Lake vacations are now controversial

“Summer’s in full swing, and unless your family is rather Romney-esque, there’s a chance you’ll be spending some time in one of the country’s hundreds of national parks. “

That’s how Washington Post “In the Loop” columnist worked in a gratuitous swipe at the presumptive GOP presidential nominee in today’s “In the Loop” column in which he interviewed Jonathan Jarvis, the head of the National Park Service.

It’s tempting to think this was an out-of-the-blue snark by Kamen, but you will recall that on June 25 he asked his readers for their input on where the Obamas should vacation, cheekily noting that it was “our civic duty” to help pick the next vacation spot for the first family — although it appears Kamen never had such a contest when President Bush was in office.

In that same column Kamen wrote the family might have to settle for an abbreviated trek to somewhere far less posh — perhaps a national park. You might recall that during the 1996 presidential reelection campaign, the Clintons (who also favored holidaying at Martha’s Vineyard) hunkered down during the GOP convention in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and toured Yellowstone, a poll-tested acceptable vacation spot in a crucial reelection year. 

Kamen is not alone, of course, among journalists attacking Romney’s vacation venue.  Kristin A. Lee of New York Daily News wrote that “as Mitt Romney continued a family getaway at his multi-million dollar New Hampshire compound on Friday, President Obama recalled riding on Greyhound buses and staying at Howard Johnson hotels on his own childhood vacations.”