Vineyard Haven, Mass. ? For the second straight year, the First Family has landed on this island of quaint seaside towns, second homes and working farms for a late-summer getaway.

But this year, more so than last, political opponents are trying to hang a question over the visit: Does President Barack Obama deserve a vacation?

The Republican National Committee has taken to calling Obama “the Clark Griswold president,” a mocking reference to the Chevy Chase character in National Lampoon’s “Vacation” movies. With unemployment claims climbing again, the GOP was hoping its criticism would have a certain national resonance. And maybe it will.

One potential complication: Obama has spent far less time on vacation than his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, had at this point in his presidency.

According to veteran CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, a fastidious keeper of presidential statistics, Obama has embarked on nine “vacations” since taking office, bringing his total days off to 48. Some of those trips lasted a day and some, like his Christmas holiday in Hawaii, more than a week.

By comparison, Bush had visited his ranch in Crawford, Texas, 14 times at this point in his administration and spent 115 days there. And yes, Democrats let him have it, too, complaining that he was a chronic vacationer.

White House advisers made clear in the days leading up to this getaway that a president, especially a wartime president overseeing a country in the grips of economic distress, is never really on vacation.

The issue of whether presidents deserve time off appears to appeal only to the most vociferous partisans on either side.

The Mansion House Inn, where the press corps is staying on Main Street here, hung a banner from the roof shading its graceful front porch.

“Mansion House Inn Believes Anyone Who Has … Passed health care reform, signed economic stimulus bills, recast America’s global image, commands two war zones, won a Nobel Peace Prize, nominated 2 Supreme Court judges, overhauled financial regulations … deserves a vacation!” the banner reads.