President Obama will be in KC on Wednesday…

29 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Michael Bersin in Uncategorized

…and Show Me Progress will be there, too. If you want to follow me as I post real-time pictures to Instagram and live-tweet the event, I am @BGinKC at both places.

1 thought on “President Obama will be in KC on Wednesday…”

Michael Bersin said:

July 30, 2014 at 12:03 pm

From press travel pool reports:

Wheels down at Kansas City International Airport at 7:02 p.m. Central.
President Obama emerged at 7:14 p.m. to a pleasantly cool evening and was greeted on the runway by Mayor Sly James of Kansas City and Representative Emanuel Clever. They shook hands and spoke for a few moments at the bottom of the stairs before the president headed toward a crowd gathered to shake hands. “Hello, everybody,” he said as he walked up, commenting at one point on the nice weather.
“Hey, buddy, give me a high five!” he said at one point to “a small, blonde cherub,” as described by NPR’s Tamara Keith. The boy obliged.
[….]
[Emmarie Huetteman, New York Times]

As the motorcade headed into Kansas City, people gathered in sporadic clumps along the highway, often with camera phones in hand and some with young children on their shoulders.
Workers gathered outside Toyota and Harley Davidson dealerships to watch, many clad in their red and orange work shirts, respectively.
Not all of the onlookers were on foot. On the opposite side of the highway, some cars pulled over to the shoulder, phones extended out the window. Traffic even slowed in one spot as drivers watched the motorcade pass, with at least one woman waving out her open, driver’s side window as she drove.
[….]
[Emmarie Huetteman, New York Times]

A stop for barbecue:

Pool was allowed into Arthur Bryant’s, a popular BBQ joint, as the president ordered at the back of the restaurant, looking up at the menu on a large placard as he asked for a half slab, a bottle of water, and a Bud Light – pooler got visual confirmation on the water but not the beer.
Mr. Obama also ordered coleslaw, only to be told they don’t have any.
“You’ve got to have some coleslaw around here, don’t you?” he said. “You’re out of it? You didn’t save any for me?”
“Come on, man, I thought you were going to hook me up,” he added, as the workers grinned.
At the cash register, he pulled out a wallet and some cash, with a $50 bill visible on top.
“I want to pay for everybody,” he told the woman at the register, likely referring to the guests who wrote him letters.
After ordering, he headed into another room with black-and-white photos of baseball players lining the walls, where he greeted smiling diners (and the pool tried not to fall into anyone’s laps in the slightly cramped quarters).
A fast-pitch softball team of 16-year-old girls called the Titans (hometown of Glenview, Illinois) sat in spots throughout the restaurant, finishing up their meals in navy blue uniforms. The president learned they are playing in the “World Series” (which is reportedly taking place in Independence, Missouri), and said he would cheer for them.
A woman with blonde hair and glasses rose to shake his hand from another table.
“He’s so handsome, oh my God!” she exclaimed.
“I’m paying for her food,” he said after hugging her.
“You’re so handsome,” she continued. “The First Lady is so lucky.”
She became choked up as she shook his hand a final time, and he continued, sitting down with the four letter-writers – see details in the last pool report [residents of the area who were invited by the White House to join President Obama for dinner] – around a table in the corner by the front window with, at that point, only large cups set out. They began to talk, and the pool was ushered out.
Pool is now holding outside as a crowd gathers next to the restaurant.
Again, thanks to NPR’s Tamara Keith for many of the president’s quotes.
[Emmarie Huetteman, New York Times]

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Show Me Progress

~ covering government and politics in Missouri – since 2007

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