President Obama shops for Christmas gifts at Best Buy in Alexandria, Va., on Dec. 21, 2011. (Carolyn Kaster/AP …
President Obama, stuck in Washington gridlock while his family is already on vacation in Hawaii, did some Christmas shopping on Wednesday. A group of pool reporters traveled with him to Alexandria, Va.--where the commander-in-chief bought gifts for his daughters, Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10--and quite possibly ruined their Christmas surprise in the process.
Via the pool report filed by New York Daily News D.C. bureau chief Tom DeFrank:
After a round of handshaking he headed straight to the Wii section, where he bought a Just Dance game for his daughters. (It might have been a Just Dance 3 since there was a big yellow 3 below the words)
"The girls beat me every time on these dance games," he said, "but you'll never get a picture of me (playing) because I get graded F every time."
He also bought a pair of $50 iTunes gift cards and an unidentified game. Tab came to 194.48. "Let's see if my credit card still works," he said. It did.
The Associated Press reported the mystery game was "Sims 3: Pets." (Which is good, because Sasha and Malia would not have found out ahead of time otherwise.)
Earlier, Obama took First Dog Bo to PetSmart.
Via the same pool report:
By the time the pool was allowed in a shirtsleeved POTUS was at a checkout counter with Bo, who appeared to be sizing up a small brown "standard poodle" named Cinnamon, according to the dog's owner.
"Okay, Bo, don't get too personal here," POTUS admonished, holding tightly to Bo's leash. He pulled out a $50 bill to pay for two items, one a large dog bone. Total was slightly more than $41.
Then:
After more grip-and-grins outside, motorcade left at 1:21 p.m. Nine minutes later, POTUS arrived via side streets at intersection of East Del Ray and Mount Vernon to pick up some pies at the Del Ray Pizzeria. More handshakes, a little sports banter.
Chances are it was about the Bulls.
According to DeFrank, Obama "dutifully ignored all efforts by poolers to engage him on the payroll tax imbroglio."
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