Obama heads home for his birthday

There’s no place like home for President Obama, especially on his birthday.

Air Force One took off Wednesday afternoon for Chicago, where Obama planned to celebrate his 49th birthday at a dinner with friends, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

“I think he is looking forward to spending the night in his house for a change,” Gibbs added.

He’ll be home alone (well, as alone as someone with a full Secret Service detail can be). First Lady Michelle Obama will be across the Atlantic with daughter Sasha this week on a trip to Spain. Obama’s eldest daughter, Malia, is at camp.

“I think it’s safe to say that, of course, he will miss them,” Gibbs said. “They’ll be all back together soon.”

Before departing, the start of Obama’s 50th year was marked at a friendly venue: the executive council of the AFL-CIO.

“It is good to spend my birthday with some good friends,” he said.

He seemed disappointed, though, that there was no birthday cake. The union’s leader said the Secret Service had nixed the offering.

“They’re probably eating it right now,” Obama joked.

Last year, Obama marked his first birthday as president mostly in private, though he did make a cameo in the press briefing room to honor Helen Thomas, who shares a birthday with him. The first lady had also arranged for her husband’s friends to visit Camp David the previous weekend.

The president will remain in Chicago on Thursday, where he’ll continue an effort to highlight the resurgent auto industry during an appearance at an area Ford plant. He also plans to attend three fundraisers, including one to benefit Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias..

Organizing for America, meanwhile, is using the milestone for a big grass-roots push to promote the president’s agenda. The Democratic National Committee says that volunteers across the country will make 49 phone calls “to recruit volunteers and ask them to help engage their communities and make their voices heard this November.” It’s part of the VOTE 2010 campaign that seeks to reenergize first-time Obama voters from 2008.

michael.memoli@latimes.com