An Obama classmate and former Pittsburgher remembers....

Mackenzie Carpenter | Jan. 19, 2008

Your "Early Returns" poster (one of them, anyway) is on her way down to K Street to see how many traffic jams she can get stuck in, and report back to you.  Yesterday, according to this morning's Washington Post, it was pretty slow going to and from the Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial, so we'll see.

I spoke with Elliott Mandel this morning.  Mr. Mandel is a 47-year-old engineer who lives in Arlington, Virginia.  He is also a graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School's class of 1979.  He is ALSO the brother of Roseanne Levine of Squirrel Hill, and brother-in-law of Clifford Levine, a Pittsburgh lawyer who was one of President-Elect Barack Obama's most active fundraisers.

But most importantly -- at least for the purposes of this blog -- Mr. Mandel was in Mr. Obama's sixth grade class at Punahou School in Honolulu., and, in fact, may have had "Barry" over for a sleepover in a tent in his back yard.

Here is a photo of Punahou's sixth grade class, circa 1974.  Mr. Obama is the third from the left in the top row.  Mr. Mandel, in the white Punahou tee-shirt, is second from the right in the third row.

"I had a bunch of sleepovers at my house and everyone seems to think Barry was there.  He might have been there," Mr. Mandel mused. "I've emailed back and forth with him a little bit, and I asked him that question, but he didn't answer it." 

So, what was Barry Obama like?

"He was a very mild-mannered kid," Mr. Mandel recalled. "Very thoughtful.  A smart kid, but not the rocket science kid.  He showed a lot of judgement, when I look back.  He would stick up for bullied kids, even at the risk of being teased himself, and now I see that as a sign he was a different sort of kid.  He was pretty funny too."

We can sort of see that, from this picture.  Mr. Obama is pretending to choke on a pencil, while Elliott, just behind him in a vivid Hawaiian shirt, clutches one in his teeth.

Mr. Mandel is having a great time at the Inaugural festivities.  Last night he attended a party with Punahou classmates at AOL founder Steve Case's house in Northern Virginia, and tonight, there' as Punahou class of 79 reunion at an Arlington restuarnt.

He is hoping to score a ticket to the swearing in, but still isn't sure.  "Either way, I'm there.  I'm there to see five million people.  I want five million big ones standing there on the Mall.  I want this to be an unbelievable event worthy of world history," he said.

It's a long way from chewing pencils together in Mrs. Morioka's class.