'The One' Was Here!

There hasn't been this much excitement in the Washington Post newsroom since Brad Pitt dropped by.

Barack Obama, here for a meeting with Post editors and reporters, did what comes naturally for a politician: He worked the room. The whole room. The whole room of grizzled journalistic veterans, most of whom stood and, well, stared.

Note to media-bashers: There was no ovation. Many people were angling to see Obama up close, but the most excited newsroom staffers appeared to be non-journalists, including one clerical employee who was heard to shriek that the president-elect had shaken her hand.

The mob scene (while not quite as large as when Pitt was studying the newsroom for a movie from which he later withdrew) underscored one thing: Obama is not just on the verge of assuming the presidency, he is a worldwide celebrity.

Does the episode, which some staffers muttered was a tad embarrassing, mean the paper's staff has a soft spot for Obama? Not really. It means that when an extremely famous and soon to be very powerful person shows up at the office, journalists act like people everywhere. They gawk.

Camera phones flashed as Obama, trailed by Post Co. CEO Donald Graham, began his stroll around the fifth-floor newsroom's perimeter, greeting nearly 200 staffers. He was also joined by Warren Buffett, a supporter who was here for a meeting of the Post Co. board, on which he serves.

"Where are the sportswriters?" he asked. "I want to ask about the Redskins, Nationals and Wizards."

The shouted questions were about what you would expect from the heart of one of the world's great newspapers.

"Did you like Ben's Chili Bowl?" asked reporter Theola Labbé-DeBose, referring to Obama's recent visit to the downtown eatery.

"That half-smoke's all right," Obama said.

Another staffer asked about the family's dog search.

"Haven't decided yet," said Obama, who also spoke to USA Today reporters on Wednesday.