Reporter Asks President Whether Dog Favors Releasing Petroleum Reserves

Mar 15, 2012
By DANIEL HALPER

TWS:

The Washington Post's David Nakamura, today's White House pool reporter, had these odd lines in his last dispatch, just as the president was returning from a speech in Maryland:

POTUS arrived back at WH at 12:45 pm after uneventful ride. POTUS was greeted in Rose Garden by Bo. POTUS didn't reply when another pooler asked:
"Does Bo think you should release the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?"

So a gallon of regular is today costing Americans $3.82. And the question the press has for the president of the United States is whether his dog, Bo, thinks oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should be released.

President Obama has previously said there is not a "silver bullet" to drive down gas prices immediately. Though a number of his fellow Democrats, including New York senator Chuck Schumer, believe that President Obama should release the Strategic Petroleum Reserves in order to bring down the cost of gas.

In follow-up emails, Nakamura said he didn't know which member of the pool asked Obama the silly question, but he did say, "it appeared [O]bama just smiled --as he was in process of petting Bo on the steps going into [W]est [W]ing from [R]ose [G]arden. [A]nd then he continued inside. [H]e did not say anything."