Peekaboo With Kids Is Classic Political Game

Putting kids on TV was a blunder, but so was whining about it: Dowd

(NEWSER) - Caught up in a Fourth of July celebration, Barack Obama agreed to let his daughters be interviewed on "Access Hollywood," a turnaround from his position on his family's privacy and a big slip-up, writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. But Obama compounded the error by expressing morning-after regret so vehemently that it just looked like the latest in a series of flip-flops. More»

(NEWSER) - President-elect Barack Obama addressed the country and the world for the first time tonight, vowing to unite a nation beset by trouble at home and abroad, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Change has come to America," Obama told a crowd of tens of thousands at Chicago's Grant Park and millions more watching around the world. "Our stories are singular, but our destinies are shared." More»

Would you want your daughters watching that stuff?

(NEWSER) - In a recent iVillage interview, Michelle Obama let this little tidbit slip: Unlike, apparently, most of America , the president is not a huge fan of the Kardashians. Asked if any TV shows are off limits for the first daughters, Michelle replied, "Barack really thinks some of the Kardashians—when they watch that stuff—he doesn't like that as much. But I sort of feel like if we're talking about it, and I'm more concerned with how they take it in—what did you learn when you watched that? And if they're learning the right lessons, like, that was crazy, then I'm like, OK." 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»

Chefs try to stay cool amidst Secret Service crush

(NEWSER) - Barack and Michelle Obama love to eat out, but how do restaurants handle a presidential visit? David Hagedorn of the Washington Post asked chefs around town, and found that the key is to remain calm. “We are in the business of creating perceptions,” says one general manager. “We can’t freak out, and we can’t put all our energy into that one person.” Still the evening is decidedly upended when the president’s massive motorcade rolls in. More»