SPECIAL REPORT-Plumes, politics and the sultan of spill

CALLING THE SHOTS

The White House says Obama is very much in control and setting the tone from the top. He was actively involved in getting BP to agree to a $20 billion fund to pay claims for Gulf residents and businesses.

"I have observed his determined focus on this each and every day," said Obama's senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, adding the president insists on a full briefing about the spill seven days a week.

"That has kept the focus of the administration from the very top down on making sure we're doing everything possible to respond to this disaster," she said in a telephone interview.

Obama's advisers have worked to improve the marketing of the president's involvement, too.

On his third trip to the region on June 4, Obama made an effort to express emotion and connect with people affected by the spill. He showed anger over reports that BP had been slow to pay claims and made sure to meet with locals, not just officials.

While meeting with the mayor and other business people in Grand Isle, Louisiana, the president took several minutes to peel one shrimp before putting it in his mouth while journalists' cameras clicked. His unspoken message: the food from the region is still safe.

"We are not going to forget the Gulf," he told a small crowd of people outside a seafood restaurant there. "Even when I'm not here, I'm thinking about you."

Gulf residents are grateful for the attention and say Obama's cabinet members have had a visible presence in the region -- a contrast to the Bush administration's response during Katrina.

Some complain, however, that the visits do not produce results, and they wish Obama would stay for a longer period of time.

"Let us take (Obama) out there just after they've sprayed dispersant all over the place and it's full of white foam everywhere and the air is so bad that you get a severe headache and start vomiting," says Tracy Kuhns, 56, referring to fishermen working on cleanup crews.

"What's happening out there on the ground to these people ... who are living in this every single day is totally different from the reports he's getting across a desk or what he's seeing on TV or what Thad Allen or anybody else is saying."

Whether everyone is happy or not, the government response to the spill has been unarguably immense.

The administration sends out a numbers update on a daily basis. In mid July, they looked like this: Some 45,000 personnel were working on shoreline protection and cleanup. More than 6,900 vessels were involved in skimming, diverting and cleaning up oil.

WHAT TIME TOMORROW?

Back on the boat in Mississippi, Thad Allen has finished briefing Congressman Taylor and takes a call from the White House. It is Carol Browner.

Allen had sent BP a letter demanding a timeline from the company for the placement of a new cap on its blown-out well. The letter was meant to show leadership and it generated a reply.

Browner and Allen agreed it had been a good day.

Back on shore, the admiral -- who says he does not plan a post-spill career in politics -- walked, like a politician, over to a group of local cleanup crews for a visit before getting into a waiting vehicle to head to the airport.

Once there he proceeded to a conference room for a daily "principals" call that usually includes Browner, Napolitano, Chu, Salazar and the other leading players in the government response.

"What time does the day start tomorrow?" he asks his staff before it begins.

By 4:40 p.m. he is loading a helicopter to fly back to New Orleans. His head tilts forward during the flight; it is a rare opportunity for a nap.

Once in New Orleans another conference call, this time with his staff, takes place at 6:00 p.m. in Allen's hotel room. Sitting at a desk with his head over the phone's loud speaker, he reminds his team that the coming two weeks would be consequential.

And he puts in another plug for the local food supply. "I'm here to say the fish is good."

(Editing by Jim Impoco and Claudia Parsons)