winter's first snowfall -- and ice -- in D.C.
President Obama turned his Chicago-bred nose up at Washingtonians this morning, saying that this city shuts down at any sign of inclement weather. Pool reporter Jon Ward of the Washington Times captured his comments in Poolitzer Prize-worthy fashion.
His report, edited only for clarity, follows:
POTUS makes humorous remarks about the inability of D.C. schools and residents to "handle" wintry weather, says he is "confident" stimulus bill will pass.At 10:34 a.m., pool was ushered into the Roosevelt Room for what was expected to be simply a photo op. POTUS sat at the long wood table with 13 business leaders such as Google's Eric Schmidt and Jet Blue's David Barger (full list below). Behind POTUS: Browner, Rahm, Jarrett, Summers, in that order.
POTUS said he wanted to talk about something unrelated to the economy. "Can I make a comment unrelated to the economy" -- and launched into weather remarks (please check transcript): "My children's school was canceled today, because of what? Some ice," he said, and all at the table started laughing.
"As my children pointed out, in Chicago school is never canceled," he said, joking about how kids go out for recess on snow days. More laughter.
POTUS said he would have to instill "some flinty Chicago toughness" into Washingtonians.
"When it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things," POTUS said. Fighting words!
Pool then began to file out only to hear POTUS begin speaking in response to a question. He thanked leaders for coming and said they are "on the front lines" of the economy and have helped shape the stimulus.
"I'm confident we're going to get it passed," he said.
Attendees as released by the White House:
Steve Appleton, Chairman, President and CEO of Micron Technology; David Barger, CEO of Jet Blue; Greg Brown, President and Co-CEO of Motorola, Inc.; John Bryson, retired President and CEO of Edison International; David M. Cote, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell; Debra Lee, President and CEO of BET Holdings, Inc.; Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Xerox; Sam Palmisano, Chairman, CEO and President of IBM; Antonio Perez, Chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak Company; Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google; Michael Splinter with Applied Materials; Wendell Weeks, Chairman and CEO of Corning Incorporated; and Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna.
(Credit: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images)
In a Poolitzer Prize first, Wes Allison of the St. Petersburg Times has snagged his second award for one day's work thanks to his reporting on President Obama's second swearing-in Wednesday night. More than 1.8 million spectators watched Chief Justice John Roberts bungle the wording of the oath of office, but Allison was one of a handful lucky enough to see the just-in-case ceremony.
The winning pool report, edited only for clarity, follows:
At 7:35 p.m., Roberts administered the oath of office again to Obama in the Map Room. Robert Gibbs said the White House Counsel, Greg Craig, believes the oath was fine Tuesday, but one word was out of sequence so they did this out of a "an abundance of caution."
"We decided it was so much fun," Obama joked while sitting on a couch.
Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool as Roberts donned
his black robe.
"Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked.
"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied.
Oath took 25 seconds. After a flawless recitation, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations, again."
Obama said: "Thank you, sir."
Smattering of applause.
"All right," Obama said. "The bad news for the pool is there's 12 more balls."
The first couple showed off their new digs to 200 lucky people today in an open house this afternoon at the White House. You didn't happen to be one of those 200 people, huh? Well, neither were we. Luckily, pool reporter Wes Allison with the St. Petersburg Times does an entertaining and thorough job recounting the event for everyone. His detailed report has earned today's Poolitzer Prize:
Two-hundred people won passes on a first-come, first-serve basis through the PIC or transition (press aides not sure, checking) to attend an "Open House" at 2:30 p.m. today at the White House.
Your pool was ushered into the Blue Room, a south-facing oval room overlooking the Washington Monument, at 2:40 p.m., where we found President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama already shaking hands with guests lined up in a receiving line.
"Enjoy yourself," Obama told two young women.
"Welcome, enjoy yourself," Obama told a young man in a black sweater. "Roam around. Don't break anything."
Continue reading Obamas Meet And Greet In Open (White) House.
For all their focus on the quotidian, pool reports can sometimes turn up a gem -- as when Ken Bazinet of the New York Daily News revealed that the Chevy Chase home Barack Obama visited Tuesday night belonged to none other than ur-conservative commentator George Will. The dinner party, later confirmed by the transition team, included other right-leaning luminaries like William Kristol and David Brooks. The pool was, unfortunately, not invited in to overhear what must have been an interesting discussion. But, for reporting this unlikely meeting of minds, Bazinet's report picks up today's Poolitzer Prize.
The PEOTUS departed Hay-Adams at 6:17 p.m. and at arrived at 6:34 p.m. at No. 9 Grafton St., Chevy Chase (right off the circle). Thanks to the good work of Hans Nichols (of Bloomberg and "Daily Show" fame), Montgomery County property tax records showed this is the home of conservative columnist George Will (valued at $1.9 million, according to the 2008 levy).We're still awaiting confirmation that this is indeed Will's house from the transition, but your pool is satisfied with the documentation.
Your pool has been told it's a dinner party.
And, thanks to an enterprising photographer, a shot through a window showed op-ed stalwarts William Kristol and David Brooks are also part of this unlikely gathering of tight, right suits.
Transition mouthpiece Tommy Vietor was also spied inside the manse.
This is for real, folks. The bloggers are going to love this one.
