Seating Chart: "Dinner with Barack and Michelle"

Former Social Secretary Julianna Smoot: "my job is done"...
President Obama's second White House Social Secretary, Julianna Smoot, left 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue House in March of this year to become his Deputy Campaign Manager. She sent heady news via e-mail to re-election supporters today, as she unveiled the seating chart, above, for OFA's fundraiser "Dinner with Barack and Michelle."

Three lucky winners and their guests will dine with the President and First Lady Obama at an unspecified date and place, and Smoot dubbed the seating arrangement her easiest assignment ever.

"I've put a lot of dinners together for the President and Mrs. Obama," Smoot wrote. "Sometimes they've been for foreign dignitaries and heads of state. Sometimes they've included governors, artists, and musicians. The seating can get pretty complicated, but I have to say, this one was easy."

"So really, my job's done," she added.

Smoot asks for a minimum $3 donation. Her e-mail followed one earlier in the day from Reggie Love, President Obama's longtime personal aide. Love urged donors to "Get on that here," which translated into English, means make a donation to enter the contest.

"Dinner with Barack and Michelle" is the President's third time raffling himself off as a dinner date. He dined with the four winners of the first dinner contest in October at The Liberty Tavern, but has yet to dine with the four winners of the second contest. OFA this week released a new video of the Eater in Chief talking about the first dinner, which followed five previously released videos. The current contest closes on December 31.

Smoot's subject heading for her e-mail was "Where do you want to sit?"

The text:

XXXX --

I just saw the seating chart for Dinner with Barack and Michelle, and I thought you should see it, too.

The President and First Lady are right here. Where do you want to sit?

Take a look, then donate $3 or whatever you can to be automatically entered for a chance to win.

I've put a lot of dinners together for the President and Mrs. Obama.

Sometimes they've been for foreign dignitaries and heads of state. Sometimes they've included governors, artists, and musicians. The seating can get pretty complicated, but I have to say, this one was easy.

One table, six guests, and the President and First Lady.

So really, my job's done. The only thing that's missing is who the guests will be.

Click here to give $3 or whatever you can and be automatically entered for a chance for you and a guest to have dinner with the President and First Lady:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Barack-and-Michelle

I'd love for you to be there.

Thanks,

Julianna

Julianna Smoot
Deputy Campaign Manager
Obama for America
##

Obama Aide Reggie Love Touts "Dinner with Barack and Michelle" Campaign Fundraiser

Love is in love with the dinner contest: "Get on that here"...
President Obama's closest personal aide, "body man" Reggie Love, is leaving the White House before the end of the year. Today Love sent his very first fundraising e-mail for the 2012 campaign, touting the "Dinner with Barack and Michelle" contest. Love, 30, has spent four years with Mr. Obama, and his wide array of very intimate duties included Presidential food wrangling on the road, as well as dining with his boss--which is the point of his e-mail: "I've also eaten many, many meals with him," he writes. Thus Love is in love with the dinner contest, he says.

"I kind of love this "Dinner with Barack and Michelle" contest. You all have to do this," Love wrote. "Get on that here."

The subject line for the e-mail is also "You All Have To Do This." The faux homeboy vernacular is pretty goofy, given that Love is exiting Mr. Obama's orbit to finish a graduate degree at an Ivy League university. And typically "You All" is spelled "Y'all," isn't it? The goofiness can be credited to whichever OFA staffer wrote the e-mail, of course.

And the goofiness factor gets even higher as the e-mail touts the exclusivity of dining with Barack and Michelle.

"I know that dinner with Barack and Michelle is something that usually only happens with the girls, and no one else," Love/the OFA staffer wrote.

"You should know this practically never happens."

Just to point out the silliness of that statement, the guest lists for 2011's three State Dinners collectively had about 700 people, all of whom dined with Barack and Michelle. A couple hundred more people dined with Barack and Michelle at the President's 50th birthday party. And then there was the APEC Leaders Dinner, the Return State Dinner, the Bipartisan Dinner for Congressional leadership, the US Combatant Commanders dinner, and the Governors Dinner, which add a couple thousand more names to the list of people who have dined with Barack and Michelle, just this year.

Of course, those aren't the kind of intimate dinners OFA is promoting in its effort to woo "Everyday Americans" to drop cash into campaign coffers. Inviting guests to dine with the President at the White House would probably raise far more money, but that's off limits under federal election rules.

"Dinner with Barack and Michelle" is the President's third time raffling himself off as a dinner date. He dined with the four winners of the first dinner contest in October at The Liberty Tavern, but has yet to dine with the four winners of the second contest. OFA this week released a new video of the Eater in Chief talking about the first dinner, which followed five previously released videos. The current contest closes on December 31.

Three winners will each be allowed to bring one guest to the dinner, and they will all have to sign documents agreeing to be used in campaign materials.The assigned retail value of the prize package has jumped from $1,075 for the first dinner to $1,600 for the current dinner. It is taxable to the winners, and includes airfare and a one-night hotel stay.

The text of Love's e-mail:

XXXX --

You may know me as the tall guy who followed Barack everywhere he went.

As the President's body man for the last four years, it's been my privilege to help him with whatever he needs: making sure he's on time, finding some food when we're on the road, or playing a quick game of basketball (he won, mostly).

