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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (91730)	10/24/2008 2:18:24 PM
From: Dale Baker	Respond to of 541582

Low-profile visit to Obama's grandmother: Obama Arrives in Hawaii to Visit Ailing Grandmother By JEFF ZELENY HONOLULU — On a whirlwind trip to Hawaii, Senator Barack Obama spent more than an hour visiting his ailing grandmother late Thursday and is set to return to her side on Friday morning after arriving here on a nine-hour flight from the Midwestern battleground of the presidential campaign. As soon as he arrived on the island of Oahu, Mr. Obama went to the Punahou Circle Apartments, where his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, lies gravely ill. She is to turn 86 on Sunday, but aides to Mr. Obama said doctors advised him not to delay his visit. It was an unusual departure from the tug-of-war of the presidential campaign, with 11 days remaining in the race. But it was a trip that advisers said he told them was not negotiable. He missed his mother’s death here in 1995, a mistake he said he did not intend to repeat with his grandmother, who has been a stalwart in his life. The moment Mr. Obama stepped off the plane here at 7:25 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time, his motorcade drove directly to the 12-story apartment building on South Beretania Street. It was a subdued arrival, with no waving to the cameras or welcoming party on the breezy airport tarmac. Her 10th-floor apartment is in a residential neighborhood about a mile from Waikiki Beach where Mr. Obama lived as a teenager. When the Democratic presidential nominee arrived, a group gathered outside, including several women who held a small, hand-made sign, “Best Wishes Obamas!” “She has been inundated with phone calls and e-mails and flowers from total strangers who have read about her in my first book,” Mr. Obama said in an appearance taped for Friday’s edition of “Good Morning America” on ABC, one of the few interviews he granted. “So maybe she is getting a sense of, of long-deserved recognition at — toward the end of her life.” On the trip to Hawaii, Mr. Obama stayed in the secluded front cabin of his campaign plane, reading and rarely talking with a handful of aides who came along. The knot in his red tie was loosened as he walked down the aisle of his plane to stretch his legs, but he stayed a safe distance from a small group of reporters who accompanied him. His aides have declined to disclose the nature of her illness, citing the family’s privacy, but have said that her condition is severe and she is receiving hospice care. A manager at her apartment building declined to answer questions about Mrs. Dunham. Mr. Obama has not scheduled any public appearances in Hawaii, but aides said he would still be in touch with his advisers in Chicago. During a refueling stop in Sacramento late Thursday afternoon, he walked around on the airport tarmac, making telephone calls and sending BlackBerry messages. In his absence, Michelle Obama is campaigning on her husband’s behalf, as is Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic vice presidential candidate. While Mr. Obama is only going to be away from the campaign trail for one full day, it still is an unusual occurrence at this point in a presidential campaign. “It’s not optimal, but there was never any debate or discussion or anything,” David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Mr. Obama said in an interview. “Barack’s grandmother is one of the formative people in his life. He wants to go see her on the advice of her doctors. He had to do it now. So we’ll just make do.” Mr. Obama is scheduled to be in Hawaii for only about 20 hours before returning to the mainland on Friday evening. He is to appear at three campaign rallies on Saturday in Nevada and New Mexico.