I'm a fan of Obama. I remember the speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I listened in awe, knowing that I was listening to the man who would be our nation's first black president. I never dreamed it would happen so soon, but I knew it would He's intelligent, well read, and a quick learner. But I think he missed one of the lessons some corporate executive learned over the last few months. You see, the impression you leave is everything. If you come to Washington asking for money, don't waste your travel money on a private corporate jet. Yet it seems our President has just done what some auto executives did before him. He fueled up Air Force One and took a long, 37 minute flight, from DC to Williamsburg, Virginia to ask some of the House Democrats to come through for him on the stimulus bill. Not very different from what those auto execs did.
I realize our president doesn't have the luxury of choosing between his private jet and flying coach on US Airways. But I think a little more discretion could have been used in making the decision to go on this flight. Couldn't he have made the same appeal from Washington? Was it really necessary to travel for this? After all, it isn't inexpensive to fuel up one of those big jets, even for a short trip. I believe President Obama is going to live up to expectations. But in this case, he could have thought ahead just a little bit.
