Hawaii: Too ‘Foreign’ and ‘Exotic’ for a Presidential Vacation?

Photo of Napali coast by Jeff Kubina via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Barack Obama’s Hawaiian vacation has stirred up some laughable comments, but none as laughable as this: On the pundit circuit, Cokie Roberts has floated the idea that Obama’s trip to Hawaii sends the wrong idea about the candidate and his campaign, implying that his vacation spot—his birthplace, the home of his grandmother and, of course, a U.S. state—puts him out of the American mainstream. “It has the look of him going off to some foreign, exotic place,” Roberts says. “He should be in Myrtle Beach if he’s going to take a vacation at this time.”

Really? How many Americans would say they prefer a trip to Myrtle Beach over Hawaii? Anyone?

Talking Points Memo has some fun with the ridiculousness, asking its readers, “What is the most white-bread place for a black presidential candidate to vacation, since that’s apparently the new standard?”

Some of the picks: Wisconsin Dells; Kennebunkport, Maine; and Dollywood.

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