IOWA CITY — President Obama spent plenty of time in Iowa as a candidate. On Thursday, he had a little homecoming of sorts, making a surprise visit to the Prairie Lights bookstore, a business he had referred to during a campaign-style rally just an hour earlier.  An account by the pool reporter, Carol Lee of Politico, who was traveling with Mr. Obama, offers the details. (To decode just a little bit for the average reader outside the Beltway, POTUS is the code name for the president of the United States, the Gibbs referred to is Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, and your “pooler” means Ms. Lee, the reporter assigned on this day to cover the president as part of a small contingent of print and TV journalists as well as photographers who are among the White House correspondents rotating pool duty, which requires sharing their reports.)  “Well, this used to be my favorite place,” Obama told the owner as she showed him around.  He remarked how as president he can’t really mosey around bookstores anymore, and said the office comes with the good and bad.  Obama walked around the store apparently in pursuit of the children’s/young adult section.  Along his way, he picked up “No Apology” by Mitt Romney and “Courage and Consequence” by Karl Rove.  “What do you think, guys?” he asked the pool, holding up a hardback copy of each in his hands before setting them back down.  On the same row was “Inside Obama’s Brain,” which Robert Gibbs remarked on as he walked by.  Obama then headed upstairs but was soon back. “All right, I’m supposed to go downstairs,” he explained.  A few minutes later POTUS stepped up to the cash register with two books in his hands: “Journey to the River Sea” by Eva Ibbotson and “The Secret of Zoom” by Lynne Jonell for his daughters.  Obama pulled out five $20 bills to pay for the two books. Your pooler couldn’t hear the exact price but the two books didn’t cost that much.  Obama also bought a book for Gibbs, who was holding a large Star Wars pop-up book for his six-year-old son, Ethan.  “It’s a little expensive, sir,” Gibbs said to his boss as he handed it over.  POTUS showed the book to pool as the cashier rang it up for $37.44.  “I can handle it,” Obama said as Gibbs suggested he pay. “It’s for keeping his dad away for too many hours a day.”  “I need more books than that, sir,” Gibbs remarked.  Obama then shook a few hands of customers in the store.  “Thank you so much guys. You have a wonderful bookstore,” he said, adding that hopefully he’s helping “to make sure everybody has health insurance.”  Someone remarked about the significance of his dropping by the store.  Obama said he hoped so. “It’s not every day a president stops by,” he said.  On his way out the door, POTUS showed his purchases to pool.  “Journey to the River Sea” by Eva Ibbotson and “The Secret of Zoom” by Lynn Dornell were “based on recommendations,” he explained.  “Of course, the question is how they take to them, but I think they’re going to like them,” POTUS said.  “Nothing for Mrs. Obama?” Bloomberg’s Ed Chen asked.  Obama paused to think for a second. “Thanks for getting me in trouble,” he replied.
President Obama browsed at a bookstore in Iowa City and made a few purchases for his daughters and his press secretary's son.