President Obama hosted an array of musicians at the White House for a concert that celebrated blues music as an American art that -- the president said, seeming to evoke the motifs of his presidential campaigns -- reflected the character of the American people.
Obama opened the evening lightheartedly, joking that the White House concert was one of the perks of sitting in the Oval Office that offset some of the inconveniences of the presidential lifestyle:
One of the things about being President -- I've talked about this before -- is that some nights when you want to go out and just take a walk, clear your head, or jump into a car just to take a drive, you can't do it. Secret Service won't let you. And that's frustrating. But then there are other nights where B.B. King and Mick Jagger come over to your house to play for a concert. So I guess that things even out a little bit.
Obama seemed to draw on familiar campaign slogans when praising the blues artists. "Their music teaches us that when we find ourselves at a crossroads, we don't shy away from our problems," Obama said, in keeping with his consistent characterization of the nation as being at a crossroads in this election. "And even as we confront the challenges of today, we imagine a brighter tomorrow, saying, 'I can do it,' just like Muddy Waters did all those years ago."
The president then yielded the stage to B.B. King, who (after the initial ensemble song), sang "The Thrill is Gone," according to the pool report.
