*A politically rejuvenated President Barack Obama arrived in Hawaii late Wednesday for an 11-day family vacation in his home state.
Air Force One touched down shortly before midnight local time. The president headed to the rented oceanfront home in Kailua Bay where his wife, Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, and dog Bo have been vacationing since Saturday.
The president had planned to arrive Saturday, too, but pushed back his departure to stay in Washington while lawmakers wrapped up a frenzied and productive lame-duck session.
He begins his vacation on a high note, having secured victories on a nuclear arms treaty with Russia and the repeal of the military’s ban on gay service members. He also struck a deal with Republican lawmakers to allow tax cuts for all income earners to continue, a compromise that angered some liberals but won Obama rare support from the GOP.
At a Washington news conference Wednesday, Obama said the accomplishments of a postelection session of Congress demonstrate “we are not doomed to endless gridlock.” He described the six-week lame duck session as “a season of progress for the American people.”
The waning weeks of 2010 provided the president a much-needed boost following a volatile year and a self-proclaimed “shellacking” in the November midterm elections. Awaiting Obama come January is an economy still struggling to achieve steady growth, a Congress more heavily laden with Republicans and a host of GOP challengers poised to run for his job in 2012.
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Check out snaps of the prez on the golf course:
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