In today’s economy, $3 won’t get you much, but it can buy an electronic raffle ticket for an unusual prize: dinner with President Obama for you and a friend.
An email signed “Barack” went out Tuesday morning, recounting a previous dinner with four donors, and saying the Commander-in-Chief “loved getting to know each of them.”
The email continues: “We’re taking names for the next dinner starting now, and this time I want to add a new feature: If you win, you can bring a guest.”
Offering a link to the campaign’s donation page, the email ends on a hopeful note: “Donate $3 or more, and start thinking about who you’ll invite to dinner.”
For the last presidential campaign dinner, two retirees, a postal worker and a business owner — coincidentally from the politically important states of Arizona, Colorado, Indiana and Minnesota — were shuttled to Washington, D.C. for a one-night visit and dinner at the Liberty Tavern in Arlington, Va. The promotion started out with a $5 price tag, but on September 28 the campaign dropped the cost.
“These dinners mean a lot to Barack,” read an email from first lady Michele Obama about the earlier contest. “So come prepared to tell your story, and say whatever’s on your mind. Don’t miss the opportunity to be there. Donate $3 or more today.”
“I’m proud that we’re choosing to run the kind of campaign where a dinner like this isn’t just possible, it’s a regular thing,” wrote “Barack” in the more recent email, send Tuesday. The president has repeatedly touted his campaign’s focus on small donors despite taking heavy contributions from Wall Street in 2008. But the low-dollar individuals who flocked to Obama in 2008 have largely ignored the president’s calls for donations during this campaign cycle, as the New York Times reported.