No White House confirmation of Obama visit, but stories aplenty
The rumors began circulating here in March. President Barack Obama planned to vacation on Martha's Vineyard in August, sources tied to caterers told The Martha's Vineyard Times.
To paraphrase Captain Reynault in the film Casablanca, it was time to call the usual suspects - the business people and police most likely to play a role in the preparations for any presidential visit.
Oak Bluffs police said then that they had heard the rumors but had not been contacted by any White House officials. Peter Martell, owner of the Wesley House in Oak Bluffs, the resting place for Secret Service agents during past presidential visits, said he knew of no visit.
On April 7, the Boston Globe reported, "Word is the Obamas have rented a house for two weeks at the end of August in the East Chop neighborhood of Oak Bluffs. The broadsheet gossip columnist did not cite any sources, but the Cape Cod Times, FOX News, and several other outlets picked up the Globe story and ran with it for all it was worth.
In a telephone call that same week, a White House official speaking on background, told The Martha's Vineyard Times that President Obama had no plans to vacation on Martha's Vineyard in August, or indeed, to vacation anywhere else. The president would not be taking a vacation this summer, the White House official said.
Three months later the rumors of a Vineyard presidential visit are thicker than a bowl of Black Dog chowder. Island real estate brokers, hoteliers, and caterers are abuzz with talk about Secret Service agents and White House staff contacts. And the White House has modified its earlier denial of any summer vacation plans to a flat refusal to confirm that the Vineyard is the vacation destination.
The refusal by the White House or most anyone else in a position of authority to say anything official has done little to restrain the Internet-fueled news fission, in which one report generates other reports in newspapers around the globe.
The latest round of Vineyard-vacation-destination stories began last week. News reports combined tidbits of information and gossip gleaned from Island sources with descriptions of a Martha's Vineyard that some year-round Islanders might not recognize, one filled with celebrities, tee times, and fancy dinners.
The Vineyard Gazette on Friday reported that the Obamas have narrowed a long list of properties to three private residential compounds and, "in a striking departure from the Clinton Summer White House years" intend to rent property.
The Gazette also reported that the President and his family would remain on the Island "for less than two weeks, as they seek much needed rest." The Edgartown weekly cited no sources regarding presidential fatigue after seven months in office or his rental arrangement.
Also Friday, the British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph carried the following headline: "Barack Obama to spend holidays in Martha's Vineyard," followed by this description, "Martha's Vineyard is America's classiest summer playground and has been a favourite with Democratic presidents stretching from Kennedy to Clinton."
The report said, "... The island is where America's Democratic elite comes to let its hair down each summer, enjoying 'clambakes' on the beach, garden parties, sailing and golf.
"Locals on Martha's Vineyard expect the First Lady Michelle and the two children Sasha and Malia to stay for the month of August and the president to come for the last two weeks," said the Telegraph report.
On Saturday, the Daily News website posted a story with the following headline, at 4 am: "Obamas planning Martha's Vineyard vacation? Rooms booked for Secret Service, hunt on for home."
Correspondent David Saltonstall reported, "Although the White House refused Friday to comment on the First Family's vacation plans, sources said arrangements were under way for a presidential visit to the island, long a favorite of celebrities and politicians."
The story quoted the Vineyard Gazette report that the list of compounds was narrowed to three and that "the Obamas plan to actually pay rent, not take a loaner from a wealthy friend."
The reporter declared, "The First Family's getaway would electrify the island, which in addition to the celeb set has long attracted African-American professionals from around the country."
"President's Vacation: Not Much of a Secret," was the Monday headline of the White House Memo by Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times (NYT).
Mr. Zeleny reported, "With the summer getaway season in full swing, the White House is busy arranging the president's first vacation since taking office. The destination - officially, at least - is classified. Yet it is hardly a secret to the people on Martha's Vineyard, several business owners and others said, where reservations have been made and preparations are under way for the Obama family's August arrival."
According to Mr. Zeleny, "Questions abound on the Massachusetts island.
"Will they settle in Oak Bluffs, Chilmark or another town? Will they rent the home of the filmmaker Spike Lee? Will they be there at the same time as the Clintons?"
The reporter spoke to Charles J. Ogletree, a law professor at Harvard, a summer Vineyard resident and a longtime friend of the Obamas. "I hope that people will respect their privacy and need for rest. The best thing we can do is let him recharge his batteries and prepare for the tasks ahead," said the noted and oft-quoted FOB (friend of Barack).
Injecting a political note, The NYT story said that a Vineyard vacation had liabilities "... as the unemployment rate inches ever closer to 10 percent, an oceanfront respite filled with tee times and dinner dates could be seen as out-of-touch with the economic hardship facing many Americans."
According to the NYT, "The Obamas are likely to stay in or near Oak Bluffs, where upper-class black families have been vacationing for decades."
On Monday, The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom described the charms awaiting Mr. Obama in a story with the headline: "Obama family's holiday destination, Martha's Vineyard: chic, calming and costly."
"The day trippers land at Vineyard Haven but visitors say the real charms of Martha's Vineyard - an island of 87.48 square miles off the north-east coast of the US - lie in places such as Edgartown, where Paul McCartney keeps a home, with its elegant whaling captains' houses and craggy inns.
"Oak Bluffs, where the African-American community congregates, is a bit more populist with its array of ice-cream emporiums and nightspots that cater to the fun end of the tourist population.
"For those wanting to get away, there are the Chappaquiddick Island nature reserves or West Tisbury, which carries the air of rurality with its agricultural tradition and horse farms. The chic crowd head for Chilmark, a village with ocean views and woodlands which commands some of the highest property prices on the island."
In another report, the Guardian said the following question remains unanswered: will the Obamas stay in an area of the 23-mile and largely segregated island long dominated by wealthy African Americans such as Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and the black political, business and cultural elite? Or will they follow the Kennedys and Clintons to parts of the island favoured by Paul McCartney and a host of film stars who have earned the summer colony the nickname "Hollywood East"?
On Tuesday, the Daily Telegraph's Danielle Dsane filed a story that pondered the question, "will he choose to stay in the area favoured by celebrities or the black elite?"
"There really isn't anywhere else for a young charismatic Democrat president to go for his summer holiday. Like Kennedy and Clinton, Barack Obama is expected spend a good part of August in the peaceful seclusion of Martha's Vineyard, the island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts," said the story. "... The big question is whether Obama will head to the part of the island favoured by the ex-Presidents and an array of Hollywood royalty, or whether he'll stay in the area to the northeast of the island favoured by America's black elite. The former, labeled Hollywood East, plays host to the Kennedy clan, Sir Paul McCartney, Carly Simon and many other stars. The latter, centred around Oak Bluffs and a beach called the Ink Well, is where Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee and many other rich black Americans hang out."
Tuesday, the Boston Globe reported that "Folks on Martha's Vineyard expect Obamas." The story quoted Marie Allen, NAACP spokesperson and longtime Oak Bluffs resident. She is 99.9 percent sure the president is coming
And today, The Martha's Vineyard Times reports that the White House refuses to confirm any Vineyard vacation plans.
