Politics. On Point.

President Obama and family are vacationing at Martha's Vineyard this week. We're told the First Daughters are, of course, joining their parents. The president is using this time as Congress recesses for their own five week vacation. President and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive at Martha's Vineyard. The president, with plans of golfing and rest on his agenda, will continue to be briefed daily on world affairs while on vacation. From today's pool report : Greetings from the island. It’s a sparkling, sunny day for the Obamas’ first full day of vacation. The sky is blue. The breeze is light. The pool is chipper and well rested. The president is going golfing. The pool started the day with a visit to Alley’s farm stand (great peaches), followed by some hanging and waiting in a field near the estate where the president is stay. We began to roll at 11:15 am, but got no sign of the president. The trip along South Road was easy and uneventful. For those...

We have a very descriptive pool report that comes from Christina Wilkie of HuffPost on this afternoon's Joining Forces event with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The two ladies helped celebrate Mother's Day with military families and their children. The report, modified for story line and content by POP, reads below as follows. At the Naval Observatory today First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden hosted a Joining Forces service activity with congressional spouses where they assembled Mothers Day care packages that will be sent to the wives and mothers of deployed military, at the request of the soldiers. The event comes a day after FLOTUS attended the annual Congressional Club lunch for spouses of House and Senate members. This is the third time she has invited them to join her for a service activity the day after the lunch, and marks FLOTUS's first visit to the Naval Observatory. Outside in the sun under a white USO tent were ap...

President Obama had quite a busy day today, first spoke at Disneyland's Magic Kingdom where he unveiled a strategy that will significantly help boost tourism and travel. Here are a few colorful reports on the day from White House pool reporters who have been traveling along with the president, courtesy of NY Times reporter, Jackie Calmes. -- Orlando/Disney Magic Kingdom pool report :      The pool entered the Magic Kingdom looking like we’ve only dreamed of – empty of people for the most part. At 12:40 p.m. POTUS took the stage in the middle of the kingdom’s faux late 19th-century Main Street, against a backdrop of Cinderella’s blue-spired castle and a cloudless blue sky on a gorgeous day. He opened with a couple of jokes for the audience of about 150 people seated in front of him, and scores more, many of whom looked to be Disney employees, lining the faux storefronts. (After he spoke, one of those seated in front said she and some others were memb...

 By Reuters JoAnne Allen The White House was locked down for more than an hour on Tuesday night as authorities investigated what appeared to be a smoke bomb tossed over the fence of the executive compound, a Secret Service spokesman said. The device was thrown over the fence at one point when about 1,000 to 1,500 "Occupy DC" protesters were demonstrating outside the White House, Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said. He gave the "all clear" later in the evening. A majority of the protesters had left the area earlier and there had been no arrests, he said. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday and were not at the White House when the incident began but returned while the investigation was under way. Members of the White House press pool were prevented from leaving for about 45 minutes before they were escorted off the grounds. Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was also closed duri...

Vows to give areas "what they need" to rebuild . Thanks to a few pool reports we get a sense of  President Obama's touring events in Paterson, NJ.  The president is spending the Labor Day weekend at Camp David, but has scheduled visits in New Jersey's hardest hit areas after last weekend's devastating Hurricane Irene struck the area. President Obama tours damage caused by flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in Wayne, New Jersey.   ( Kevin Lamarque / Reuters / September 4 , 2011 ) Our pool report comes from David Cook of CSPS. POTUS at Main Street Bridge in Paterson New Jersey at approximately 1:35 p.m. POTUS arrived at the storm damaged Main Street Bridge in Paterson New Jersey over a very fast blowing Passaic River.  En route, we saw signs that said “Mr Obama, yes we can” and “We survived Hurricane Irene.” Representative Pascarel told reporters at the bridge “we are glad that he [President Obama] is here.” After walking along t...

Canceling his scheduled event at US Interstate Moving Services for today, President Obama instead flew to Dover Air Force Base to attend the return of the bodies of 30 U.S. servicemen killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday. President Obama arriving at Dover Air Force Base. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster The dead servicemen included 22 Navy SEALs. Most were members of SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorism unit that carried out the mission to find Osama BinLaden. None of those involved in the Bin Laden raid were among the dead Saturday, U.S. officials have said. The remains were returned to Dover in "unidentified" stautus until they are positively indentified by the Armed Forces Mortuary Affairs Office. The Chinook helicopter crashed in the remote Tangi valley of Eastern Afghanistan. U.S. officials have said it was probably caused by insurgents firing a rocket-propelled grenade. The president had not announced publicly that he would visit Dover. As mentio...