Of course, this also means I've also eaten many, many meals with him.

So first of all, I just want to say thanks for supporting the Obamas and being part of this campaign. It means a lot, not only to the President, but to all of us who've worked by his side.

Two: I kind of love this "Dinner with Barack and Michelle" contest. You all have to do this.

Get on that here.

You should know this practically never happens.

While Barack wants to do these dinners throughout his campaign, I know that dinner with Barack and Michelle is something that usually only happens with the girls, and no one else.

The fact that this dinner is with the two of them should tell you how much it matters to them to know that you have their backs out there.

I wouldn't let this one get away.

Donate $3 or whatever you can today to automatically be entered to win a spot at dinner for you and a guest:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Barack-and-Michelle

Thanks,

Reggie
##

*Photo by Pete Souza/White House, taken in the Oval Office on June 16, 2009.

College Hoops & A Hot Dog

Cheering for First Brother-in-Law Craig Robinson's team, the President watches Oregon State Beavers beat Towson University Tigers...
It was a good post-Thanksgiving Saturday for the Hoops Lover in Chief: President Obama began the day with the news that the 149-day NBA lockout will end, played basketball with personal aide Reggie Love, then traveled to Maryland to watch as the Oregon State Beavers defeated the Towson University Tigers, 66-46. Oregon State, of course, is coached by First Lady Michelle Obama's brother Craig Robinson, and the entire First Family was on hand to witness the victory. President Obama enjoyed a hot dog and bottled water during the second half of the game, sitting beside his wife, who was clad in an orange sweater and black pants, in honor of Oregon State's team colors (above).

Obama daughters Malia and Sasha were also clad in team colors as the First Family entered the Towson basketball arena at 1:40 PM, to a standing ovation from the crowd. The Obamas shook hands with folks in the stands and took their courtside seats, opposite the Oregon State bench.
Before the tip-off, legendary actor-comedian Bill Murray, on hand for the game, stopped by to greet the First Couple (above).

As the Oregon State team was introduced, the President and Mrs. Obama smiled broadly and clapped a bit louder when Coach Robinson’s name was called out. The Oregon State hoopsters on Wednesday joined the First Family as they packed groceries at the Capital Area Food Bank, for a Thanksgiving community service event.

Earlier in the day, after playing basketball with personal aide Reggie Love at Fort McNair, President Obama was asked about the end of the NBA lockout.

The President gave a thumbs up and said, “Good deal.’’

At halftime, the Towson football team was introduced. The Tigers won the Colonial Athletic Association championship this season and are now competing in the FCS playoffs. The players posed for a photo with the President. Swarming around him, the team was warned they’d have to run laps if they didn’t give him some room.

By 4:02 PM, victory accomplished, the President and First Lady were airborne in Marine One, heading back to the White House from the Baltimore area. Daughters Malia and Sasha traveled separately, according to pool. Before heading to Maryland, the President and his daughters visited Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe in Washington, DC, for Small Business Saturday.

*Photos by AP/pool

President Obama's "Body Man," Reggie Love, Will Leave The White House

The President's closest personal aide departs after years of service...
Reggie Love, "body man" for President Obama, will leave the White House by the end of the year, the Washington Post was the first to report today. Love, 30, has traveled the world with Mr. Obama since his days in the Senate, a constant presence who takes care of any and every situation that might arise, from producing a Tide bleach pen when Mr. Obama spills hot sauce on his tie, to dealing with the countless take-out orders the President acquires when stopping at restaurants around the US for eat n' greets. (Above: The President hands off a pie to Love after visiting a restaurant in Minnesota)

Of course Love has more important duties than just being food-wrangler for the Eater in Chief, though he has been credited with keeping the President slender with his discreet disposal of all that take-out chow.

"Over the years, Reggie has been a friend, a teammate and an indispensable member of my staff," President Obama said in a statement today. "From my Senate office to the White House, his ability to juggle so many responsibilities with so little sleep has been an inspiration to watch."

The sleep-depreived Love started out as a staff assistant in Mr. Obama’s Senate office after college at Duke University, rising to become his ultra-personal assistant, known as the "body man." The 6'5" Love, a former forward for the Blue Devils, is “the person who keeps me on schedule,” the President has said. In a 2008 New York Times profile, Love said Mr. Obama hired him with “no job description whatsoever. It was just like, ‘You just go out there and--Take. Care. Of. Stuff.'"

"Even though I will miss seeing Reggie every day, I want to thank him for his service and wish him all the best as he begins a new chapter in his career," President Obama said.

While at the White House, Love has been enrolled in an MBA program at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and a White House official said Love is leaving the Administration so he can focus on school. (Above: Love with the President at the 2010 White House Easter Egg Roll)

Love has given few interviews while in Mr. Obama's service, but he was on People magazine's 2009 list of "Barack's Beauties," a special White House-centric feature for the magazine's annual list of the most beautiful people in the world. First Lady Obama led the list, of course.

Love's departure is the latest in a string of longtime Obama aides who have left the White House this year, including Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Senior Adviser David Axelrod, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton and Deputy Communications director Jen Psaki. All were part of Mr. Obama's team since the 2008 race.

*Top photo by AP; second by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama.com