Work-life balance: Obama wants BlackBerry, kids who do chores

November 27, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama apparently is like a lot of Americans: He can't live without his BlackBerry and wants his kids to do their chores.

In an interview aired yesterday on ABC, he said that he is negotiating with the Secret Service, lawyers, and White House staffers on how he can keep his BlackBerry, which he sees as essential to staying connected to the real world.

"One of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation, the bubble, that exists around the president," he said. "I'm negotiating to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House. I want to make sure that I keep my finger on the pulse of the struggles that people are going through every day."

About his daughters, Obama said "a lot of it just has to do with making sure that they understand that they're special to us, because we're their parents, but they're not special in terms of having to do their homework or having to do chores."

Michelle Obama weighed in, saying that on her visit to the White House, she told the staff, "we're going to have to set up some boundaries because they're going to need to be able to make their beds and clean up."

GLOBE STAFF

If President-elect Barack Obama's speeches sound like his campaign addresses, there will be a reason.

Jon Favreau, who was director of speechwriting during the campaign, will stay on as the chief speechwriter in the White House, Obama's office announced yesterday.

Favreau, 27, who is from North Reading and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester in 2003, has worked for Obama since February 2005, when he joined Obama's Senate office.

Favreau was deputy speechwriter for John F. Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

GLOBE STAFF

ST. PAUL, Minn. - In a blow to Democratic challenger Al Franken, a state board ruled yesterday that absentee ballots that were rejected by poll workers won't be included in Minnesota's US Senate recount.

The five-member state Canvassing Board denied a request by Franken's campaign to reconsider absentee ballots it claims were excluded from the initial vote count because of technicalities or administrative errors.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie estimated about 12,000 absentee ballots statewide were rejected for various reasons - some legitimate, some not.

About 80 percent have been recounted, and Coleman has maintained a lead throughout.

ASSOCIATED PRESS