Obama vs. "The Bubble"

Even before he moves into the White House, the new President is feeling hemmed in and planning to do something about it.

Asked by Chicago reporters about his face painted on sides of buildings and lamp posts, Barack Obama complained that "because I'm in this bubble, I don't get to see all this stuff...I don't get a chance to wander around neighborhoods," saying that he missed encounters like the one on Thanksgiving handing out food at a local church.

But the President-Elect is resisting being cut off: "M)y Kennebunkport is on the South Side of Chicago. We own one piece of property, and that is our home in Chicago...10 minutes away from where Michelle grew up and where her mother still has a house...we're going to try to get back here at least once every six weeks or couple of months."

At the beginning of his campaign two years ago, Obama expressed worries about staying grounded in the face of all the hype, and he apparently still has those concerns.

In the interview, he revealed he will be sworn in by his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, and that, while he hasn't had time to settle on a church in Washington ("right now we're just trying to make sure that we don't lose anything in the move, including our children"), he has been getting spiritual support every morning from "a prayer circle" of pastors from all faith and denominations, some of whom "get on the phone and pray for me...

"I'm not even sure that all of them voted for me. But they were willing to pray for me."

With the country in the shape it's in, starting January 20th, there will be no shortage of Americans doing that.