President Barack Obama will return to the Vineyard this summer, making his fourth trip to the Island during his presidency, the White House confirmed Friday.
Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will travel to the Vineyard on August 10 and remain on Island until Aug. 18.
Following a frenzied weekend of rallies for two of the 2008 Democratic Presidential contenders, the third of the front runners, Barack Obama. slid quietly into the Vineyard early this week for aclosed-door high-ticket fundraiser and no fanfare.
Vineyard voters came down decisively on the winning side of history on Tuesday, turning out in record numbers to help elect America’s first black President.
To compare the Vineyard vacations of former President Clinton and current President Obama all you have to do is stop in an Island ice cream parlor. Once there, you will probably find a picture hanging on the wall of the former President eagerly peering over the counter to view the lineup of flavors, chatting with patrons or munching on an ice cream cone.
If there is one lesson to be learned from the presence of the Summer White House on the Vineyard, it is this: Never trust press spokesmen who tell reporters not to expect news during a presidential vacation trip. President Obama reinforced the no news forecast with a specific set of intructions conveyed through a deputy press secretary. The relaxed vacation talk was reminiscent of similar White House talk during the 1990s, the Clinton years on the Vineyard.
In August 1994, the last year the annual agricultural fair was held on the grounds of the old Grange Hall in West Tisbury, the fair was on, and I was crossing State Road by the town hall as two motorcycle escorts heralded the arrival of President Clinton’s motorcade.
Island merchants this week said it was too early to tell if President Obama’s recent vacation gave a boost to business, which by most account was generally poor this summer.
If there was any direct impact it was in Oak Bluffs, where the President stopped in town on Tuesday night for dinner at the Sweet Life Cafe and briefly the next day for a take-out lunch at Nancy’s Snack Bar.
At 4:23 p.m. on Sunday, the helicopters took off from the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, bringing to an end President Obama’s week-long first vacation since winning office, spent on the Island.
As Mr. Obama, his family and entourage took off, the clouds which had dumped some four inches of rain over the previous two days finally broke, and they left in watery sunshine.
Senior White House aides and Secret Service are now considering three Vineyard properties for a planned holiday by President Obama and his family next month.
In early October 2008 I was invited to Chicago to sit in the Family and Friends Tent in Bryant Park and witness the possible election of our nation’s 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama.
