Obama turns 47, staff loses present

[WhiskeyGirl]

Obama turns 47, staff loses present

From CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt
 
Obama turned 47 on Monday.

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -–Barack Obama turned 47 on Monday but it’s just another four-state day on the campaign trail for the Illinois senator with a morning speech in Michigan followed by an afternoon fundraiser in Boston.

But he won’t be getting a present today.

On Sunday night, Obama’s trip director Marvin Nicholson was getting out of a yellow taxi at his hotel in Chicago with his laundry and Obama’s present in the trunk. As he was greeted by hotel staff, the cab driver drove away with both the clean clothes and the present still in the trunk. The gift, which the campaign won’t reveal, was from senior adviser Robert Gibbs, bodyman Reggie Love and Nicholson.

Nicholson has been calling Chicago taxi companies trying to track the present down. If it’s any consolation to Obama, Harry Connick Jr. will sing him ‘Happy Birthday’ at the fundraiser, the Boston Globe reports.

(snip)

The Illinois senator often jokes about his rapidly graying hair, telling Florida voters on Friday, “I’ve been getting gray since this campaign has started. When I started this campaign, everybody called me a young man. They’re not calling me that anymore.”

In the battleground state of Michigan on Monday, Obama told the crowd that he couldn’t think of a better place to spend his birthday than Lansing.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/04/obama-turns-47-staff-loses-present/

See picture at link.

[WhiskeyGirl]

Hair apparent: Obama shows toll of campaign

Anne Davies, Washington
July 14, 2008

THERE was no mistaking it when Barack Obama addressed the League of United Latin American citizens in Washington last week: the Democratic nominee for president is rapidly going grey.

(snip)

Perhaps, too, there has been a deliberate strategy by his campaign to "olden" him, as some blogs have suggested in the US.

Senator Obama acknowledged last week that the campaign had taken its toll, saying: "The grey is coming in quick." He told a room full of donors in Colorado Springs, Colorado: "By the time I'm sworn in, I will look the part."

He will be 47 a month after the November election.

The presidency takes its toll on incumbents — Bill Clinton went from a regal salt-and-pepper to snowy white by the end of his eight years.

The fierce primary campaign seems to have had a similar ageing effect on Senator Obama.

(snip)

So has Senator Obama been colouring his hair?

"No, most definitely not," Zariff, his Chicago barber for the past 15 years, told Politico magazine last week. "It will be quite some time before we go there."

read the rest of the story here -
http://www.theage.com.au/world/hair-apparent-obama-shows-toll-of-campaign-20080713-3ehs.html

How many birthdays does Obama have?  Is this a typo?

[nonesuche]

Fair question WhiskyGirl, I am still waiting for Obama to pony up an official signed and stamped birth certificate.