The lights went out in the West Wing today, plunging the president and the rest of his team into darkness while technicians raced to restore the lights and computers to life.

“The dog found the power cord,” joked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, playing off of the big news of the weekend, the unveiling of new First Dog, Bo.

An area reserved for the press corps known as “lower press” did not lose power. But the “upper press” area — where Gibbs has his office — and the rest of the West Wing was dark.

“We cut the wrong cord,” Gibbs joked again, checking e-mail on his BlackBerry as he sat in front of a dark computer screen.

Staffers with flashlights scurried through the hallways, many of which are windowless. But the business of the White House proceeded. It was unclear whether the White House residence areas were also affected.

Power was restored half an hour after the outage began.

(Source: Washington Post)