I'll give him this one. People get tired of the whole world looking at them. Of course, this is no where near as bad as the Oval Office if history is our guide. Look at the photos of any winner going in and at the end.

Do note he had a vacation while Hillary kept campaiging. Medical studies suggest women are sturdier under pressure.

A real story would be film of what is actually going on in the caucuses. We read rumors here but no film so far. How bad is it?

Secret service should have pounded the guy. He only wanted the photo to sell on EBAY. Jerk.

Sam,
This article was about the irritability of Obama and you try to change the subject to Hillary. Nice try. We've already heard Obama's surrogates trying to take an ELITIST position by saying the race should end before all the voters have had their say.

Like Bill Clinton says, stop the moaning. The race is just getting started. Just because you guys came racing out like a rabbit doesn't mean that you will win at the finish line. If you do need some rest, though, feel free to take a nap. You are sooooo far ahead its unreal.
=======================================
Obama got $250,000!
Rezko gets jail!
Obama is an ELITIST from Harvard!

An empty suit pitted against a bag of hot air. Tough choice!

I agree with you, WestCoastMessenger... This article was about the irritability of Obama and to try to change the subject to Hillary.... Also, it does not matter whether that man was going to sell the pic on eBay or not! Perhaps many other people have done that?!? That's not the point. The point is that he's very elitist and cranky! We don't need him as president....

You can pretend things for so long! I think Sen. Obama is worn out by being somedbody that he's really not! And you can do something like that for only for a while and your real personilty is going to poke through your disguise! Sen. Barak Obama was made by the same cookie-cutter that was used by David Axelrod to make Gov. Duval Patrick of Massachusetts. CHANGE and HOPE were the same slogans that Duval Patrick used; and there's nothing new in Barak Obama's campaign. All the stuff about hope and change were re-cycled and reconstituted by political fixes from Chicago David Axelrod and David Plouff for the manipulation of American voters! We know Sen. Obama even used Duval Patrick's speeches─ lifting them word for word! If you really want to find out what's happening with "CHANGE" lately, you should look in to what's going on with Barak Obama's carbon-copy Duval Patrick and how he’s doing in Massachusetts!

Ridiculous...you use ONE example of a harassing individual after 13 months of meeting thousands and thousands of people. What is Obama superhuman? Your report shows no journalistic integrity.

How does one instance with an aggressive individual requiring secret service intervention somehow show "wear and tear" of a candidate. C'mon, either this is a rather blatant attempt to somehow show that Obama can get annoyed or shows a bias against him, either way, ridiculous!

You listed an article from a month ago??Wow, I smell desperation in the air.

White people, black people, hispanics, asians, native americans.....all people in this country, have no reason to fear Barack Obama. Again people, he is running for President of the United States of America, not just a few states or a particular race of people. This is about leadership and vision.
There is absolutely no reason for fear, as he will work on bringing the country back together, try to end this war as carefully as possible, and bring our troops home.
And if you want to continue to harp about Rev Wright, try looking at the complete sermons from the most 'offensive' comments, or the ones that Fox, and some of the other news channels, showed over and over and over again. There is a lot of truth, but no hate there.
Oh, and charleschaplin, Obama sat down after March 4th, with the Chicago Tribune and answered every question they asked regarding Rezko....every one. They did their final news story on it....you should google it and read.
And the canadians finally told their story: the actual wink/nod came from the clinton campaign, not Obama. But that story was buried days after the March 4th primaries.

Mariann, when did he copy all of his speeches?
It was well known that he used 2 or 3 lines from Deval Patrick, not an entire speech. Using one word, hope, does not an entire speech make!
C'mon people, you're grasping at straws now.

As polls show Obama rapidly closing on Hiliary in PA and running away with it in NC, the Pantsuited One's most ardent supporters start squealing incoherently, spewing non-sensical, unsubstantiated arguments and recycling shopworn, discredited slurs.

Thank goodness it will be over soon. Licking their rhetorical wounds, our weary gas-bag warriors will finally be able to crawl back to their Barco-loungers, where they will doubtless enjoy a really good sulk, rueing a world that doesn't appreciate their mean-spirited, myopic, and pitifully pointless views.

After all the grace Obama has shown in these past months, he had a bad day.

Newsworthy? Maybe.

Emblematic? Certainly not.

