A Day In Virginia

Phoebus High School in Hampton, Virginia

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Phoebus High School

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… speaking to an overflow crowd during a campaign event Phoebus High School

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President Obama greets bystanders outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting in Hampton, Virginia

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Roanoke Regional Airport

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Roanoke, Virginia

Heads up: President Obama speaking in Hampton (4:25 ET)

4:25: President Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at Phoebus High School, Hampton

C-Span

CBS live streaming 1

CBS live streaming 2

CNN live streaming

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Later:

7:25: PBO delivers remarks at a campaign event at Roanoke Fire Station

rise and shine

BBC

Some news agencies (eg Reuters) are reporting that he has died – but there is no confirmation yet.

Update: He’s dead.

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk with staff while ordering pizza at Anna’s Pizza and Italian Kitchen in Hampton, Va., Oct. 19, 2011. The President and Mrs. Obama had lunch with four veterans during the stop, a part of the President’s three-day American Jobs Act bus tour. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Love this:

Thanks Meta – original video here

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Woot! Thanks Meta 😉

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From yesterday:

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Poor Mitt …. if this is what his GOP buddies are doing to him, just wait for the 2012 campaign 😉

More here from Steve Benen on Romney v Perry

The pulled Romney ad:

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A gazillion thank yous to everyone who has helped the Drive for Five (Thousand) – my eyes nearly popped out when I saw the figure this morning:

You’re a bunch of gems 😉

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Tim McCarver, the Fox Sports guy, will probably be hired soon by Romney as an economic advisor – he’s, eh, really good with numbers:

SportsGrid

wrap-up

Read about the winners here – The President will present the Citizens Medals at the White House tomorrow (Thursday)

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GOPolitico: President Obama returns to DC weary, depressed and decidedly downcast after bus tour

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GOPolitico: Tension in Obama marriage?

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So, I started this Drive for Five (Thousand) this evening…

….. thinking it would take a week or three to get even close. But a couple of hours later….

You people are amazing. Thank you so much.

(Just to make absolutely clear, this money goes direct to Obama/Biden 2012 at barackobama.com, not to The Obama Diary!)

See you tomorrow 😉

woot! (and other news)

Keith Humphreys (Washington Monthly): …. the Obamas have a magic about them as a couple to which most people respond positively. If you go to any event where the Obamas are standing next to each other, turn around and look at the crowd and you will see many people – especially women – smiling.

…. Last week a friend and I were reminiscing about a White House holiday party that we both attended. My friend jumped up from his chair and asked “Did you notice how differently he stands when Michelle is next to him? He then mimicked the President perfectly, standing stiffly and intoning “Here I am the boring, aloof, professor alone at the lectern”. Then, shifting his feet as if he were mid-strut, throwing back his shoulders and smiling broadly he said “And here I am with this incredibly fabulous babe that I got to marry me – oh yeah!”.

That’s the truth of it. When the President is with his wife, his humanity comes out in a way that it often does not in other circumstances. The facade of the distant academic cracks open, revealing that skinny, accessible and idealistic young man who is still happily ensorcelled by his brilliant companion. And at that moment, many people in our cynical, brutal and heartless electoral process pause for a moment and remember that Barack Obama is a human being, and they like him.

Full post here

More photos in post from earlier today – here

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The Hill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will schedule a vote to proceed to a $35 billion jobs bill on Friday. “We’re going to make sure there’s a vote on our bill this week,” Reid said.

The $35 billion measure would direct federal funds to states to prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Democrats estimate the legislation will save or create 400,000 jobs. Most of the funding, $30 billion, would go to teachers. First responders would get $5 billion.

It would be paid for by a 0.5 percent tax increase on income over $1 million.

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A photo and poster of President Barack Obama hang on a door as Obama 2012 campaign volunteer Daniel Hertlein exits following the grand opening of the Georgia Democratic Party’s new headquarters, Oct. 19, in Atlanta. Democratic National Committee chairwoman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz says her party isn’t conceding any corner of the country in the 2012 presidential election. She says there is a growing groundswell of Democratic momentum in the state and region, bolstered by the area’s changing demographics.

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Was ‘Dick’ Halperin’s Time Page hacked today by an impartial reporter – or does even he realize his relentless negative reporting on the President has become a little embarrassing?

Presumably he’ll be back to normal soon.

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President Obama, on his return to the White House from his tour of North Carolina and Virginia, tells members of the media that the pumpkins he bought will be driven to Washington

President Obama opens a door to the West Wing for National Security Council Senior Director for Europe Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall after returning to the White House

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Here’s the woot!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, you very, very kind people – that figure is, well, crazy!

I know these are seriously tough times for so many of you, so I honestly do hate asking, but if you’re able, could you help me celebrate by contributing $5, or whatever you can, to The Obama Diary Obama/Biden 2012 fundraising page at OFA (here)? Whenever you can. Thanks everyone.

The Drive for Five!

The incomparable Donna Dem will always be TOD’s fundraising Queen, and in future I’ll use her OFA page for our fundraising drives, this is just to celebrate that 5 million.

Thanks again everyone for your support and company, love ya.

lunch guests

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have lunch with veterans at Annapolis’s Pizza and Italian Kitchen in Hampton, Va

mmm, pumpkins….

Washington Post: ….. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, pulled up to a roadside farmer’s market in their imposing Ground Force One presidential bus for a little pumpkin shopping.

…. As Obama talked to the shopkeepers, the first lady was busy inspecting pumpkins. She seemed very interested in oversized white-colored ones, which Betty Wood later explained were called “full moon pumpkins.” Michelle Obama picked one up by wrapping both arms around it to load it into a metal rolling cart with a long metal handle. Betty Wood later estimated the pumpkin could weigh 70 pounds.

The president quipped: “Don’t hurt yourself now.” He yelled out to an aide: “Where are we going to put it? In the back of the bus?”

Michelle Obama loaded more into the cart. “How many are you going to buy?” her husband asked. “You want anything else?”

“No, we’ll have enough trouble getting these back,” she said.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stop to buy pumpkins at Wood’s Orchard in Hampton, Va

president & first lady, joining forces

YouTube video here – but avoid comments 😉

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia

More soon

talk tv

WXYZ Detroit

WTKR Hampton Roads

The President also did interviews with WSB Atlanta and WKYC Cleveland today

interviews, interviews, interviews

….with Royale Da of KOAT Albuquerque, N.M. in the Map Room of the White House, March 15

This morning the President gave local TV interviews to KOAT Albuquerque, KDKA Pittsburgh and WVEC Hampton Roads

WVEC interview – part one:

Parts two and three