Obama and family go 'Access Hollywood,' talk about slacks and stuff
Every day, the presidential candidates face probing questions about their plans and policies from the reporters who travel almost everywhere with them. On the weekends, they're grilled by the moderators of the Sunday talk shows. So it must have been a real change of pace for Barack Obama when he sat down in Butte, Mont., over the Fourth of July weekend with “Access Hollywood.”
Yes, the syndicated gossip show that normally brings you the latest in the tabloid-friendly lives of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears 
is presenting an interview with the Democrats' nominee-in-waiting and his wife, Michelle, along with their children, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.
The Obamas have kept the girls out of the media spotlight, but Associated Press reports that they allowed "Access Hollywood" to talk with Malia and Sasha. Perhaps it's because interviewer Maria Menounos is no Tim Russert. If the excerpts sent out by the show are any guide, forget any talk of troop drawdowns or sky-high gas prices. Instead, think fashion and fun and Barack's old slacks.
On his newfound status as a style icon, the Illinois senator says: “I’m baffled by this whole thing myself, because I hate to shop.” (That's true, daughter Malia tells Menounos; on one shopping trip, her father "bought three pairs of black pants and the same jacket in green, brown and black.")
Michelle Obama says she keeps the romance alive in their 15-year marriage by telling her husband that she is proud of him. Sasha and Malia like it, she says, when "Mommy and Daddy hold hands." (Awwww.)
And Malia offers a suggestion to the candidate for wooing young people. After he greeted one of her friends with a formal handshake, she says, she told her dad: "You really don't shake kids' hands that much. ... You just wave or say hi."
The four-part interview -- an excerpt is here -- will be broadcast over three nights this week starting Tuesday.
-- Leslie Hoffecker
Photo credit: "Access Hollywood"; Maria Menounos (second from right) with Malia (left), Sasha, Michelle and Barack Obama
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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That interview excerpt is soooooooo adorable! This is the first time I have ever heard Malia Obama speak. They are really such a charming family, all of them.
Posted by: Anna | July 08, 2008 at 03:23 AM
They really are such a beautiful, down to earth family. It would be great to have kids in the White House, but the real bonus is to have Barack Obama in the Oval House. Bush & Cheney can't leave town soon enough!
Posted by: Cbright | July 08, 2008 at 06:56 AM
The Obamas are certainly a presidential family. Obama has the personality and the quality needed. I'm voting Obama!!! Pls visit WhyOBama08.org!!!! Barack for 2008!
Posted by: Sally White | July 08, 2008 at 01:29 PM
He's toast. Remember the last presidential candidate from Illinois with worn-out shoes?
(Oh, my, what an impressive memory you have to recall that famous Life magazine photograph of Adlai Stevenson with a hole in his sole!)
Posted by: jlp | July 08, 2008 at 02:29 PM
Alright girls, you seem smart. So go tell daddy to go back to the senate and create "real change" for the people of Illinois.
Or maybe teach him that people need to have experience before they apply for a job.
Don't play with Daddy's guns, now!
Posted by: deec4 | July 08, 2008 at 07:22 PM
Better to have a president with a hole in his sole than one with a hole in his soul.
Posted by: Connie Bryson | July 08, 2008 at 08:28 PM
connie, you are smart, you have said it for me, but i will say it again. IT'S BETTER TO HAVE A PRESIDENT WITH A HOLD ON HIS SOLE THAN A ONE WITH A HOLD ON HIS SOUL. GO ABAMA, NEXT PREIDENT OF U S A. WHAT EXPIRENT DOES MCCAIN HAVE?
Posted by: mary | July 08, 2008 at 09:35 PM
It's inappropriate to expose his children to such a low brow gossipy tv show. This show covers the heaviest breats, the dying anorexic twins, and celebrity cellulite. It's complete TRASH.
Maybe Obama was going for a certain type of voter viewer, and if that's the case, then we know he exploited his children for votes.
He should have done a family interview on 60 Minutes or whatever...not paparazzi trash tv. Now he opened the door for his children to be stalked by grown men with cameras!
Poor judgemet, and OH...did the "writer" of this article actually put "awww" in the piece. Someone ought to tell that one that Obama-Mania died back in the winter.
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Posted by: PumaKAT | July 12, 2008 at 06:19 AM
What kind of judgment is that?! This guy is completely reckless and a total hack.
obama-wire.com has become my new favorite site.
Posted by: Jess | July 13, 2008 at 12:54 PM