Keeping in touch with the little people

Barack Obama told Barbara Walters he wants his Blackberry back. Apparently, he has been negotiating to keep it in order to stay connected to people outside his immediate White House circle:

Obama Trying to Keep His BlackBerry

Obama said he was concerned that the isolated life of a president would limit his access to information from outside the bubble of the White House.

Throughout the campaign, Obama was often seen communicating to staff members via his BlackBerry, a convenience the president-elect may legally have to forgo, and one which he indicated he was negotiating to keep.

For national security purposes, a president is limited in his electronic correspondences for fear of hacking. Additionally, presidential communications are strictly monitored and archived for historical purposes.

“One of the things that I’m going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation — the bubble that exists around the president. I’m in the process of negotiating with the Secret Service, with lawyers, with White House staff … to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House,” he said.

Like his uhhh, old friends back home in Chicago, perhaps?

“One of the worst things I think that could happen to a president is losing touch with what people are going through day to day … ” he said. “I want to make sure that I keep my finger on the pulse of the struggles that people are going through every day.”

Does this mean his illegal alien Aunti Zeituni has his Blackberry addresss?

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Afterthought: Will the same people who lambasted Sarah Palin for keeping a personal Yahoo! account and using her Blackberry attack Obama for “evading public disclosure,” too?