One could, I suppose, criticize Barack Obama for wanting to take a break from the campaign trail. There are just 86 days until the election, and just 15 days until the Democratic National Convention, and one might feel tempted to tell Obama, “You can rest after November 4.”<\/p>\n
But it seems Obama isn’t being criticized for taking a break, so much as he’s being criticized for where<\/i> he’s taking a break. TNR’s Michael Crowley noted<\/a>:<\/p>\n I know he grew up [in Hawaii] and all. But if Obama’s being smeared as a highfalutin celebrity who is somehow “other” and distant from the American heartland, is Hawaii really the ideal vacation destination? It sounds trivial but such things can resonate…. John Kerry’s staff asked him not to windsurf in the summer of 2004 and he didn’t listen. The results are famous. <\/p>\n I might have counseled a nice cottage beside some Illinois lake with a wholesome name….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Similarly, the Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown had a 1,200-word piece<\/a> yesterday on the perils of Obama spending eight days in the state of his birth.<\/p>\n After Kerry retreated to Nantucket during the Republican convention, footage of him windsurfing there later surfaced in an attack ad deeming him the candidate who votes “whichever way the wind blows.” <\/p>\n “For somebody who has been called ‘elitist,’ going to Hawaii is not exactly going against type,” [Douglas Schoen, a pollster for Clinton’s reelection campaign] said. “I would rather have him going to national parks.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I suppose it’s hard to know what kind of superficial concerns voters might take seriously, but all of this seems a little excessive. Stephen Hess, a presidential historian with the Brookings Institution, added, “Anybody who picks on him for going to Hawaii is really looking for something to pick on.”<\/p>\n If the argument is that Obama is somehow lazy for taking a break, let’s not overlook the fact that John McCain has taken almost every weekend off for months.<\/p>\n If the argument is that Obama is elitist for visiting Hawaii, let’s not overlook the fact that McCain is extraordinarily wealthy, flies on his wife’s private jet, and has multiple homes around the world.<\/p>\n The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, mocked Obama<\/a> for having attended the “Punahou School, a coeducational college preparatory day school, from 1971 to 1979. The school campus covers 76 acres at the edge of the Manoa Valley.” Apparently, the argument is, people shouldn’t vote for Obama now because he received a scholarship to a pretty exclusive high school a few decades ago.<\/p>\n
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\nObama was born in Hawaii. He spent much of his childhood in the state, and graduated high school there. His grandmother, who helped raise Obama, still lives there and he’s anxious to spend some time with her.<\/p>\n