Obama Faces Criticism for Weekend Vacation

The first family returned to the White House Sunday from a weekend vacation in Maine that received stinging criticism from  the GOP.

The complaints complaints include: Obamas took a trip up north instead of vacationing in the Gulf of Mexico as he and first Lady Michelle Obama have encouraged families to do and that he took the trip during the oil spill that has recently been contained.

The Republicans have also attacked Obama’s golfing; the president has gone nearly 10 times in the 12 weeks since the April 20 oil rig explosion and the Republican National Convention has set up a Web site detailing the president’s trips.

Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons reportedly called the Republicans’ criticism “galling,” in lift of George W. Bush’s frequent trips to Camp David and his Crawford, Texas ranch.

“Barack Obama is working as hard as any president that we’ve had in recent history and certainly had in recent history and certainly harder than the most immediate president,”  Simmons told CNN.

At this point in the Bush presidency, Bush had taken 120 days off; Obama is at 65, according to the Associated Press.

Image: Charles Dharapak / AP Photo

A Chicago native, Bridgette has been a journalist since she first wrote for her seventh grade newsletter. Today, that passion is just as strong. She has written for several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Defender, the Marshall News-Messenger (Texas) and the Springfield News-Sun (Ohio).

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