Rare flash of anger from Obama on Halloween night
CHICAGO (Reuters) - It wasn't quite a Halloween nightmare on Obama street, but journalists on Friday drew a rare flash of anger from the normally unflappable Democratic presidential nominee.
Barack Obama had taken a break from the campaign trail for a few hours of Halloween fun at home with his family four days before the election, but ended up visibly annoyed when news crews dogged their footsteps in their Chicago neighborhood.
"That's enough. You've got a shot. Leave us alone," Obama told reporters as he walked down the block with his 7-year-old daughter Sasha in her costume on the way to a party at a neighbor's home.
Obama, usually cool in public during a campaign that has turned him into the frontrunner for the White House, did not disguise his irritation when his surprise walk caused news photographers and camera crews to scramble for position on the sidewalk.
He grew especially testy when a Polish television cameraman tried to approach them.
"Come on guys, get back on the bus," he pleaded with journalists, many of whom had accompanied him from the airport to Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.
Nissan offers zero percent loans on five models
DETROIT (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co Ltd said on Friday it is offering interest free loans on five vehicle models to boost sales and assist buyers sidelined by the credit squeeze.
Nissan's loan offer covers the Nissan Murano SUV, Sentra, Altima, Versa cars and Rogue crossover SUV and is available for a term of three years.
The incentive, which runs through Jan 5, is expected to boost Nissan's U.S. sales results in November and December, Al Castignetti, Vice President of North American sales, said.
Nissan is also offering a lease deal of $199 per month on the 2009 model year Altima and Rogue SUV.
Nissan's U.S. sales in September were off 34 percent and sales were down about 3 percent through the first nine months of the year.
Obama, wearing sunglasses but no costume, and his daughter, dressed up as what campaign aides said was a "corpse's bride," then broke into a sprint, leaving the journalists behind.
Secret Service agents and vans followed closely behind, and stunned trick-or-treaters broke into shouts of "Obama, Obama" as he rushed past.
There was no neighborhood trick-or-treating for the Obama family, a nod to the potential security problems.
Instead the family attended a Halloween party behind closed doors at a friend's home. Obama's 10-year-old daughter Malia had planned to dress up as an "evil fairy," the campaign said.
The fact that Obama took time out for Halloween showed a candidate feeling confident about his chances on Tuesday, with polls showing him leading Republican nominee John McCain.
Obama flew straight from a rally in Iowa to Chicago, where he stepped onto the airport tarmac with a pumpkin -- brought on a campaign swing through Florida -- under one arm.
After the brief stop at home, he planned to be back campaigning on Friday night at a rally in Gary, Indiana.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
The automaker's interest-free offer follows a similar move by Toyota, which offered such loans across most of its line-up in early October.
U.S. industrywide auto sales plunged 26 percent in September and the adjusted annual rate of sales, a key figure watched by economists, bumped along at a 15-year low amid the severe credit crunch that has rocked U.S. consumer confidence.
October U.S. industrywide sales were expected to be worse than September with the annualized selling rate touching two-decade lows amid weak consumer confidence.
"We had a slow start to the month," Castignetti said. "The last ten days have been better."
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta and Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Bernard Orr)
