Obama turns 47

August 4, 2008
Obama turns 47, staff loses present
Posted: 05:20 PM ET
From CNN Political Producer Alexander Marquardt

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -–Barack Obama turned 47 on Monday but it's just another four-state day on the campaign trail for the Illinois senator with a morning speech in Michigan followed by an afternoon fundraiser in Boston.

But he won't be getting a present today.

On Sunday night, Obama's trip director Marvin Nicholson was getting out of a yellow taxi at his hotel in Chicago with his laundry and Obama's present in the trunk. As he was greeted by hotel staff, the cab driver drove away with both the clean clothes and the present still in the trunk. The gift, which the campaign won't reveal, was from senior adviser Robert Gibbs, bodyman Reggie Love and Nicholson.

Nicholson has been calling Chicago taxi companies trying to track the present down. If it's any consolation to Obama, Harry Connick Jr. will sing him "Happy Birthday" at the fundraiser, the Boston Globe reports.
Obama celebrated the day with his wife and daughters at a barbecue with friends in the Chicago suburbs on Sunday, his first full day off the trail in weeks. And the crowds at Obama's rallies have been singing him "Happy Birthday" for the past several days.

The Illinois senator often jokes about his rapidly graying hair, telling Florida voters on Friday, "I've been getting gray since this campaign has started. When I started this campaign, everybody called me a young man. They"re not calling me that anymore."

In the battleground state of Michigan on Monday, Obama told the crowd that he couldn't think of a better place to spend his birthday than Lansing.
Source:CNN
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Well-heeled serenade Obama on his 47th birthday

BOSTON (AP) -- It may take a few months for Barack Obama's birthday wish to come true.

The expected Democratic presidential nominee turned 47 on Monday and shared his special day with hundreds of friends and other admirers, who paid up to $28,500 for the honor.

Introducing Obama, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry said: "I asked Barack Obama what he wanted for his birthday. He said, `Indiana, Colorado and Virginia," said Kerry, referring to three potential swing states Obama hopes to win in the Nov. 4 election.

In a ballroom on the 33rd floor of a downtown skyscraper overlooking Boston Harbor, Obama was serenaded first by singer Harry Connick Jr. and his 10-year-old daughter, Kate, and then by the entire room in an animated rendition of "Happy Birthday."

About 850 people attended the birthday fundraiser, which cost between $1,000 and $4,600 per ticket. Among those, 250 also ate dinner with Obama - for $15,000 per ticket or $28,500 for a couple.

The Illinois senator received two gifts. The first was a Hawaiian shirt emblazoned with Red Sox symbols to wear on a vacation that begins later this week in Hawaii, where he was born. "As a White Sox fan, this hurts a little bit," Obama said.

But all was well when he opened the second present; it was a near-identical shirt with Chicago White Sox symbols on it.

Source:The Associated Press.