For a second straight year, President Obama and his family will be heading back to Martha's Vineyard for a summer vacation, leaving this afternoon for a ten day trip to the tony Massachusetts island.

The White House has said little about the trip, refusing yesterday to even confirm or deny where the Obamas would be staying on this visit.

"We're not going to announce where he's staying until he gets there for security reasons.  But he's renting a house," said White house Deputy Chief of Staff Bill Burton.

Talk about vacations by a President always seems to spur a similar dynamic for a White House, as staffers go out of their way to defend their boss from any hints that he is getting a better deal than the average voter.

And that's true again this year as demonstrated in yesterday's press Q&A aboard Air Force One with Burton.

Q    Bill, the President talked again today about how a lot of people are still hurting and there's more work to go in the economy.  Does he have any concerns at all about at least the  perception of taking a 9, 10-day vacation in an affluent part of the country at a time when a lot of people are hurting?

MR. BURTON:  Well, I don't think there's an American person who doesn't know that the President is working hard to do everything possible to get this economy back on the right track, to move initiatives through Congress that are going to help businesses right away to create jobs and to make our economy even stronger.

"The President -- any presidential vacation -- whenever you talk about a presidential vacation you ought to put the word "vacation" in quotes because you can bet that there will still be work that he's doing every day.  He'll continue to get his daily intelligence brief from John Brennan who will be there.  He'll be getting constant updates on what's happening in the economy and other issues.

"But I do think that just like a lot of American people, the President is taking a little time with his family to recharge his batteries."

After that kind of answer, let's all close our eyes and rewind seven years to the White House Briefing Room where Scott McClellan was taking questions about President Bush's upcoming trip to his Texas Ranch.

Q  Scott, aside from enjoying a summer buzz, how does the President view this summer vacation, his month-long break? Is it a chance to recharge his batteries after a tough --

MR. McCLELLAN: "I don't think the President of the United States ever gets a break, as you're referring to. It's always been an opportunity for him to go home and spend some time at home. But it's also a time when he continues to focus on the important priorities of the American people, when he continues to focus on fulfilling his responsibilities."

It was a testy subject for the Bush White House, since his sometimes month-long retreats to Crawford coincided with some events that became a political liability, like the infamous Presidential briefing about airliner hijack threats from Al Qaeda in August of 2001.

President Obama had a similar event, after what seemed like a slow response to the threat posed by the Christmas Day/underwear bomber on the plane going into Detroit.

That's probably one reason why Mr. Obama's chief terrorism adviser will be on Martha's Vineyard as well.

I have covered five Presidents now in Washington, D.C.  Ronald Reagan had a ranch.  George H.W. Bush had Kennebunkport.  George W. Bush had his ranch in Texas.  Bill Clinton and Barack Obama didn't have any vacation home.

But the two Democrats did have Martha's Vineyard in common.

So, it's back to Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, Vineyard Haven and Chilmark for the Obamas for the next ten days.

Q    Would you say he really needs a vacation?

MR. BURTON:  "I would say that -- you guys have seen him out on the trail this week.  I got a lot of questions this week on whether or not the President enjoys being out on the campaign trail.  I think that seeing him at some of these fundraisers, you know the answer to the question.  He's clearly having a good time talking directly with the American people about the choice that's before them this November when it comes to the midterm elections. And he's got a lot of hard work to do this year, but he does look forward to the time that he's going to be able to spend with his family."