Pre-debate, Obama hunkers down at Kingsmill resort

By Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot

Oct. 15-WILLIAMSBURG — Even though it was just a stone’s throw from where he’s staying, President Barack Obama was a no-show Sunday at “Ferraris on the James,” a high-end car show at Kingsmill Resort.

“He’s probably not going to make an appearance with this group,” Richard Sleece of Williamsburg accurately predicted as he paused from admiring the 24 luxury autos. It wouldn’t be very good campaign optics for a candidate who’s trying to paint his opponent as a protector of the rich.

The president’s Secret Service agents, however, didn’t feel so constrained. Sleece said he saw a half-dozen of them strolling through the show, ogling the pricey roadsters parked on a bluff above the shimmering James River on a brilliant afternoon.

They were unmistakable, Sleece said: black suits, sunglasses, earpieces. “They all looked like they stepped out of the movie ‘The Matrix.’ “

No one in an official capacity was confirming that Obama was at Kingsmill, but the security arrangements in place made it obvious. All vehicles entering the resort — including the Ferraris and those of residents in the adjoining gated community — had to stop at a checkpoint for an inspection by security agents with dogs.

Plus, there were several sightings of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the stand-in for Republican candidate Mitt Romney as the president prepares for Tuesday’s presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y.

Green temporary fencing blocked access to the Georgian mansion on the bluff where August “Augie” Busch III, longtime head of Anheuser-Busch Co., used to stay when he visited the Busch-developed resort. That’s where Obama is generally assumed to be holed up.

The president is giving up precious campaign time as he works to improve on his widely panned performance in the first debate Oct. 3 in Denver. Since Air Force One landed Saturday afternoon at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, Obama has been spotted out and about once, when he brought pizza and gave a pep talk to volunteers at his Williamsburg campaign office Sunday afternoon.

Asked by a reporter about his debate practice, Obama said, “It’s going great.”

That’s welcome news to Bill Jordan, a Ferrari owner at the car show who said he had been leaning toward Romney until the GOP nominee picked Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. Worried that Ryan will try to privatize Social Security, Jordan is now in the Obama camp.

“I hope he does better in the next debate than he did in the last one,” Jordan said. “I was really disappointed. He’s got to articulate his policies better, and he’s got to pin Romney down on his.”

The car show’s celebrity judge, former race-car driver Danny Sullivan, was unimpressed by the presidential hoopla. When he signed on for this gig, he didn’t realize he’d have to pass through a security checkpoint to get breakfast, he said.

Describing himself as “not a huge fan” of the president, Sullivan said he doesn’t understand why the Williamsburg getaway was necessary for Obama’s debate prep: “What, was Camp David booked?”

Pilot writer Larry Printz and Todd Allen Wilson of the Daily Press contributed to this report.

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Category: National