Thursday evening saw four folks join President Obama at The Liberty Tavern in Arlington — all winners of the “Dinner with Barack” contest the White House coordinated to collect more than $33 million in donations for the president’s reelection campaign during the second fundraising quarter.
Obama Foodarama wrote that the four winners — retired teacher Juanita Martinez, small business-owner Casey Helbling, U.S. postal worker Ken Knight and retired professor Wendi Smith — arrived at the restaurant at 6:48 p.m. and spent about 70 minutes dining casually with the president on the restaurant’s regional, artisanal cuisine. But what may have seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime dinner date may become a new tradition with Obama, who’s slated to host another dinner for contest winners who’ve been entering their names during the third fundraising quarter — though actual donations are not required for entry into the contest.
It seems that Obama’s having fun with these gustatory contests, as he’s promised to have more dinner dates with voters in the future. “This dinner is important because I’m only president thanks to the work of millions of Americans like the four I just met. –BO,” he tweeted after the dinner.
