奧巴馬鐵漢柔腸 不捨女兒離家求學

President Barack Obama is practically weepy at the thought of his daughter Malia going off to college, a milestone many months away that is already on his mind.

Malia barely reached up to her father's shoulders when they moved to the White House nearly six years ago with her mother, little sister and grandmother. At 16, she stands nearly as tall as her 6-foot-1 dad and is visiting college campuses in preparation for that bittersweet day in the fall of 2016 when she trades her White House bedroom for a dorm.

She has been seen touring the University of California at Berkeley and the Palo Alto, California, campus of Stanford, where another president's daughter, Chelsea Clinton, attended college.

In a commencement address to high school graduates in Worcester, Massachusetts, Obama said he's practicing for what's coming in two years. 'So I'm trying to get used to not choking up and crying and embarrassing her. So this is sort of my trial run here.'

Michelle Obama is also thinking about her daughter's departure. In a commencement-eve address to Topeka, Kansas, high school seniors, the first lady said: 'Days like this make me think of my own daughters, so forgive me if I get a little teary.'

Malia's journey into the next phase of her life will be a similarly emotional time for Obama, who grew up without his dad. He talks about his desire to be a 'present' father for Malia and Sasha, 13, and how living in the White House enabled the family to spend more time together than ever before.

The Obamas lived in Chicago when the girls were born, but he was often away in Springfield, Illinois, when he was a state senator, or in Washington representing Illinois as a U.S. senator.

Children already seem to grow up too fast, but it 'happens more suddenly for a president and a president can feel cheated,' said Doug Wead, who interviewed 19 children of presidents for his book, 'All the Presidents' Children.' 'The president is feeling some angst over this, and rightly so.'

Perhaps compounding emotions for the Obamas is that they, too, will follow Malia out of the White House shortly after she starts college.

It comes amid reports Obama has reportedly already ‘checked out’ of his job even though there are more than two years left until he leaves office in January 2017, a few months after Malia departs.

The US President is said to have played 81 rounds of golf since re-election – as many as he played in his entire first term – and has holed himself up in Washington where he attends fundraisers and dinners with celebrities rather than tackling the day-to-day business of congressional politics.

He is already all but a lame duck due to deadlock on Capitol Hill and has been forced to use executive powers to enact reforms. But come the mid-term elections in November, he could lose power entirely if the Republicans take the Senate.

In the meantime, commentators claim he believes that his time in office is effectively over – and has begun enjoying himself.

US reports say he has been house hunting and has looked at a £2.5million mansion in Rancho Mirage, California – dubbed the ‘playground of the presidents’.英國《每日郵報》報道，美國總統奧巴馬可能正在爲他的大女兒瑪麗亞（Malia Obama）就要離家上大學一事痛哭流涕，不過這件具有重大意義的事，早已佔據他的心頭良久。

六年前瑪麗亞和母親、妹妹以及外祖母搬進白宮時，個頭纔到父親肩膀。如今瑪麗亞芳齡16歲，正在參觀大學院校，爲2016年秋季甜苦蔘半的升學日做準備。這也意味着她將要離開白宮的臥室，搬進大學宿舍。

有人看見瑪麗亞參訪了加州大學柏克萊分校和斯坦福大學；前總統克林頓的女兒切爾西就畢業於斯坦福大學。

奧巴馬在麻薩諸塞州渥斯特（Worcester）參加一所高中的畢業典禮時說，他正在爲兩年後的那一刻做準備：“我正在努力適應，以防到那時哽咽落淚。我不想讓我的女兒感到尷尬”。

米歇爾也在考慮女兒離家求學一事。她在堪薩斯州託皮卡（Topeka）一所高中畢業典禮的前夕對高中生髮表演講時說：“這種日子讓我想到自己的女兒，難免想要落淚，希望你們能諒解。”

瑪麗亞走向人生下一階段的旅程使奧巴馬情緒激動。奧巴馬在成長時期缺少父親的陪伴，他曾談到自己希望隨時陪在女兒瑪麗亞和13歲的薩沙（Sasha Obama）的身邊。

奧巴馬的兩個女兒出生之際，一家人都居住在芝加哥。然而當時，身爲州參議員的奧巴馬經常奔走於伊利諾斯州的斯普林菲爾德；或者以美國參議員的身份代表伊利諾斯州前往華盛頓。

《美國總統們的孩子》一書作者道格·韋德說：“小孩子本來看上去就長的快，對總統來說似乎一瞬間就長大了，所以他們感到自己被欺騙了。總統對此感動焦慮不已，的確是這樣。”

奧巴馬的複雜情緒還可能與他和家人將在瑪麗亞上大學不久後搬離白宮有關。

儘管距2017年1月任期結束還有兩年多，奧巴馬已經在準備離職事宜。他在重新當選美國總統後打了81輪高爾夫，與他第一個任期時的數量相當。此外，他匿身於華盛頓名人滿堂的募捐活動和晚宴，而不是去處理每日的國會政治事務。

受國會僵局的影響，奧巴馬已然變成一隻“跛腳鴨”，被迫使用行政權力實施改革。然而，11月的中期選舉即將來臨，如果共和黨拿下了參議院，那麼奧巴馬將權力盡失。

與此同時，有政論員聲稱奧巴馬在職的有效期已經結束，已經開始享受生活了。

有報道稱，奧巴馬正在找房子，並且已經在加州蘭喬米拉市看中了一套價值250萬英鎊的別墅；該套別墅被戲稱爲“總統的遊樂場”。