We love this! The First Family strolling hand-in-hand as they walk to St. John's Episcopal Church today. Here are the raw details from White House pool reporter John Stanton of Roll Call . The first fam left St Johns at 1135, and after a short stroll through Lafayette Park, returned to the White House. The homily was based on the story of Jacobs Ladder and a meditation on finding God in places you would not expect to. "The First Family were delighted to worship with the St. John's Episcopal Church congregation today as they have in the past, and look forward to visiting again," a White House official said. St. Johns is an Episcopal Church, which dates back to 1815, and since James Madison every sitting president has worshipped there ( www.stjohns-dc.org is their site). Churches in the DC area the Obamas have attended include: the 19th Street Baptist Church, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, Shiloh Baptis...

Vice President Biden, attending an event for Senator Bill Nelson , made the following remarks at a lunchtime fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s 2012 re-election campaign. Items he spoke on include updating and renewing our infrastructure. “No business is going to build its own ports, its own runways, its own broadband networks. None are able to that,” Biden said. “The government provides seed money. That’s how we built the transcontinental railroad. That’s how we got the Internet", said Biden. "That’s why Sen. Nelson and I both thought the high-speed rail made sense.” As you know, not everyone is in agreement of the Obama Administration's vision of creating modern, faster rail options.  The state's republican governor, Rick Scott rejected the $2.4b in federal funds offered to Florida for such use, saying the project would lose money and become a state liability. Biden said the administration’s strategy is to address the national debt long-term, and s...

As we reported earlier , the Bidens are traveling to Helsinki, Finland, Monrovia and Russia this week. Here's an account of their first day in Helsinki by White House press pool team member Jonathan Weisman: At 6:35 pm, motorcade rolled from the Hilton to the Esplanade in the center of Helsinki, where VPOTUS, Dr. Jill Biden and Finnegan made a beeline for Marimekko, the famous Finnish design store. Finnegan (the Biden's grandchild) and Dr. Jill were drawn to black Converse basketball shoes covered in tear-dropped shaped, interlocking white loops. The VPOTUS wandered aimlessly like most men do in such shopping occasions, but he did express some skepticism about said shoes."These are Cons," he told your pooler with a shrug. He used to play basketball in the same canvas shoe, not with such a design. "I'm not sure if she wants to go on the court in that but", said Vice President Biden.  Finnegan appeared to be going for the low-tops, but no word ...

We missed this event, but was given a very noteworthy account of the evening by White House press pooler, Sophia Nelson.   Sophia writes: Vice President Biden [talked] about the importance of black history month as he reflected on everything from his recent meeting with young pre-teen African American football players at Ft. Campbell (who are the offspring of deployed Afghanistan and Iraq military warriors), to his becoming an attorney in 1968 just after the death of Dr. King (and the subsequent riots), and finally to his train ride with President-elect Barack H. Obama in January 2009 as the newly elected Vice President-elect to the nation's first ever black President. In prepared remarks that lasted approximately 8 minutes Vice President Biden stayed mostly clear of the politics of the day, except for noting at the outset that many of his friends in the Congressional Black Caucus could not attend because they were preparing for votes on the Continuing Resolution to...

Chinese President Hu Jintao  was given a welcome reception in Washington by the White House as he and President Obama talked trade, trust, and human rights issues.   President Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao take a photo after their joint press conference. Photo/CD Brown. "Let’s also never forget that throughout our history our people have worked together for mutual progress.  We’ve traded together for more than 200 years.  We stood together in the Second World War.  Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans have helped to build America, including many who join us here tonight", said President Obama. While the White House was welcoming the foreign president (the eighth time the two presidents have met), those on Capitol Hill cited reasons why the U.S. should not be so diplomatic with the current Chinese president.  Rep. Christopher H. Smith , (R-NJ) touted president Hu as China's "iron fist in Tibet, referring to the Chinese leader's act...

