Obamas Walk Parade Route to Screaming Crowds

Prez-elect follows presidential tradition

(AP) - As massive crowds swarmed the National Mall to witness Barack Obama's inauguration as president, the man at the center of the maelstrom began the day with his wife at a private service at St. John’s Episcopal Church across the street from the White House, a tradition for those about to become president. The family of Joe Biden also attended. Barack and Michelle Obama, the latter clad in an Isabel Toledo dress and coat, waved to bystanders, then entered the church to applause from about 200 people. More»

But says he's still got work left to do

(NEWSER) - President Obama says the first family would be just fine if they were just a regular family. “If I said, ‘You guys, I want to do something different,’ they’d be fine,” Obama told the TODAY show this morning. “They’re not invested in daddy being president or my husband being president.” He added that if Michelle “didn’t think that what we were doing was worthwhile … she’d be the first to say, ‘Why don’t you do something else that’s a little less stressful?’” More»

'Technologically challenged' prez pushes right buttons

(AP) - Surrounded by celebrity performers and characters from the North Pole, the Obama family led a countdown and lighted the National Christmas Tree tonight on the Ellipse, just south of the White House. Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha helped President Obama press a button to light the tree, an annual tradition since the 1920s. "I'm technologically challenged and I might not get this right," the president joked. "Everybody has got to help me out here." More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama wrapped up the recreational side of his travel weekend by visiting the Grand Canyon and peppering park rangers with questions about it, the Arizona Republic reports. With Michelle, their daughters, and other members of the Obama clan, the president marveled at a view he last witnessed at age 11. Asked if it appeared the same to him, he said, "It does!" More»

White House social secretary brings marketing savvy to the role

(NEWSER) - The White House is the jewel in the crown of the Obama brand and it’s her job to promote it, White House social secretary Desirée Rogers tells Amy Chozick of the Wall Street Journal. Rogers has taken the event-organizing role to a new level, Chozick writes, and unlike her predecessors, has made herself a powerful presence in the West Wing as well as the East. More»