I've been in a few social situations with Barack 3 or 4 years ago. We both live on the southside. It was clear to me and many others in our neighborhood back then that Barack would be President. I never thought of having a picture taken with him...that is so weird. That guy had to be a nut.
Jim White

Ummmmm, Mariann, Presidents can't unite? We have a President that has torn a country apart....but we can't get one that will re-unite the country?

Granted, it will be a difficult task, but I believe he can do it. Even with people like you.

In the last exchange, Obama indicated the guy may have disrupted some talk, not shown on the video, with school children, and the guy claims, perhaps bogusly, that his wife was a teacher at the school. Sounds like there may be a little more context to this -- what's the story, ABC?

i'll take "non-stories that the media drums up on slow news days because they're too lazy or under-staffed to track down real news stories" for a thousand, alex.

what is this post?

I'm sorry, but where does it say a man has to be retained for pressure? If you consider flights and other bogus excuses, it's hard to argue. Obama may not rely on legends or other pop culture, but please, let's all "step back if you can't step forward"!

Autograph seeker or not...Obama did not handle this properly. He is such a chick. If he is bothered by this, then how is he to deal with a real threat. In fact, anything that would test his temperance, or lack thereof. Proud to vote for him? I think not!

so a paperazzo tries to push to get a picture, Obama refuses and it is a story? Seems to be he handled himself very well and even offered to give the picture, but they guy would not let up. I don't know anyone who is that patient about such agressiveness.

WHAT HAPPEN TO THE VAUNTED 'SECRET SERVICES'?

This STALKER guy is obviously unmannerly or a psycho or a sicko!

I agree with Charlie P. To me the only reason why Obama is besting Hillary right now is because he is the stronger woman. He's better at being a 'chick' than she is.

Also, it would appear that run in #1 wasn't really run in #1

Ridiculous. Drudge built it as Obama losing his cool -- and the video shows a very subdued Obama. I mean -- the guy looking for a photo was an idiot. Just stop dude. This isn't like taking a photo of yourself standing next to some inanimate object. And that's the way he was treating it. Get off the guy's jock, stalker.

Why is the Secret Service letting this guy get that close to him when it was obvious Obama wanted nothing to do with him?

Obama philosophy: Deny and destroy. Don't pay for your mistakes. Deny ever hearing or seeing anything. If you don't want to pay for your mistakes just get rid of them or blame someone else.

Why does he need to stop and take a picture? That guy seemed like a rude jerk, obviously, Obama has other concerns.

Both side correct in my opinion. Obama is human. He should not be pestered like that autograph hound pestered. Still, Obama is younger, but not tougher than McCain, who would have accommodated the autograph hound, or really told him off.

I detest Obama and support Hillary. However he was absolutely right on this one.

That Dude was rude--I think they should have checked if he took medication that morning---how about more protection..I like the way the secret service handled it--very professional--

Where is the full story about this man interupting and standing infront of 3rd grade kids while Obama was talking with them? That is intially why Obama said no. Then this man followed him to 3 different places trying to get this picture. It weirds me out. We need to keep Obama safe from people like this.

NO MEANS NO!

What a pest!
No manners!

Just rude, crude and boorish!
He should sock him in the jaw; since the Secret Service was out to lunch.

Was Obama telling the third graders how he believes having a baby is a punishment?

Looks like Hillary is wearing poor Barack down! (If he could have only won those big states he'd be rid of her by now)

Poor thing.

Why didn't he just take the two seconds to pose and then move on!

He managed to pose with Rev. Wright and this guy could not be any more wacko than Wright!

Maybe his REAL self will finally come out. He is definitely scary and doesn't like his country.

Ah, excuse me.....I thought that baby kissing, handshaking, and picture taking was all part of the election process. Isn't that what every candidate is suppose to do on the campaign trail??? If Obama had just taken 2 minutes to take a picture with this guy (no matter why he wants it) then this would not even be an issue.

Makes me wonder....If Obama won't take 2 minutes to take a picture with a voter then what does that say about how much time he'll really take to help the rest of the voters. Will he blow me off when I ask for his help...just because he's tired???? Will he stop for a moment to listen to the problems of the people who voted for him (the white ones too) or will he be too tired??? I think if you look close enough you'll see he doesn't even have the experience to keep such a minor problem from escalating, how is he going to keep MAJOR problems from escalating.

