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Obama to visit ill grandma in Hawaii

Ill tutu brings Obama to isles

STORY SUMMARY | READ THE FULL STORY

In the home stretch of a brutal presidential race, Sen. Barack Obama plans to stop campaigning and return to Honolulu this week to visit his 85-year-old grandmother, who was described as seriously ill.


Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise Obama when he was growing up here, was released from a hospital Friday, according to the Illinois Democrat's campaign. Dunham still lives in the Punahou-area apartment where Obama spent part of his childhood.


Unlike his pre-convention family vacation here in August, Obama will be traveling without his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters. Campaign officials said he will leave Indiana on Thursday, spend Friday with his grandmother and return to the campaign trail Saturday.

— Staff and News Reports



FULL STORY >>

By Staff and News Reports

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 21, 2008

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Hawaii-born Sen. Barack Obama plans to return to Oahu late this week to spend a day with his gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother.

[Preview] Barack Obama To Visit Ailing Grandmother On Oahu
[Preview]
 

According to Obama's campaign advisor Dunham's situtation is 'serious'

[ Watch ]

 
In partnership with KITV.com
Obama, who is leading presidential rival Sen. John McCain in national polls, will take a nearly two-day break from campaigning less than two weeks before Election Day, Nov. 4.

 

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday that Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise Obama, was released from the hospital late last week. But he said her health had deteriorated "to the point where her situation is very serious."

Obama last traveled to Oahu in August before the Democratic Party's national convention. The weeklong family vacation included numerous trips to his grandmother's Punahou-area apartment.

"Senator Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life, along with his mother and his grandfather," Gibbs said. "Recently his grandmother has become ill, and in the last few weeks her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her."

Obama's wife, Michelle, and two daughters will not be traveling to Hawaii this week.

Rallies scheduled in Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa, will be canceled, while Michelle Obama will fill in at events in Ohio.

Obama's Hawaii campaign officials confirmed the upcoming trip but said details were being handled by his campaign on the mainland.

Gov. Linda Lingle told reporters yesterday afternoon that she had just heard about Obama's trip back to Hawaii. "It is for a very sad reason: His grandmother is ill," she said.

Citing the family's desire for privacy, Gibbs would not discuss the nature of Dunham's illness. It seemed likely that she was close to death, as Gibbs said that "everyone understands the decision that Sen. Obama is making." Dunham turns 86 on Sunday.

Obama, who calls Dunham "Toot," short for "Tutu," credits her with instilling him with the values she grew up with in small-town Kansas. Obama lived with her and his grandfather Stanley Dunham for several years while growing up on Oahu.

In a campaign ad this year, Obama described his grandmother as the daughter of a Midwestern oil company clerk who "taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland" - things like "accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated."

She is also the "white grandmother" he referred to in a speech on race.

Obama recognized Dunham when he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Denver.

"She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight and that tonight is her night as well," he said.

Dunham, while now known as the grandmother of the historic Democratic candidate, made history of her own. In 1970 she and another woman were the first to rise to the rank of vice president at the Bank of Hawaii.

The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Star-Bulletin staff contributed to this report.

Hawaii-born Sen. Barack Obama plans to return to Oahu late this week to spend a day with his gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother.

Star-Bulletin / 1979
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is pictured getting a hug from his grandmother Madelyn Dunham during his high school graduation.

[Preview] Barack Obama To Visit Ailing Grandmother On Oahu
[Preview]
 

According to Obama's campaign advisor Dunham's situtation is 'serious'

[ Watch ]

 
In partnership with KITV.com
Obama, who is leading presidential rival Sen. John McCain in national polls, will take a nearly two-day break from campaigning less than two weeks before Election Day, Nov. 4.

 

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters yesterday that Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise Obama, was released from the hospital late last week. But he said her health had deteriorated "to the point where her situation is very serious."

Obama last traveled to Oahu in August before the Democratic Party's national convention. The weeklong family vacation included numerous trips to his grandmother's Punahou-area apartment.

"Senator Obama's grandmother Madelyn Dunham has always been one of the most important people in his life, along with his mother and his grandfather," Gibbs said. "Recently his grandmother has become ill, and in the last few weeks her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her."

Obama's wife, Michelle, and two daughters will not be traveling to Hawaii this week.

Rallies scheduled in Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa, will be canceled, while Michelle Obama will fill in at events in Ohio.

Obama's Hawaii campaign officials confirmed the upcoming trip but said details were being handled by his campaign on the mainland.

Gov. Linda Lingle told reporters yesterday afternoon that she had just heard about Obama's trip back to Hawaii. "It is for a very sad reason: His grandmother is ill," she said.

Citing the family's desire for privacy, Gibbs would not discuss the nature of Dunham's illness. It seemed likely that she was close to death, as Gibbs said that "everyone understands the decision that Sen. Obama is making." Dunham turns 86 on Sunday.

Obama, who calls Dunham "Toot," short for "Tutu," credits her with instilling him with the values she grew up with in small-town Kansas. Obama lived with her and his grandfather Stanley Dunham for several years while growing up on Oahu.

In a campaign ad this year, Obama described his grandmother as the daughter of a Midwestern oil company clerk who "taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland" - things like "accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated."

She is also the "white grandmother" he referred to in a speech on race.

Obama recognized Dunham when he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's convention in Denver.

"She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight and that tonight is her night as well," he said.

Dunham, while now known as the grandmother of the historic Democratic candidate, made history of her own. In 1970 she and another woman were the first to rise to the rank of vice president at the Bank of Hawaii.

The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Star-Bulletin staff contributed to this report.

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