Posted on 12/31/2008 4:59:06 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Barack Obama is to move to Washington this weekend but will be forced to stay in a hotel after President George W. Bush said an official residence was "not available".
The Obama family are bidding farewell to Chicago and moving to the American capital shortly after their Hawaii holiday ends on Thursday because daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, are due to start school.
Mr Obama had requested to stay at Blair House, opposite the White House, but was told by the Bush administration it was booked up for farewell "receptions and gatherings" and was "not available" until January 15, five days before the inauguration.
The Obamas have chosen to stay at the Hay Adams hotel. One of Washingtons most prestigious addresses, it opened in 1928 on the site where John Hay, President Abraham Lincolns personal secretary, once lived.
Built in Italian Renaissance style, it is a favourite stop for visiting foreign dignitaries, Gulf princes and pop stars. The presidential suite in the penthouse normally sells for $2,500 to $5,000 a night.
Its master bedroom overlooks the White House and Lafayette Park and there is a gas-lit corner fireplace in the sitting room.
Although there was no room at the inn for the Obamas, Mr Bush has invited the president-elect to a lunch next Wednesday when they will be joined by former presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
The Obama daughters will be attending the private school Sidwell Friends, favoured by Washington's power elite and was chosen by the Clintons for their daughter Chelsea, then 12, in 1993.
Mr Obama has always spent the minimum time possible in Washington. He his wife Michelle initially planned to move the family there when he became a Senator in 2005 and looked at houses in Chevy Chase, Maryland in the well-to-do
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
heh
Serving the ugly people.
I hope he can afford the accomodations.
Thanks for posting that detail/ Bush’s offer. I think Little o is a jerk for pushing on this. He wants to move in NOW....
thank you so much for mentioning the alternate offer! Of course there was an alternate offer of a place to stay. Obama just didn’t get what he wanted.
Aww, pobrecito.
Exactly. The arrogant little turd is coming to DC a lot earlier than most previous presidents-elect did. Most of them arrived only a day or three before their inauguration; and he wants to show up more than two weeks early, and to be treated like a rising emperor.
So what? He's anxious to get into the White House to play make-believe; but why should everybody else change their plans and cancel events just so he can get what he wants?
I think he really does believe that he's some kind of messiah.
Gee Just from the Title it would lead someone to possibly think O and family are being forced to live in HUD Section 8 housing.
That mean old Bush.
Reality check Telegraph readers O is Choosing to move to Washington early.
Gonna be four years a spoiled grown man having tantums if he does not get his way.
I almost feel bad for his wife having to put up with him.
I saw the house he was forced to stay in for his 12 days in Hawaii. Boy do I feel so bad for him-NOT.
What is the source of that anxiety, I wonder? Why did other presidents-elect take their time coming to Washington?
Could it have been that the other PEs were secure in the fact that they were legally qualified to hold the office, and therefore knew no one was going to snatch it away from them at the Inauguration, so they could take their sweet time settling in before taking the oath?
” Of course, Bush offered to make arrangements for the Obamas to stay in Flag housing (where Admirals live) but was turned down .”
I think if President Bush had dropped the l ,
Barry would have jumped at it.
I guess that was tax payer funded and he is no longer a Senator.
It was not the Bush administration that told him. It was Laura Bush's secretary (from an earlier article). Laura was the one that said "Tale a hike".
It has been tradition that the next Pres can get into the Blair House no sooner than the 15th.
AND Obama is saying that he is better than the highest ranking Naval officers. Way to dis the military before you are even sworn in you jack-a
Hey O conjured up the office of the president elect, lrt him conjure up a presidential suite.
Almost.
Boy, ain't that the truth. With any luck he'll continue to do so.
The protocol is that the president-elect and family get the Blair House from 1/15 until inauguration. It was rude and wholly out of place to request an early move in. The Clintons managed to have Chelsea start at Sidwell without any big headline and theyare the epitome of trailer trash. Don’t know what this little scenario says of the Obamas.
So let me get this straight. Brocco and his Baby Mamma are going to leave Washington on the Saturday before Inauguration Day and hook up with Biden in Philadelphia (?) so they can take the victory train BACK to Washington! Spare me Barry.
The Hay-Adams? Oh, poor baby! The sacrifices one makes to serve one’s country.
:-D )))
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