Obama Friend: "Plain Old Barack Is Gone"

The Washington Post talks to friends of President-elect Barack Obama about the inevitable changes in his life:

A familiar number showed up on Terry Link's cellphone last week, the one that belonged to the friend he tutored in politics, dominated in golf and sometimes referred to playfully as "Ears." At least once each week for almost a decade, the Illinois state senator had talked on the phone to Barack Obama, but now the number seemed to belong to somebody else.

"This time I answered, 'Hello, Mr. President,' " Link said. "When he called, it used to just be 'Hey, Barack. What's going on?' But plain old Barack is gone."

Obama's home in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood has become a compound guarded ever more closely by bomb-sniffing dogs and Secret Service agents who peer through binoculars at neighboring rooftops. When he travels around the city, it is in an armored limousine and 20-car motorcade, so he has mainly stayed bunkered at home or a downtown transition office. Last week, Obama told one friend that he felt "a little boxed in."

This is only the beginning of the transformation that awaits the president-elect and his family. In two months, they will move into a sterile house in a unfamiliar city where they have never felt particularly comfortable. Friends say Obama is savoring these final weeks in Chicago and spending as much time as possible with his family before he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

During his political rise, Obama safeguarded times of normalcy and credited them for keeping him sane. A run on the treadmill in the early morning. An evening meander through 57th Street Books. Date night with his wife, Michelle, at one of their favorite restaurants. Pickup basketball at a gym downtown.

Obama already has learned that his mundane routine will be difficult to replicate as president, but his friends say that establishing some kind of similar comfort zone is critical to his success in Washington. They consider it one of the most pressing -- and most challenging -- issues of Obama's transition: How can he create a life as president that keeps him happy?

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[Vectorbabe]

This is one of those stories that has absolutely no actual information or news in it.

The article mentions an old friend who simply states that he answered the phone with "Hello Mr. President.­" I would do that too if someone I knew was elected President.

But in terms of Obama changing, his inner self won't necessarily change.

[cowman]

I completely agree!

[patianneb]

If anyone can, he can (find some degree of normalcy), and I doubt that he will waste one nanosecond feeling sorry for himself.

[Weasie16]

I"m glad he won and I'm looking forward to his Presidency. It's a thankless and lonely job all around....­good luck to him and I hope he finds a place to go for peace of mind.

[indypete]

The private 747 probably eases the pain a bit.

[ScoobyDoo269]

Careful what you wish for --- You just might get it!

[Hopefulinfl]

I am sorry I cannot feel sorry for him. Given the times, he should be happy to have a job and a home. Some Americans are not so lucky. We should all thank our lucky stars.

[biglover]

Hey Hopefulinfl - where in this story did it say he was looking for sorrow. You people make me sick.

[proudliberal4truth]

and who asked you to feel sorry for him?

[Ramus]

They are a down-to-earth family..yo­u can tell by the kids. He'll put in his tough eight years and then he can be good old Barack again. And the girls will be out of the White House before the press can ruin their early adulthood.

[MilesTone]

Nothing has changed about O except his address.

[KidSampson]

Funny, that's the same thing Falstaff said about Prince Hal.

[rickczar]

Kudos for the Shakespeare reference.

Still, I don't think Obama has ever felt like royalty. It seems like an inverted Pygmalion (in that he doesn't particularly want the entanglements that come with power) rather than a straight-up Henry IV, or V.

[indypete]

I'll have to be careful with the Shakespeare references when you two are around... Once I've quoted "To be or not to be" and said something about Brutus being an honorable man, I'm pretty much out of material!

[aOsO]

The new first family will have to do a little bit of adjustments, but they'll be fine after the first year.

[bascombe]

still, it must be kind of cool to be able to call your b-u-ddy, "Mr. President".

[bascombe]

still, it must be kind of cool to be able to call your byddy, "Mr. President".

[Erdgeist]

When I see Obama's smile, I know he is still the same Obama.

[Paul]

I suppose a South-Sider should have a Sox cap on.

The Cubs just can't catch a break....

[TheBrizz]

If he were a Cub fan he would've gotten to 269 electoral votes and then found a way to blow it.

[indypete]

Surely you're thinking of the Red Sox!

[Dr Independents Day]

Yea the only thing I DON'T like about him is that he is a Sox fan, and not a Cubs fan, like me.

[OhComeOnNow]

And he's surprised why? He IS the POTUS-elect now. That job in these troubled times require attention and dedication to the detriment of his buddies' time.

[proudliberal4truth]

I'm going to paraphrase your screen name here: Oh, come on now...ligh­ten up some :)

[bigdaddyvike]

has anyone really thought about how isolated he is going to be? No more trips the the coffee shop, gym, etc. without a whole contingent of SS guys all over the place. You couldn't pay me enough to live that way.

[TruthfullyYours]

you can actually pay me little to live that way. :)