About 2 miles away from where President Obama was addressing a town hall meeting, people surveyed either didn’t know he was there, didn’t care or had to work.
Thus, aside from a fundraiser on the carousel being delayed, it was business as usual at South Coast Plaza.
Here’s what folks there said about the historic occasion:
Jose Bolanos
Jose Bolanos, of Costa Mesa, said he heard about Obama’s visit from friends at Cal State Fullerton. On his way to buy socks at Foot Locker and then to an internship, Bolanos said he admires Obama’s speeches and has downloaded a couple on his iPod.
But, “I don’t camp out for anything but clothes or sneakers,” he said, adding that he would have camped out to get into the inauguration or Election Night speech.
Nancy Wallace, of Irvine, said she felt she was too old, at age 73, to attend the town hall because she had seen images of primarily young people standing in line for tickets. Wallace said she’s a registered Republican but likes Obama.
Matt Blanchard
Matt Blanchard, a sales representative at Brooks Brothers, said, “I’m a big fan of change. “I wish I could have been there. I think it’s great he’s come to Orange County.”
Blanchard, a lifelong Republican, changed parties and supported Obama last fall, the first Democrat for whom he’s voted. Now his 5-year-old son even knows Obama’s name.
If he had gone to the town hall, he said he would have asked the president where new jobs are going to come from.
Ahreum Kim, of Korea, said she had heard Obama was in town but it didn’t matter to her. Asked how she might react if Obama was standing in front of her, Kim replied, “Keep shopping.”
Alain De Rosen, the men’s manager at Emporio Armani, said he would watch the town hall online tonight since he had to work. De Rosen, who is originally from the Congo, said if he had attended he would have asked Obama, “Is this what you expected by taking that job?”
Amanda Domres / Photos by Candice Shih
Amanda Domres, of Huntington Beach, said she didn’t know Obama was in town and she didn’t care. At age 15, she was ineligible to vote but she said she would have supported Sen. John McCain in the presidential election.
Kathy Karane was visiting her sister in Orange County for the Iranian New Year from Portland, Ore. and hadn’t heard about Obama’s visit. The Obama supporter did, however, notice a group of people crowded on a footbridge at about the same time she was in transit from Long Beach to Costa Mesa.
More from the South Coast Plaza blog:
For more on South Coast Plaza, see list of links on right-hand side of this blog.
Candice, last year about this time I was at Crystal Court at South Coast (or whatever we call it now) and noticed a lot of guys in suits hovering around the escalators. The mall was dead and I couldn’t figure out what all those security guys would be doing outside Pottery Barn. I headed to the escalator and found myself just behind a group of those security folks, with one lady security person stepping quickly in front of me to be the last of the group on the escalator. She turned to me and said politely “please excuse me” and I smiled and said “no problem”. It was then that I began looking at this group and realized the woman a few steps ahead of me on the escalator looked familiar. It was Laura Bush! The First Lady and her group went in to Restoration Hardware for a few minutes, and she simply appeared to be shopping with some friends. At South Coast Plaza! How cool is that?! Too bad Michelle didn’t get in some OC shopping while her husband did the Town Hall thing.
I saw Air Force One above me in the friendly skies today. Very cool.
Obviously Michelle Obama didn’t spend time at SCP, she wears potato sacks for clothing, she can easily find her outfits in the trash. I’m with the lady that said she would just “keep shopping” if obama was in front of her.
Wow, i was really looking forward to Obama’s change too. It is change, but it isn’t the type of change that we thought it would be. After I searched and watched The Obama Deception on Google video, I realized exactly what it was that Obama’s change was all about….. With this AIG and Fanny / Freddie, everything is going exactly according to his plan :-(
Yet another non-news story. Yawn.
Troy, do you think she was looking for new fixtures for the White House? ;)
I wonder how much it cost the taxpayers to have Obama fly here on Air Force One? What a complete waste of money. Hey, Obama. I’m sure the cost of you flying here could have paid of the home loans off at least 50 people here in Orange County. Why not do that instead?
I love how Candice puts all the supporters comments in the beginning of the article and the non supporters towards the end of the article… such a liberal thing to do
Idiots are oblivious, who knew?
“When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” What the heck was Obama doing here, leaving Timothy Geithner and Chris Dodd alone to step on their appenages? Those mice caused mischief.
The rest of us actually WORK.
This story and comments are pointless.
If Obama was in front of me I would keep shopping too
I was at SCP yesterday and hoped Obama would stop by. The guy can do no wrong in my eyes…
How can people expect the country to have turned around already? He’s not a miracle worker, and certainly can’t do much in two months. Give him a chance. You wanna go back to the days of Bush? Get real.