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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Isles bask in positive press

Advertiser Staff

Journalists traveling with President-elect Barack Obama are staying at the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki and filing reports that can only make state tourism executives giddy.

As state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said: "You cannot put a value on the president-elect choosing Hawai'i for his vacation prior to taking office. You can't buy that. We're really happy."

Here is a sampling of recent write-ups from the traveling press and others.

ABC News: It's a wonderful time of year for the Obamas. The future first family is trading in snow for sunshine. Barack and Michelle Obama and their two daughters, Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, are celebrating the holidays with friends in Hawai'i, where the president-elect was raised.

Washington Post: President-elect Barack Obama spent his first full day in Hawai'i working out with his wife, Michelle, ordering local delicacies and playing 18 holes of golf on a rolling green set against the backdrop of a volcanic mountain range.

As he began a 13-day vacation in his home state, Obama and his family settled into the oceanfront estate in quiet Kailua. ... He spent most of Sunday outdoors, enjoying tropical temperatures in the 80s.

People Magazine: President-elect Barack Obama is spending the Christmas holiday in Hawai'i — relaxing in the sun, playing golf and eating Spam.

FoxNews.com: It's 8 a.m. on Monday morning, and the president-elect's press corps is up and ready for work.

And brutal work it is, sitting on the deck at the Westin, wearing beach attire, leafing through newspapers, gazing out at the ocean and banyan trees.

"It's definitely not the campaign trail," says Fox News producer Bonney Kapp, recalling the ocean swim she took the day before. "Last Christmas, I was in Des Moines."

ExtraTV: Aloha, First Family!

America's first family-elect jetted off to a Hawaiian getaway — complete with sun, sand and golf!