Meet 'Renegade,' 'Rosebud,' 'Radiance,' 'Renaissance'

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama rolled into Washington tonight on the last stop of his historic whistlestop train journey, the Washington Post reports. Obama retraced the path of Abraham Lincoln and called for a "new declaration of independence" for the nation. To see photos of the trip—which Joe Biden joined in Wilmington, Del.—click on Slideshow. To read more about it, click on the links. 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»

'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»

Obamas polish image through careful offering to celebrity mags

(NEWSER) - As the nation gets to know the first family, it may seem as if we're watching "a reality show set on the glorified soundstage at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.," the Los Angeles Times reports, but what we're seeing is in fact a meticulously crafted image. Information about the Obamas is being strictly managed to bolster the president's popularity and keep the paparazzi at bay. Photos, interviews, and glimpses of White House life are systematically parceled out to celebrity news outlets, who in turn agree to not publish any unauthorized snaps. More»