Well for Pete's sake! Where was the Secret Service on this? I thought the future President handled it better than the queen of mean Hillary would have.

Candidates should be required by law to give anyone who asks for a picture or autograph, a picture or autograph. After all it is all about ego and what better way to show the world how big your ego is than by giving people your picture or autograph. After all it is not like he is really worth all the time and money spent on him. He is after all just a lefty twit running for president.

Oh, West Coast Messenger! let's talk about YOUR irritability as you've gotten increasingly distraught as the campaign has gone into OT!

Let's see you whine about Hillabeans irritability when that blog gets posted!!!

Obama 2008 -- Yes, WE CAN!!!

This article is so meaningless - wow, Obama got irritated. These people aren't robots. If this is the most "news" anyone can come up with I would say Obama is in pretty good shape. If irritability is a valid criteria I would say McCain doesn't have a chance - that guy is angry all the time. 24-7. This "story" is a waste of space.

u failed to mention obama said he'd take the pic but that he wud not smile (& he reportedly did not smile)

Doesn't matter anyway, neither one of the socialists in this article is getting into the White House.

All this drivel makes me laugh. ABC needs to go back to reporting 'real' stories, about how a 5 year study has determined that sitting in front of a computer playing video games could make your child fat.

Morons.

So the Senator got tired of being harassed , as would any other person and politely told this man no. Running for president means you have no basic human rights?

So the Senator got tired of being harassed , as would any other person and politely told this man no. Running for president means you have no basic human rights?

I am from Philly and know that people here will do things to annoy anyone. Just ask any of our sports stars, we will boo them call them names and then ask for their autograph. To me this seems like a nothing story. I am still voting for Obama, at least he doesn't lie about sniper fire.

Mariann, Obama is not a racist. Just because you keep repeating it doesn't make it so. Try looking in your mirror and try working with changing yourself. Then maybe you can deal with others a little better.

Now you can read into the future and tell us what type president he will be....hmmmmmm
lol I'm a social drinker only, and a college graduate.
And I'm sorry you feel the way you do about Obama. I believe he's a good man.

The Senator would not have been harrassed if he had just taken 2 minutes to take a picture. If he doesn't have the experience to diffuse such a small issue like this, then he definately doesn't have the experience to diffuse an issue such as Iraq, the mortgage crisis, Iran, Venezuela among just a few of our issues.

I hope no one thinks this isolated instance is the last . More will follow as the mental giants on McCain and Clinton's campaigns keep digging . It is refreshing though to see one of the three is not really into flinging crap onto the wall and seeing what sticks .

WestCoastMessenger:

And Hillary is... an elitist... from Yale?

Wow-a photog being a pushy jerk. Will wonders never cease? This guy needs to take "no" for an answer and stop using his family as a justification for being a tool.

What !?! secret service moved in - this guy has every right to ask for an autograph !!! where in the constitution does it say secret service can move it ! What is going on in this country .. freedom of speech being taking away. All this guy wanted was a picture and secret service moves in !! Unfair, he should sue !!!!

Obama is wearing ME thin. I have had just about enought of this man's sanctimony, of his defense of a racist and a bigot, and his solution to every problem being "we can do it" and "hope and change."

Obama is not just all hat and no cattle - he is NO hat AND NO cattle.

I will support McCain this November. I would rather have a war hero as president than some crooked thief supporter of a racist from Illinois who has done nothing to deserve the presidency in a time of war.

Obama was unnecessarily dismissive and arrogant toward this person. Gosh, Senator, just pose with the guy and smile and let him take your picture. President Bush didn't have any problems when he was running for office, nor does any other candidate I know with people asking to have their picture taken with them. Does Obama think he is too good for some people?

Obama did NOT lose his cool. He kept very considering the guy is a jerk who stalks celebrities trying to get things he can sell on Ebay. Most people would have decked the guy. Obama showed restraint!

"There's a good reason why 28% of Hillary supporters refuse to vote for him."

Because they care more about having a vagina in the Whitehouse than this country?

Mariann....His mother was trying to teach him about his black Heritage. I have a friend that adopted kids of another race and she was encouraged to teach them about their race. It is known that a child raised by another race or a bi-racial child has to know the their race cultures to keep them from having problems later on in life. Obama is a great speaker and he never reads from notes, he is studying what he is going to say. Give him credit.

Seems to me like he was just a bit tired of the guy being pushy.

