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

[DontJustFollow]

Who was the "Plain Old Barack" ??? Every time I turned around he was busy telling us he wasn't like the "Old Barack" !!!

[Bitsko]

Huh? When did he ever say anything remotely like that? References, please.

[realtalking]

WHAT????

[Bitsko]

Don't bother explaining yourself. You're obviously a dingdangdoodle.

[nevadagirl]

That's dingleberry...

[bubbuh]

Take the meds, Dude

[DontJustFollow]

you're right... sorry. MSNBC told he if I just stair into the screen everything will be OK -
my bad. didn't mean to upset the Karma here -

[rich3324]

The election is over, time to crawl back under your rock.

[Opt1musPr1me]

Did he not know all of this before he ran? The article kinda makes him sound like he's complaining or something. I am sure he isn't but thats how it reads. He and Michelle can forget about that trying to be normal thing. Its not going to happen. You're the president of the United States and on top of that you are an African American which means the threat to him is greater than that of white president. Its a fact. His security will be tight 10X over because of this. They will all get used to it though. Going back to his Chicago home from time to time as President? I don't think the Secret Service will be too happy about that. It will be a headache. They just have to know that they all now live under a microscope and that life as they know it is over for the next 8 years if he wins another term.

[SouthFloridaDem]

I don't think he's complaining at all, I think every person who's been in his position has had the same thoughts and feelings. We just didn't hear about it.

[mairs]

Did you actually read it? The article kinda makes him sound..... what......?

[realtalking]

I do not see anyone complaining! What I see is simply an account of the changes, and the necessary adjustment that Barack Obama and his family are trying to make. After all they are not robots. For me, it is quite interesting to see relatively normal people, like the Obama's, who are use to doing normal everyday things for themselves, having to relinquish most of that independence, and privacy, to adjust to a world where they are now being guarded and watched over, so that their lives are protected, 100% of the time. I am very happy that they are safe, especially with the nutcases who are out to harm them, and I think in time the Obama's will adjust -- even partially, because I don't think that anyone can totally get use to the fact that there strangers out there who are simply out to harm you just because of who you are.

[devadasi]

I don't that Barack is complaining......what I get is that he's being extremely honest and reflective, which is very unusual for a politician. I'm sure every President-elect felt similar to the way he's feeling, but were not reflective enough to realize that with every gain comes a loss, or honest enough to admit it.

[nyhfrog]

Just send a weekly list of what you need and maybe a little money to pay for it (times are tough). And I'll send out a care package every week. I may be a North Sider but we're still fellow Chicagoans. Anything to make this presidency work.

You may have to leave Chicago but Chicago will never leave you.

[DontJustFollow]

Did anyone really know who the "plain old Barack" was? I remember his spending his whole campaign tell us all he wasn't like the "old Barack" ...

[Bitsko]

That makes absolutely no sense.

[mairs]

You've said that twice now and it doesn't make any more sense the second time.

Sarah?........

[DontJustFollow]

sorry - usually they don't approve my posts because I ask too many questions. SOOO..
Was the old Barack the one that hung around with the domestic terrorists and the anti-American clergy? or was the old Barack the one that was for CHANGE and HOPE and now the new one is hiring all the old Clinton rejects?

I just get confused and Chris Mathews is not always available to explain everything...

[DontJustFollow]

Sarah? is she the one that brings the gravy ??? Not the gravy again !?!?!?

[realtalking]

WHAT???

[jesselee26]

"In two months, they will move into a sterile house..."

really? i thought slick willy'd taken care of that. lol.

[laminator]

OUCH!

[indypete]

Woooooo

[bubbuh]

How childish. All that means is that it can't have little houses.

[zenwhenicanbe2]

Living here in Alexandria, VA, Barack we'll try to make you feel at home if you take a date night to Old Town! Welcome Obamas!!!

[soot]

The gift of anonymity is something I don't think I could ever trade away, but that's part of the job you sign up for when you pursue public office. I couldn't do it.

Anyway, I hope his family stays close and he finds a comfortable routine to ease into so he can do his best.

[antworks]

"The gift of anonymity ";
You know what "soot", I agree with you wholeheartedly! I could not have said it better. Anonymity is such a valuable quality. Most people don't really know how much it means to them until they've lost it.
My anonymity is priceless. All my life I have guarded it with all ten fingers and toes. Politicians and public servants (in general), actors / actresses, rock stars etc.; these people forfeit theirs willingly. President Obama will do fine -- considering the fact that all candidates for elective office know they're giving up this "quality" of self. What I have always marveled at, though, is this. When we (the public) hear rock stars, actors or actresses (for example) complaining that they don't have any privacy, it rings false. They strike me as very disingenuous or mildly deranged, to put it as politely as I can. Why? Because the very thing they sought so earnestly, now, they are afraid of. That is, being "known".

[nevadagirl]

Being "known" shoud not be the same thing as being stalked and/or targeted.

[roshni]

You got it! The little things we take for granted.

[barriosbabe]

The first President in a long time NOT tanked up on meds. Yay!

[ReddzVoice]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Isn't it great? LOL!

Peace and love...

[mairs]

Yes!

With eyes wide open. Finally.

Not stumbling around with slitted eyes and slack mouth.

[Forester]

There will be many costs for his service - that's just the way it works.

[nellie]

Propaganda
Fat
RFK

Dear Huff Po editors:

"Read the whole thing"?????

*sigh*

What happened to "Read the entire article"? Can't we keep the level of English at an optimum? If only to set an example for younger readers....?

[mairs]

I thought that was sorta kinda cute.

[indypete]

Gonna hafta rethink ever'thin;' now!

[Blue in NH]

But the dude is cool! Last cool president was Kennedy.

[beccasmecka]

Kennedy was a corrupt, womanizing, a$$. Don't believe all the stories that have been told through rose-colored glasses the last 40 years.

[indypete]

Quite right, but he WAS cool!

[anopenmind]

I hope he has a lot of friends and family gatherings to warm up the place!

[nellie]

Me, too. That's the best way to preserve the life he enjoys. He has so much on his plate. He's going to need a lot of bolstering from the people who kept him strong all these years. Especially since his grandmother is not around.

[dizmo4]

Get rid of Nixon's bowling alley and replace it with a basketball court....

[talkamongyourselves]

Ha Ha you seriously need to explain it? Is this the Huffington High School? Actually I think it's sweet, the future FOTUS can come up with "friends" now. Post election.

[bachrub]

From what I've read you don't make new friends when you get to the WH, but you cling to the ones you have. At least you can be sure they're not sucking up to you because of your new status. And this is where Michelle and the kids will come in handy. They'll probably see more of eachother now than ever. It was true for Jackie and Jack, LBJ and Lady Bird and many others. Their relationships will all get better and closer. And Barak is smart enough to know that one of the joys of the office is you can invite nearly anyone to dinner and they'll come. Jack Kennedy said that one of the biggest disappointments of the office was having that power, using it, and discovering how mediocre or unimpressive many of them were.