Obama risks week-long Hawaii break at height of campaign... to spend time with his grandmother

Barack Obama took a break from the campaign trail yesterday and flew to Hawaii to visit his 85-year-old grandmother.

Even though it is his first holiday since he launched his bid for the presidency 18 months ago, Democratic Party leaders were jittery about him taking an entire week away when he does not have a clear lead over Republican rival John McCain.

But, perhaps taking a cue from a recent poll that reported 48 per cent of the population was suffering 'Obama fatigue', the Illinois senator defended his trip.

Hawaii-born Obama said he needs to see his grandmother Madelyn Dunham and also wants to spend some quiet family time with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia, ten, and seven-year-old Sasha.

'It has been about 19 months since I saw my grandmother,' he said. 'And she is at an age where it's really important for me to see her. And those little girls need a little love - as does Michelle. So we are going to take the time, all right?'

Democrats say that Mr Obama needs to accomplish two critical things on his return next week.

First, he must put on a good event to announce the selection of his running mate. Second, his speech at the party convention in Denver must be exceptional.

Slip-up: The last time a Democrat candidate took a mid-campaign holiday an embarrassing snap of John Kerry helped lose him the election

In contrast to the jittery nerves among Democrats in general, the Obama campaign conveys serene confidence that it will accomplish both.

Tad Devine, a Democratic consultant, says: ‘If he pulls off a good convention, as you would expect him to do, then he will go into the general election with a serious money advantage over John McCain.’

The odds, says Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman and now head of the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, are still in Mr Obama’s favour.

‘This is a candidate who has barely made any serious gaffes in spite of having had no pause since the campaign began,’ he said.