I also think those Hilary supporters (as well as republicans) are funny. Especially those who think that he's showing his true colors.

Especially since it's so hard for Hilary to hide hers.

Just yesterday Obama followers were defending the rude questioning of Chelsea Clinton.

This guy blew his chance for a picture with Obama. Now, he will go down in local folklore as that whiny guy who couldn't get a picture with Obama. I hope he doesn't ride the bus or he is in for a long summer.

This "autograph" seeker was scary. He reminded me of Mark David Chapma The Secret Service should not have let him get so close.

Kudos to Obama for acting as usual with grace and class

Gee whiz, Barack O'Bama is getting tired of a pseudo stalker who wants to gruel a free picture with him. Stop the presses and wake the neighbors, I guess. What's next, a lead story about somebody cutting off O'Bama for a parking place? Or maybe O'Bama getting a plain old bacon cheeseburger instead of a deluxe bacon melt at a Wendy's drive-thru? Or maybe O'Bama gets stiffed by Netflix for a DVD rental? Like, wow!

While I agree that Obama is no saint, the Clinton mob is really scary. I can't believe intelligent people can vote for such an immoral person. Then again, perhaps they really AREN'T intelligent.

Those eBay photo hunters better not touch the REAL fighter in this race.

Keep going, Barack!

"I worked for Ross Perot"

I'd just keep that to myself if I were you.

I'm a McCain supporter, but even I agree that this guy was annoying. It was obvious from the conversation that he had been dogging Obama for some time. The SS should have kept him farther away!

Dennis

Love the new glasses in Hill's new 3 a.m. ad... boy do I feel safe now. What, does she take them off and then turn into SuperWoman?? What a joke.

This whole process is ridiculous.

Now its news that Obama got mad at a jerk. Whatever. Totally lame.

I think I'm hearing sniper fire, I gotta go....vote for Obama that is..

If the Ebay thing is true (and it sounds like a attempt to do damage control)what does Obama have against some white guy trying to make a buck or two? Like there would be any bidders anyway.

I'm not an Obama fan or a democrat but that fellow seems like a creep. I don't blame Obama in the slightest for getting irritated. What was he supposed to do, blow the guy air kisses? Thank some annoying fellow for giving him the opportunity of posing for a picture?

I think Obama needs to be exposed to the same rude bunch that the Clintons have had to face. He has had a free ride in this area. I do agree though that there needs to be better protection for all the candidates.

Shame on Obama for his attitude!! THIS is NOT an isolated incident with him. Similar incidents have been previously reported. I have worked as a volunteer for several candidates and I have never known one who didn't understand that this stuff (posing for photos, signing autographs, etc.) goes with the territory.

Obama shows absolutely no "common touch" with people. Brilliant, yes! But apparently a very arrogant person who gives Harvard a bad name by his chilled-water-in-the-veins behavior.

I am a Clintn supporter, and feel no love for the Obama campaign. But I still like Barack Obama. He doesnt handle hecklers near as well as Bill Clinton as its probably new for him to hear opposition on the street.

Lets cut Obama some slack here. I am not a fan of hecklers. They just want to cause problems.

Hey Harry in Houston.....Where are you getting this info from???? The article doesn't identify the man, nor is there anything I've read anywhere about this school incident. Again even if you do consider this an issue...it just shows that Obama doesn't have the experience needed to handle the Major issues this country is facing.

As I read all these messages, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What profound stupidity. We don't deserve Obama. Let's go with the same old crap we've had for the last 25 years.

I thought Obama showed restraint. Seems like the guy was baiting him. I would've told him to **** off in the second encounter.

Non-story. You have the right to a handshake. If you're in the right place at the right time. Otherwise you get a wave. Picture? Nope. Especially since you're obviously just collecting pictures of yourself with candidates.

Good call, Barack.

Temper, temper, temper! Tsk Tsk Tsk, Obama. Don't let your arrogance show.

ctfu tom, I am with ya...you made my day!

lololol whewwwww!

When EVERYONE was watching the SCarolina debate to find out if Sen. Obama was real...

