Vacation -- again!

 

Obama Has Shot 41 Rounds of Golf as President

by Keith Koffler on July 16, 2010, 3:30 pm

President Barack Obama has played a remarkable 41 rounds of golf since becoming president, easily outpacing his predecessor and possibly damaging his ability to portray himself in 2012 as a populist advocate of average folks.

With the excursions lasting on average at least five hours, the president has devoted a total of more than 200 hours to golf, not counting time spent on the White House putting green. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent smacking golf balls.

The former community organizer’s 41 trips around the links – a standard of recreational activity well beyond the budgets of most Americans – compares to only 24 total outings for former President George W. Bush, according to statistics compiled by White House chronicler Mark Knoller of CBS News. Bush, whose golf outings were used to help deride him as a callow, lazy, rich boy, played his 24th and last round on Oct. 13, 2003, saying he was ending the practice out of respect for the families of Americans killed in Iraq.

Obama vacation brings rest, relaxation and rebuke

By Kristi Keck, CNN

July 16, 2010 2:04 p.m. EDT

President Obama squeezed in some golf during his family's trip to Asheville, North Carolina, in April.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Obama and family going to Mount Desert Island, Maine, for the weekend
• GOP criticizing Obama for vacationing during environmental disaster
• Democratic strategist says criticism is "galling," considering Bush's frequent trips
• "The president is the president wherever he is," Paul Begala says

(CNN) -- President Obama and his family leave Friday for a weekend getaway to Maine, but along with a little rest and relaxation comes criticism that the president is taking it easy with the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis in a critical phase.
The Obamas plan to spend the weekend on Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. The trip marks the president's third vacation since the oil disaster began in April.