Obama in Ottumwa

Hi, from Ottumwa. It's 4:17pm as we wait for President Obama to arrive from Mount Pleasant. That town's adopted son, former Iowa Governor and current U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, is shaking hands in the gym here at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, so we assume the prez must be close. NBC told us the prez did stop for a piece of rhubarb pie and coffee on his way here. It was an unannounced stop for obvious security reasons.

Speaking of...yesterday, the owner of Baby Boomers Cafe told us about the plans for the prez to stop by a private party tonight at his place in Des Moines' East Village. The Obamas were huge fans of Boomers' chocolate chip cookies during the 2008 campaign and helped launch those cookies to international stardom. But apparently, now that the word got about about the private, invite-only party, the prez will not be attending. Now that word got out, it sounds like too many security issues for the secret service to have to handle with crowds gathering, etc. Too bad for the cafe's owner. He's a nice guy, who probably didn't realize he jeopardized the event by letting us know about it. I feel bad for him and for the 100 people who were invited to attend, who probably really looked forward to the evening.

4:28..the prez is on his way in. He's early. More later. See you on tv.