ABC News (and now the White House) is reporting that President Obama, in a surprise visit, has just landed in Afghanistan to visit with U.S. troops. First Pool Report - Excerpted. (11:33 am EST) President Obama arrived in Afghanistan at 8:35 pm. Air Force One was wheels down at Bagram Air Base. POTUS stepped off the plane at 8:48 pm. He was greeted by Gen. David Petreaus and Amb. Eikenberry. POTUS is expected to be on the ground for 3 hours. The schedule has changed and continues to. POTUS was initially expected to helo to Kabul to meet with Karzai. Cancelled. Then they were to do secure videoconference from Bagram. That is also cancelled. From Robert Gibbs: Due to weather and technical problems, the secure videoteleconference is now a phone call. The President, most noteably, wanted to visit with the troops during the holidays, citing, "It's a particularly tough time of year." Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Ssecurity Advisor for Strategic Communications, no...

First Lady Michelle Obama Workin' It Well! Those attending last evening's DNC fundraising event at New York's St. James Theatre witnessed nothing short of a spectacular event. With the likes of Patti LaBelle and actress Sarah Jessica Parker as supporters at this event, you can bet a good time was had by all. As one report puts it " Dems In The City ".  Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dr. Jill Biden in NYC at last evening's DNC Fundraiser event at the St. James Theater. Noah Rosenberg of The New York Times gives a very detailed account of the last night's fundraiser at the St. James Theater  (Located where else? On 44th Street. Something magical about that isn't?) in New York City.  Rosenberg's report highlights the power of the First Lady as she continues to be well received on the campaign trail as she drums up support for her husband and the Democrats for the upcoming mid-term elections. It made me wish I was there...

Participating in early voting in her home town of Chicago, First Lady Michelle Obama reminds everyone to vote early for the Nov. 2nd mid-term elections.  ( See video ). First Lady, first in line, votes early in Chicago. Here are some details of today's event, as told by pool reporter Abdon M. Pallasch of the Chicago Sun-Times. First Lady Michelle Obama early-voted in Chicago Thursday morning. Just after 9 a.m. she entered the Martin Luther King Center on the South Side and was the first early voter of the day. “I think that’s you,” Election Judge Dorothy Yarbrough, a retired CTA bus driver told the first lady after looking up Mrs. Obama’s voting record. “You think?” the first lady replied with a smile. Chicago Board of Elections employee Charles Holiday gave the first lady a quick lesson on how to work the electronic voting machine. At 5’-11”, Mrs. Obama had to hunch over a bit to use the machine. It took her six minutes to get through the ball...

The First Family Vacationing In Maine The First Family on a much needed and deserving vacation on Mount Desert Island, ME. I thought I'd share this 'pool report' with you as it has been the most descriptive one describing the First Family's vacation in Maine this weekend. Politico pooler, (one of many covering the 1st Fam's weekend vacation) Carol Lee, wrote Friday the following from Witch Hole Pond at Cadillac Mountain: No sighting of the first family after their roughly 90-minute bike ride. The motorcade was rolling from Witch Hole Pond at 2:22 p.m. It snaked up the moutainside, with beautiful views of the sun-drenched blue water and cloud covered pine trees coming in and out of sight along the way. President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sasha and Malia arrived at the top of Cadillac Mountain at 2:36 p.m. Cadillac Mountain is highest elevation point in Acadia National Park and the highest elevation point on the Atlantic Coast at 1,500 feet, accordi...

A pool reporter is providing updates on Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Louisiana where he is there to assess the damages from the BP oil spill. Here's the most recent update (as of 1:01 pm EST). The motorcade arrived at 10 a.m. at the unified command center in downtown New Orleans, where a half-dozen protestors stood outside in a light rain carrying signs that said, "Oil kills." Vice President Biden went to the 14th floor of the 24-story Poydras Plaza , where more than 100 BP, government and military offcials were seated at rows of tables working on laptop computers in a cavernous office dubbed "the bullpen." The workers were arranged in various groupings, such as "Critical Resources Unit," "Documentation Unit," and "Technical Specialists." A large projection TV flashed weather updates and the latest track for Tropical Storm Alex. The offices are the same ones used by FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. Sitting at the h...

A very colorful and descriptive report from the White House pool reporter Christina Bellantoni who covered last evening's celebration honoring singer Paul McCartney with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song . She writes.... Event basics : Sir Paul McCartney was awarded the during a star-studded ceremony in the White House East Room. President Obama and his family sat in the first row, surrounded by politicians and big names in music. News, sort of : Obama mentioned "difficult time" for the Gulf Coast, saying that his thoughts are with friends in an area "so rich in musical heritage." He said it is "herartbreaking" but said the group in the room is committed to help and see the community "made whole again." He said "Part of what gets us through tough times is music" and that there's always a kernel of ourselves "that sings even when times are hard." Another bit : At the very close of the event after Obama had left t...