August 16th, 2011
07:57 PM ET
Obama Bus Tour Stop #9: Le Claire, IA In his final stop of the day, he popped into a unique gift shop called Grasshoppers which sold antiques and wine. President Obama chatted with the owner and they shared dog stories and apparently the president bought a gift for someone. According to the pool, "Obama walked out with what appeared to be a big silver M dangling on silver circle." Maybe it's something for Michelle or Malia. Before getting back on the bus, he walked over to the Kernel Cody’s Porpcorn Shoppe and bought a few bags of popcorn. This time he shared with the travel pool without asking. 
August 16th, 2011
07:00 PM ET
Obama Bus Tour Stop #8: Dewitt, IAWith all the traveling President Obama has done in the past two days, a quick stop for ice cream was next in the plans. He stopped at Dewitt Dairy Treats where he shook hands with many folks. He offered to buy ice cream for his staff and the press (the press declined) but walked away with 2 chocolate ice cream cones, 2 vanilla cones, and one strawberry ice cream cone. When it came time for him to order for himself, he was indecisive. "What other flavors do you have?" POTUS asked. Thinking about it, he finally said "I'll have a vanilla." 
August 16th, 2011
05:01 PM ET
Obama Bus Tour Stop #7: Maquoketa, IAOnce again the president's bus and motorcade is rolling through the Midwest as Day 2 winds down. But there was plenty of time for a stop at Maquoketa High School to check in with several teams practicing for their upcoming seasons. He spent some time with the JV Volleyball team in the gymnasium and asked them when school was starting. When they replied not until September, he said when he was going to school, "we never started before Labor Day. What happened?" He then made his way to see the varsity volleyball team and then outside for the cross-country track team. Apparently this was another surprise visit because no one at the school knew he was stopping by! 
August 16th, 2011
03:33 PM ET
Man sells mail from Obama after losing job By CNN National Desk Editor Kevin Conlon A handwritten letter from President Obama will be sold at an auction in California Tuesday. It’s expected to fetch up to $12,000 according to Nate Sanders Auctions in Los Angeles. But it is not the first time this particular piece of presidential history has been bought or sold. Obama’s letter, written in black ink on White House stationary, reads: “Tim – Thanks for your letter. I share your sentiments, and we are moving as quick as we can to restore some common sense to the financial system. Barack Obama". CNN tracked down the ‘Tim’ Obama wrote to find out the history behind the correspondence. Tim Mullin, then a window and door salesman in Lynchburg, VA, says he wrote the President that he was concerned about the economy and the financial crisis, and was ‘in a state of shock’ when he got the personal response. That was in 2009. If things have soured on the economic front for the president since that exchange, it has been worse on Mr. Mullin. In fact he says, the last two and a half years “have been hell.” FULL POST 
August 16th, 2011
02:30 PM ET
Obama Bus Tour Stop #6: Peosta, IAPresident Obama's bus next pulled into Northern Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa for the White House Rural Economic Forum. It's an all-day event where the president will share his vision for stimulating the rural economy. But his remarks were not without some jabs at the Republicans. Here's how the CNN Wires team put it:
August 16th, 2011
12:36 PM ET
Obama Bus Tour Stop #5: Guttenberg, IAAfter spending the night in Decorah and a morning workout at a local gym, President Obama's bus and the motorcade took off for Day 2 of his Midwest Bus Tour. First stop of the day was breakfast in Guttenberg, Iowa with a handful of rural small business owners. On the menu this morning? Two eggs and wheat toast and conversations with local business owners on the challenges of the current state of the economy. Focusing on the rural economy is the White House's focus today as the president will speak at the Rural Economic Forum in Peosta, IA later today. 
August 16th, 2011
11:30 AM ET
The President's beastly bus President Obama is rolling through the Midwest this week on a three-state, campaign-style swing in a brand new, sleek, black, armored bus. It's pretty flashy - no, seriously, it is, as in it has flashing lights like a police vehicle, which were on as the president rolled into his stop in Cannon Falls, Minnesota yesterday. The bus is one of two the Secret Service bought recently (one in April, one in June) to move "protectees" - President Obama, Vice President Biden, the First Lady and, soon, the Republican presidential nominee, as well as others. The price tag for each bus: $1.1 million, purchased from Hemphill Brothers Coach Company in Tennessee. A representative declined to answer questions about the bus but the company's website displays a number of coaches for sale, including used buses, one of which was previously the ride of a "popular country music act". |
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