Obama during visit makes it clear he adores his wife

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First lady Michelle Obama hugs President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, Nov., 21, 2011, where the president signed legislation that will provide tax credits to help put veterans back to work. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Updated: February 14, 2012 10:28AM

The Obama visit . . .

The message: The president adores his wife.

◆ Translation: President Barack Obama is not letting anyone doubt his devotion to wife, Michelle, who is none too happy about her portrayal in a new book titled The Obamas.

◆ Explanation: At the last of three Chicago fund-raisers Wednesday night, the president praised his wife, expressed his devotion to her, and thanked the men responsible for introducing them.

◆ To wit: The president didn’t mention anything about the book, which Mrs. Obama feels erroneously portrays her as “an angry black woman,” but “he made it pretty obvious how devoted he is to Michelle and how deeply he cares about her,” said a source who attended the $7,500-a-ticket fund-raiser at financier Stuart Taylor’s Kenwood home, near the president’s Chicago house.

◆ End shot: President Obama also told the crowd how much he missed his Kenwood home, claimed he was heading there to check “on the lawn” and “might pop in to see his new neighbors.”

The Obama label . . .

Threads & Dreads: Beyonce, Vera Wang, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg and Sean “Diddy” Combs join 18 other top designers creating Obama re-election stuff. Imagine.

$$$$ . . .

Egads! Who was the young man who left Snicker’s bar at Illinois and State Streets Saturday in an antique chauffeured Rolls-Royce after telling the waitress, “I am going to make your day” and leaving behind a $300 tip for a drink and a sandwich?

The Holloway case . . .

Silent & Sad: Contrary to Beth Holloway’s mega public persona in pursuit of her missing daughter, Natalee, 18, in Aruba seven years ago, a very quiet, somber mother stared into her hands as an Alabama judge declared her daughter legally dead Thursday. She also refused to talk to journalists.

◆ The decree enables Natalee’s father, Dave, to stop making medical insurance payments on his missing daughter and access $2,000 from an educational fund to help pay for Natalee’s brother’s college education.

◆ Meanwhile, Joran van der Sloot, the main suspect in Natalee’s disappeance, apologized for killing a Peruvian woman this week . . . but smiled when talking to the press.

Mac attack!

Chomp pomp: Sneed hears a group of top Chicagoland McDonald’s owners gathered en masse at Alex Dana’s Rosebud Prime and ordered — hamburgers!

Gads!

◆ Actress Demi Moore, 49, is now dating a man seven years younger than estranged husband Ashton Kutcher: a 26-year old actor/model/personal trainer.

◆ Pop singer Katy Perry’s parents want to set their daughter up on a date with NFL QB Tim Tebow because he’s so religious, according to OK mag.

Tube twaddle . . .

◆ Blake Burleson, the 13-year-old son of North Side restaurateur Bobby Burleson, appeared recently on the season debut of Showtime’s “Shameless,” opposite William H. Macy.

◆ Peter ten Brink, a special-needs actor with Down syndrome — who has been a fixture on the North Shore theater scene — will appear in ABC-TV’s Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “A Smile as Big as the Moon” on Jan. 29.

Sneedlings . . .

Congrats to Chicago Police Officer John E. Schaffer, who retired Thursday after 41 years of service — the past 15 of which have been atop a horse. . . . Today’s birthdays: Orlando Bloom, 35; Patrick Dempsey, 46; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 51, and Richard Moll, 69 . . . Saturday’s birthdays: Jason Bateman, 43; LL Cool J, 44, and Faye Dunaway, 71.