Bartamaha (Mexico):-He’s never been shied away from showing off his toned physique.

But President Barack Obama’s latest beach moment might yet come back to haunt him after he enlisted his youngest daughter for a publicity stunt.

In an attempt to show the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, despite the massive BP oil spill, were safe he took the plunge with youngest daughter Sasha in a very carefully controlled photo opportunity.

No photographers or reporters were allowed to be present for the short dip in the Gulf waters off Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, Florida.

But the White House later released one photo of the pair smiling as they frolicked with heads just above the water in warm waters of the Gulf.

Officials said they released the photograph to show that the region is back in business and was a safe destination for tourists.

But Mr Obama has come under fire for the decision – both for using his daughter to score political points, and for staying in the area for just 26 hours.

The family will instead holiday later this month on Martha’s Vineyard, an elite resort island off the coast of Massachusetts – far to the north of the oil-stricken Gulf waters.

The trip led the New York Times to curtly observe that the family ‘didn’t linger’ on the Coast, while other blogs even criticised him for failing to show off his chest in the photo.

And using his nine-year-old daughter in the photo opportunity was reminiscent of another politician who roped his family into proving a political point.

Twenty years ago at the height of the mad cow disease panic Tory Agriculture Minister John Gummer sought to reassure the public that eating beef was safe.

He invited the media to photograph him trying to feed a beefburger to his four-year-old daughter, Cordelia, at an event in his Suffolk constituency.

Although his daughter refused the burger, he took a large bite himself, saying it was ‘absolutely delicious’.

Gummer, who stood down from the Commons at the last election, had been attempting to calm fears over the safety of beef.

It was later claimed that the photographs were staged and the hamburger had actually been bitten into by a civil servant.

Mr Obama had sparked fears about the safety of the Gulf by declaring the BP oil spill as America’s worst environmental disaster.

His doom-laden prediction turned out to be untrue as BP spent over £4billion on a clean up and containment operation to stop the spread of the oil following the April explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig.

Fears that the white sandy beaches along the Florida coast and other states would be affected proved unfounded.

The leaking well has been capped but has cost BP more than a third its value as shares plunged and also cost chief executive Tony Hayward his job having been pilloried by the Obama administration.

BP has set up a $20billion fund to pay compensation to those along the Gulf coast whose livelihoods have been affected.

During his visit, the fifth that Mr Obama has made to the region, he again sought to reassure locals that they would not be forgotten.

‘Oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf,’ he said.

‘But I’m here to tell you that our job is not finished, and we are not going anywhere until it is.

‘I made a commitment in my visits here that I was going to stand with you… until you have fully recovered from the damage that has been done.

‘And that is a commitment my administration is going to keep.’

He kept up his criticism of BP by demanding they speed up compensation claims saying any delays were ‘unacceptable’.

Following the swim stunt the Obamas headed into Panama City for a miniature golf outing.

Sasha stole the show, hitting a hole-in-one off the first tee, much to the delight of her father, an avid golfer.

The Obama family whooped with joy as she got a hole-in-one on her first attempt during a trip to a miniature course in front of the media.

First Lady Michelle leaped in the air as Mr Obama gave his daughter a high-five, declaring her stroke ‘unbelievable’.

He then turned to the press and said: ‘Did you see that?’

Mr Obama also managed to get a hole-in-one on the 11th hole at Pirate’s Island Golf in Panama City, Florida.

When asked who was winning, the president said it was a tie. But Mrs Obama pointed at the president, suggesting the weekend golfer is doing well on the miniature course.

Mr Obama’s attempt to boost tourism in the Gulf was largely overshadowed by a furious backlash from victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks after he backed plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero.

The proposed site for the 13-storey building is close to where almost 3,000 people died nine years ago after Muslim hijackers flew two jet airliners into the World Trade Center.

Mr Obama expressed his support for the mosque, which will replace a building damaged by the attacks, at a White House meal celebrating Ramadan.

He said: ‘Let me be clear: As a citizen and as President I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise their religion as everyone else in this country.

‘That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable.’

His speech on Friday was heavily criticised by a group representing the families of victims of the terrorist attack, who called the plan a ‘deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah’.

Debra Burlingame, a sister of a pilot killed when his plane was flown by a terrorist into the Pentagon and a spokesperson for  victims’ families, said: ‘Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America’s heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see.’

Peter King, a Republican congressman in New York, said the President had been wrong to back the plan, adding: ‘It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero.’

The week after his Florida sojourn, Mr Obama is scheduled for a multi-stop trip around the U.S., starting in Wisconsin, where he is to visit factories specialising in renewable energy production and fund-raise for Democrats.

Tomorrow evening, he will be in Los Angeles for another fundraising event, before he heads to the northwestern state of Washington on Tuesday for a meeting on health care reform in Seattle, the White House said.

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Source:-Dailymail.

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