Today's Poolitzer Prize, awarded semi-regularly to pool reports of unusual wit, detail or news value, goes to a pair of dispatches from the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny, who covered the president-elect's golf outing in Kailua, Hawaii.
Among Zeleny's insights: Barack Obama has a strong drive, he enjoys a good spam musubi, and he has no compunction about plying reporters with beer.
The winning pool reports, edited only for clarity, after the jump:
Today's Poolitzer Prize, awarded semi-regularly to pool reports of unusual wit, detail or news value, goes to a dispatch from the New York Times' Helene Cooper, who covered the president-elect as he spoke with schoolchildren at the Dodge Renaissance Academy this morning after announcing his pick for Education secretary.
When one of the children -- betraying a preternatural concern for the issues -- asked him about Iraq, President-elect Obama responded by repeating his pledge to remove "troops" in the next year and a half. Despite his early initiative, the young cub reporter failed to ask a follow-up on just how many troops would be withdrawn how soon.
The winning pool report, edited only for clarity, is below:
After the press conference at Dodge Academy, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden went upstairs for a 15 minute meeting with a group of 1st-4th graders -- about a dozen.After a few minutes of chit-chat in which he asked the kids what they were studying -- (when one child said "decimals," Mr. Obama replied, "Decimals! Wow, Joe doesn't even know his decimals!") Then he told the kids he was opening the floor to questions, and proceeded to take more than double the number of questions than he took at his press conference. Plus the kids got to raise their hands and ask.
He may even have made news. One child ask him about Iraq and he said he plans to have troops home in a year and a half.
Other questions:
What are you gonna do as president?
A -- Make sure all kids get a good education.In 2009 are you going to the White House?
A -- After replying yes, Mr. Obama volunteered that he's getting a dog for Malia and Sasha, and added: "I want to make sure my daughters take care of this dog, and if they do their business, and you've got some poop, you don't just leave it there."Will you go to other countries?
A -- Mr. Obama said yes, adding that he even expects to meet some kings and queens.He also told the kids he's thinking about longer school days, which did not seem to go over well.
He took some photos with the kids, and we left the school at around 11:26. Mr. Obama is back in his transition office, and we have a lid until 6 p.m.
Today's NJ.com Poolitzer Prize goes to a timely report from the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman, who filed the following soon after President-elect Obama spoke to reporters about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest.
At 1:55 p.m., the pool was brought into a sparse corner office of the transition headquarters in Chicago's federal building. President-elect Obama sat in the middle, with Vice President-elect Joe Biden on his right and former Vice President Al Gore on his left.Three American flags were arrayed behind them. Mr. Obama then said, "Like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S.. Attorneys office today. But as this is an ongoing investigation involving the governor, I donʼt think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."
He went on to say "The purpose of this meeting today was to listen and learn from Vice President Al Gore on the extraordinary work that he has done around the issue of climate change. All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over. The time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administration to do."
After speaking a little more on climate change, the pool was about to be ushered out, when your pooler (I've been assured it was a classy act by certain members of the transition) shouted a question, asking if Mr. Obama was aware of what was happening with his Senate seat. Mr. Obama stopped the press and said he wanted to answer the question.
"I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening," Mr. Obama said. "And as I said it is a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment."
At 2:00, the pool left the room.
Today's recipient of the Poolitzer Prize, awarded semi-regularly to pool reports of uncommon style, detail or interest, comes from the Chicago Tribune's John McCormick, who accompanied hometown hero Barack Obama to a thank-you reception for some of his most loyal fundraisers.
"All of you had more to do with us being successful than just raising money," the president-elect told his assembled supporters. "You helped shape Michelle and myself. Many of you have been part of our children's lives. Many of you have helped to support us, through thick and through thin. And so, I'm just very grateful to all of you. Now, we've got a lot of work to do, and I don't want to sugar-coat the amount of work there is to be done."
After leaving his transition office in Chicago's Loop at 5:55 p.m., the PEOTUS and his motorcade traveled approximately two blocks to The Standard Club.The private club, located at 320 South Plymouth Court, played host to a thank you reception for many of Barack Obama's fundraisers, mostly from Illinois. Obama entered the building at 5:56 p.m. and the pool was held in the van.
After holding at the base of a stairway inside, we were ushered into the room about 7:17 p.m. There were about 100 people in the small room and they all stood as he spoke.
In the back were the standard buffet tables and a bar (cheese, bread and crackers were some of the offerings).
Obama had spoken privately with people before we entered and also posed for photos. Michelle Obama was in the room as well, but did not speak as part of the brief program that we saw.
The president elect spoke for about seven minutes (a few quick quotes are below). He was introduced by John Rogers and James Crown, key members of his Illinois finance committee.
Penny Pritzker, the chairwoman of his national finance committee, was also in the room, although did not speak while we were there. Aides said the crowd was a mixture of Illinois finance committee members and national finance committee members.
"I could not have asked for better leadership," Obama said of his finance committee leaders.
Obama said he wanted to do the small event because of the long friendships in the room.
"This is a gathering of friends, and we wanted to do it precisely because all of you are friends. You know in politics, often times you say folks are friends, when what you really mean is they supported you and sometimes only after it became apparent you were winning. In this case, it's absolutely true."