Obama On Tony Rezco, "I only worked for five hours for a client as a junior lawyer." and later, "he never asked me for anything"

Remove the shades

Who does Senator Obama think he is? Too good for some people? Why couldn't he just have smiled and taken his photo with this guy? This is not the first time we've seen this from Barack before. His parents both earned doctorates and he's a Harvard Law graduate -- but he clearly has no class or the "common touch." Some kind of President he'll make :-(

The real story here should be about Obama's lack of protection from the Secret Service. This camera jerk has not been screened. Anyone this psycho and aggressive should be kept away from the candidates. He could have been carrying a gun, or the camera could have been an explosive device. Let me ask everyone a simple question: do you honestly believe that this kind of guy could get up in President Bush's face with these tactics, and not be immediately targeted as a potential strong threat to the President? Title of this article should be: "Are we giving our presidential candidates adequate protection?- obviously not!" By the way, Obama handled this rude idiot as well as he could given the poor support and protection from the SS.

Slow news day. Can't the media find anything intelligent to write about regarding the campaign? Why do we have to turn this into a trivia contest? So the Obama supporters weigh in with HRC slams and the HRC supporters cite this as proof that Obama is aloof and mean and the die-hard Republicans, who have supported the least conservative President ever, Bush, chime in with slams on any democrat within range. Is it any wonder the state of politics in America is utter horse crap and devoid of content?

"Obama must be tired of pretending to be someone who he is not"

Whom?

This is the second time the secret service did not to their jobs - +++++++++++He is not the president, and what do you want them to do go around with guns drawn? there was a lot of people around,, he was shaking hands with every one, that kinda goes along with running for president getting out and meeting the people, what are they suppose to go to the store tell every one to leave are do a back ground check on every one standing around,are maybe stage it where it appears he is meeting people, give me a break, the man had a camera .

The candidates are all millionaires and all are elitists. I'm not sure I'd want the guy on the factory line as my president. Regular Joes don't have Harvard and Yale degrees, don't write books and don't loan themselves 5 million dollars.
But I'd be pretty peeved with the Ebay guy, too.

The guy asking for the picture was clearly being an irritating jerk. You can hear the whininess in the voice, he's like a 5 year old. When Obama told him "no" he kept it up. If I were Obama I'd be a little afraid of someone who stalks you in three separate places wanting something seemingly innocent in such a hostile way. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy tried to pull a knife or a gun. The people I know who actually like Obama would never be that rude to him. This guy clearly doesn't like Obama, he was just trying to provoke him into a display of McCain temper. Obama put up with him far longer than any of us would.

OMG! Obama gets harrassed by a deranged stalker (or maybe just some slimeball who wants to use the photo for financial gain) and Barack shows that he has emotions. This is just....horrible!!!

The guy was wrong. This is not a story.

for going on 30 yrs now, it has been a federal crime to kill or attempt to kill a major prez candidate comprable to harming the prez or VP - and under the law obama is a major prez candidate, so he does have the Secret service protection under law... no one is saying shooting guns in this incident, but certainly detaining the person for questioning would certainly be warranted, and using physical force to restrain the guy if he resisted.. remember 1972 when Arthur Bremer, originally from Milwaukee, trailed several prez candidates across the country for a number of weeks, finally shooting AL Gov. wallace in MD during the MD primary season.. secret service protection for major prez candidates was put into place to prevent such a thing from happening...

Ridiculous...you use ONE example of a harassing individual after 13 months of meeting thousands and thousands of people. What is Obama superhuman? Your report shows no journalistic integrity.
Best Comment:
"How does one instance with an aggressive individual requiring secret service intervention somehow show "wear and tear" of a candidate. C'mon, either this is a rather blatant attempt to somehow show that Obama can get annoyed or shows a bias against him, either way, ridiculous!"

It is amazing that the 'pro Oprahma dolts' complain about this article somehow dissing Oprahma allegedly trying to shift the focus to Clinton. Hello...Earth to dolts, Earth to dolts, the popular media is so ridiculously 'pro Oprahma' it makes fair minded people cringe in disgust and horror.

Obama is just like all the other celebrities, and that is what he is, that wants the fame but then doesn't want people taking pictures, etc. If you just look at the episode, if Obama had smiled that several thousand dollar smile and took the picture the first time the guy asked him, it would have been the end of it. Instead, he wants to stand there and argue. What was the big deal? He has his picture taken hundreds of times a week. Maybe the guy should have asked him where he's hiding Wright and Michelle. That would have really set him off. I saw him whining on ABC, that women had actually gotten pregnant and given birth in less time than he has spent on the cam