Obamas take class break

On one of the toughest days of his young administration, President Obama did what surely made him happy for a while.

He left.

With little notice, the president and first lady Michelle Obama left the White House on Tuesday to visit second-graders at the Capital City Public Charter School.

“We were just tired of being in the White House,” the president playfully told the roughly 25 students at school, in the 3000 block of 15th Street Northwest.

“We got out. They let us out.” Mrs. Obama said as the children and their teachers laughed.

The White House said the trip had been planned, just not publicly announced.

Still, the timing and surprise created the feeling of two different worlds.

At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs was getting grilled about former Sen. Tom Daschle’s doomed nomination as health and human services secretary.

Meanwhile, the president was getting questions from boys and girls the same age as daughter Sasha, 7.

One child asked Mr. Obama whether he had a favorite superhero.

Spider-Man and Batman, the president answered.

Another student asked about life in the White House. Mrs. Obama took charge on this one, delighting the children with all the perks of living in the country’s most famous house: a florist, a bowling alley, a movie theater, even a special place where people make chocolate and candy.

“You should come visit,” she said.

The stop at the school underscored a promise the Obamas made and insist they will keep: to avoid getting caught up in a White House bubble. They say they will be visible in parts of the D.C. community - even during a difficult or hectic day.

Consider what happened just before Mr. Obama left the White House compound.

In the span of a few hours, he dealt with the aborted candidacy of his government’s chief performance officer over an embarrassing tax problem; he announced a new commerce secretary nominee to replace the one who withdrew weeks earlier because of corruption investigation; and he accepted the withdrawal by Mr. Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat who had problems with back taxes and ethical conflicts.

None of that came up at school, though Mr. Obama did sneak in a plug for his economic stimulus plan.

He was upbeat while reading to students with Mrs. Obama about astronauts landing on the moon.

Mr. Obama took a class photo, accepted hugs from the children, thanked them for pictures they made and even delivered to them a couple of brown-paper bags full of books.

“Thank you, guys,” he said before leaving to talk with TV network anchors in the Oval Office.