Ten letters per day culled for Obama

WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- A White House aide says he chooses 10 letters per day from constituents to be forwarded to U.S. President Barack Obama in his daily briefing book.

"We pick messages that are compelling, things people say that, when you read it, you get a chill," Mike Kelleher, director of the White House Office of Correspondence, told Monday's New York Times. "I send (Obama) letters that are uncomfortable messages."

The letters enable the president to get beyond the walls of Washington and sometimes cause moments when his composure cracks, senior adviser David Axelrod said.

"I remember once he was particularly quiet," Axelrod told the Times, "and I asked him what he was thinking about, and he said, 'These letters just tear you up.' It was after getting a poignant letter from a struggling family."

Kelleher said the selection of letters is designed to present a sampling of what Americans are thinking, and are sometimes answered by Obama, who sends hand-written replies in black ink on azure paper, the newspaper said.