NYT: Obama: At Home in the Islands

[Pirate Smile]

Obama: At Home in the Islands
By Michael Falcone

HONOLULU — Mention shave ice and plate lunch and you may get a Hawaiian’s attention. Greet someone with the slang, “Howzit?” and say goodbye with a flash of the “shaka” sign (fist closed, thumb and pinky extended) and you have established your credibility with Hawaii natives.
Senator Barack Obama may be a mainlander now, but in the opening days of his week-long vacation in Hawaii, he has shown off his local roots.

In what is likely to be the only public appearance of his trip, Mr. Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee, on Friday alluded to his vacation itinerary by highlighting some local favorites.
“I’m going to get a plate lunch. I might go to Zippy’s. I might go to Rainbow Drive-In. I haven’t decided yet. Get some Zip Min. I’m going to go get some shave ice. I’m going to go body surfing at an undisclosed location,” Mr. Obama told a crowd who had gathered hours before his arrival in Honolulu. “I’m going to see my tutu — my grandma — and I’m going to watch my girls play on the beach, and once in a while I might go into the water.”
Rainbow Drive-In and Zippy’s, home to the noodle dish Zip Min, are popular Honolulu eateries. And many islanders appear to be accepting Mr. Obama as one of their own once again. On Sunday the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper declared: “Obama connects with the plate lunch spirit on Hawaii vacation.”

But while he is drawing newspaper headlines and airtime on television stations across the state, a reminder of the political battle that awaits him across the ocean came in the form of television ads for Senator John McCain, which are now on the air in Hawaii.
Mr. Obama, who is staying at a rented home on the windward, or eastern, side of Oahu, has already visited his 85-year-old grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, twice, played 18 holes of golf and dined with his family at Alan Wong’s, a top Honolulu restaurant.
During a morning jog on Saturday Mr. Obama came close to another People magazine moment when a photographer snapped a photo of him running along the beach barefoot, clad in black shorts and a T-shirt. (He may be trying to avoid the bare-chested look that earned him a spot in the magazine’s “Beach Babes” feature in early 2007.)

But with all the local attention focused on him, Mr. Obama may not be able to avoid another shot like that even if, as he says, he’ll be headed for an “undisclosed location” to body surf. Even paradise has its hazards.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/obama-at-home-in-the-islands/#more-5856

[FrenchieCat]

1. Guess Obama is supposed to be scared of everything.......

including pictures, while McCain goes around giving his wife away to bikers. Geesh!

[Pirate Smile]

2. I actually think this article is pretty positive in tone.

You know people/reporters are staking out all the body surfing beaches. Everybody wants to get the photo of that. They could probably make some $$$ off of it. I noticed the local papers have postings requesting that people forward or post on their news websites any pics they manage to get of Obama.

He is being stalked by the professional and amateur photographers alike.

[Median Democrat]

3. Perhaps The GOP Is Planning Attack Ads Featuring A Plate Lunch

Of course, there is the ubiquitous Hawaiian SPAM musubi!

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And its sister in crime, the loco moco:

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[BrotherBuzz]

4. Mmmm, plate lunch