Has Obama Taken Less "Vacations" Than Bush?

I guess that depends on what your definition of "vacation" is. The MSM and the White House are trying to cover President I'm Either Playing Golf or On Vacation Obama's aloof arrogance and poor judgment.

Is there ever really a good time for the president to go on vacation? President Barack Obama’s 10-day summer getaway from Washington to Martha’s Vineyard — scheduled to start Thursday — has reignited a seemingly annual debate.

As a guest on Chicago’s WLS-AM radio Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that Obama should stay in D.C. and call Congress back to work. “If you’re the president of the United States, and the nation is in crisis — and we’re in a jobs crisis right now — then you shouldn’t be out vacationing,” the former Massachusetts governor told WLS hosts Don Wade and Roma. “Instead you should be focusing on getting the economy going again. And, yeah, go back to the office yourself, pull back members of Congress and focus on getting the job done.”

Donald Trump, appearing on Fox News earlier this week, complained, “the fact is, [Obama] takes more vacations than any human being I’ve ever seen.”

But does the perception match up to the reality?

Mark Knoller of CBS, the unofficial keeper of presidential work schedules, reported that President George W. Bush had taken more time off than Obama at this point in his first term.

Obama’s upcoming vacation is his ninth vacation since taking office. Obama has spent all or part of 38 days on vacation away from the White House. He has also made 14 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 32 days, for a total of 70 days, Knoller said.

Bush, at this point in his first term, had made 14 visits to his Texas ranch spanning all or part of 102 days, Knoller said. He also made 40 visits to Camp David spanning all or part of 123 days. His vacation total at this point in his presidency was all or part of 225 days away.

See the false equivalence? Bush gets out of Washington and heads to the ranch on the weekends, Obama spends weeks at pricey resorts, Hawaiian beach houses and foreign countries and that's just the same, isn't it?

And, even though Obama is hobnobbing with millionaires and billionaires, he's still in touch:

White House press secretary Jay Carney doesn’t think the public begrudges the president a break to recharge and spend time with his family.

Carney also argued that the president is never really off-duty since White House advisers go with him, and he still receives regular briefings on national security, the economy and other matters.

So, Bush stayed in touch on his ranch and had staff meetings there, too. Hanging with the rich folks in Martha's Vineyard and cavorting in the surf in Hawaii isn't the same as clearing brush on the homestead. And clearing brush costs the taxpayer millions less. If President Hopey Changey didn't have a tin ear towards the peons he deigns to rule over, he might have noticed that.

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.