All in a day’s work: Sitting down with the president

By Lisa Mascaro

Sunday, June 28, 2009 | 2 a.m.

On my way home the other night, people walked by wearing Hawaiian leis from a luau at the White House.

Crowded, harrumphed one man. And hot.

Tough crowd here in Washington.

People travel across the country, around the globe, to stand for a few moments outside the White House gates. They usually arrive when the summer air is so humid it feels like rain that forgot to drop. They seem thrilled beyond belief.

For reporters working here, visits to the White House usually mean watching the president give a speech in the Rose Garden or sign bills inside.

And the Obama administration regularly brings in reporters from Las Vegas or Dallas or Mobile to the Executive Office Building to discuss national policy with top staff. These are messaging sessions, to be sure. But also a chance to ask questions.

Last week was different. A small group of us was invited to the West Wing. President Barack Obama was on a personal campaign for the House energy bill, a signature legislative priority of his first year, and he wanted to talk to us about it.

This would be my first visit to the West Wing.

A Marine opens the door to let me into a modest lobby, with hardly any of the gilded-age opulence of the congressional leaders’ offices.

A single reception desk, a small vase of roses, a bowl of peppermints. Coffee, brewed, nearby.

Only the giant painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware” quickens the heart.

We were ushered to the Roosevelt Room. The president entered with, “Hey, guys.”

He sat in the middle of a very long conference table. This room was renamed after both Roosevelts in 1969, and is now considered the president’s conference room. The Oval Office is across the hall.

The six reporters take their seats before their name cards. Mine was placed directly across from the president.

“We’re going to focus mostly on energy,” the president began. If there are other questions, “that’s fine.”

Obama holds forth for 10 minutes on the energy legislation as part of his broad vision for fixing the country’s economic “fundamentals,” along with health care, education and the financial markets, so that when the recession lifts, we are “positioned for long-term economic growth.”

The gray flecks in his hair are a swath, really, especially on his right side. He speaks in those long, familiar sentences. Only much later did he lean back in his chair.

Annie Leibovitz is circling quietly, making photos.

The media have been criticized as too enamored of the new president.

Reporters don’t want favorites. They don’t want special treatment. They want access for one main reason: to get answers.

I knew early on what to ask Obama: What is he doing about the housing crisis in Nevada, especially as his plan falls short for those with severely underwater mortgages?

“I’ve been getting the letters of people who think they may qualify for the mortgage modifications, find out the banks are still turning them down on it,” he said.

He explained that foreclosures would be worse without his plan, but knows “rates are still too high.”

Then Obama did what he often does, offering not the hoped-for answer, but the one he could deliver: He was working on it.

The New Jersey reporter asked about the governor’s race. Harrisburg asked about carbon capture. Houston wanted to know about the oil industry.

There are many comments about the president’s reliance on the teleprompter, but Obama needed no notes here.

The president answered the others the way he did me: Looking us straight in the eye, with a serious, studied response, sometimes drawing charts in the air.

Our 30 minutes were up.

Auto dealers were assembling in the lobby. Governors would be in later on health care. Obama shook hands, thanked us for our time.

The Marine opened the door to let us out.

Outside, the sun was shining. Protesters and tourists were across the street, trying to see in.