"Janet from Accokeek, Maryland" E-Mails About Dinner with Barack IV Fundraiser

President's future dinner companion is a Grandmother of four and prone to screaming when excited; OFA advises donors to answer phone calls coming from 937 area code...
Obama for America announced via e-mail on Friday that "Janet from Accokeek, Maryland" was the first person selected to dine with President Obama for Dinner with Barack IV, the current culinary fundraiser from the campaign. No personal details were given about Janet other than the amount she donated--$25--until today, when another OFA e-mail id'd the lucky Marylander as "a grandmother of four." Janet is also prone to screaming, according to a Campaign staffer; that was her excited response when she got the phone call that she'd won the contest. Today the enthusiastic and mysterious Janet herself sent an e-mail to supporters, encouraging them to enter the dinner contest. (Above: The President enjoys a cheeseburger and fries at the second Dinner with Barack event, which was actually lunch)

That's a new twist from OFA, which has previously sent dinner e-mails from the President, First Lady Obama, the President's former personal aide, Reggie Love, and staffers high-up in the OFA pecking order, such as National Finance Director Rufus Gifford, who also e-mailed about dinner today, too. The identities of the President's dinner companions for previous contests weren't revealed until after he'd dined with them.

Janet provides a few more personal details in her e-mail: Her father is named Milton, and he's 86. He challenged her to donate, she said.

"What a blessing. Two days ago I learned I'm going to have dinner with President Obama," Janet wrote. "I guess I should finally start listening to my father, Milton (he's 86 years old)..."Janet," my dad said, "You gotta start supporting President Obama. Support your politicians. Support the President, so that your voice can be heard."

Janet asked supporters for a donation of at least $3.

"I hope you'll join me at the table with President Obama," Janet wrote.

Janet and Gifford's e-mails are part of a push for donations before midnight tonight, an arbitrary deadline set by OFA to select a second winner for the Dinner with Barack IV contest. OFA is staggering selections of the four winners of the contest, in contrast to the three previous dinner contests. The new process is designed to inspire supporters to donate again and again. The other selection dates are after midnight on March 18 and March 31.

Don't screen calls from 937 area code, OFA advises...
Will Janet be screaming when she actually dines with the President? That's unclear. But OFA staffer Martha Patzer wrote in a post on the Campaign blog that Janet interrupted a lunch run in order to really scream when she got the phone call telling her she'd won dinner with the President.

"She was picking up some lunch—she asked me to please hold as she stepped outside, and then let it all out," Patzer wrote.

Patzer had words of advice for others who have donated to the dinner contests:

"Here's a tip: If you're screening your calls in the next few weeks, don't ignore any "937" area codes."

Interestingly, the 937 area code is in Ohio, not in Chicago, Illinois, where the Obama campaign headquarters are located.

Below, the full text of Janet's e-mail, and today's e-mail from Gifford. Janet's e-mail had the subject line "Join me for dinner?"--though it should have read "Join me and the President for dinner?" Gifford's had the subject line "Are you guest #2?" (Above: The OFA website includes a graphic with a live countdown clock for the dinner contest)

The President has already dined with the eight winners of two of the previous "Dinner with Barack" contests, but has not yet dined with the six winners of the "Dinner with Barack and Michelle" contest. The President ate dinner with the four winners of the first "Dinner with Barack" contest in October of 2011, at The Liberty Tavern in Arlington, VA. The second dinner contest was fulfilled with a luncheon; the President took his four winners to DC's Scion restaurant on January 6, 2012. A new video about the event is here. The dinner prize packages include airfare and a one-night hotel stay, and the assigned retail value is taxable to winners, who also sign documents agreeing to be used without compensation in campaign promos.

The text of Janet's e-mail:

XXXX--

What a blessing. Two days ago I learned I'm going to have dinner with President Obama.

I guess I should finally start listening to my father, Milton (he's 86 years old).

He always taught me that when you give, you receive.

"Janet," my dad said, "You gotta start supporting President Obama. Support your politicians. Support the President, so that your voice can be heard."

"I do support the President," I told him.

"Prove it."

Well, here I am.

I'm telling you this because the campaign is picking the next guest in a few hours -- and I hope my story inspires you to add your name to mine.

Join me by donating $3 or whatever you can to help the campaign and be automatically entered to win Dinner with Barack.

The truth is, I don't usually enter these kinds of things. I gave $25 last week in response to an email from the campaign, but not for one second did I think my name would be drawn.

I donated because I want a president who cares enough about his supporters to sit down for a meal, just like we do in our own families.

And because I was anxious to support the President's campaign. It was my time to give.

I hope you'll join me at the table with President Obama. As I mentioned, they're picking the next guest tonight:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Picking-at-Midnight

And mind your parents, people. It pays off.

- Janet

##

The text of Gifford's e-mail:

XXX--

Today there are three seats left at the upcoming dinner with the President. By midnight tomorrow there will be only two -- we'll be picking the next guest.

Janet, a grandmother of four from Maryland, found out yesterday she'll have the first seat.

It's time to fill the second.

Pitch in $3 or whatever you can before midnight tomorrow, and you'll be automatically entered for the chance to join Janet, President Obama, and two other supporters:

https://donate.barackobama.com/The-Second-Guest

There are only hours to go -- so if you want your name to be in there, you should act now while there are still three spots remaining.

Good luck!

-Rufus

Rufus Gifford
National Finance Director
Obama for America
##

*Photo by Obama for America

Jeremy Bernard's White House Anniversary

It was a watershed moment when President Obama appointed Jeremy Bernard as the first man and the first openly gay Social Secretary in White House history, one year ago tomorrow, Feb. 25. In January, GQ magazine named Bernard #44 on its list of the 50 most powerful people in Washington. But since taking up his post, Bernard, a former major fundraiser for the Obama campaign who helped raise millions in California, has flown largely under the radar, and has never given a formal interview. Bernard's first White House event was the 2011 St. Patrick's Day reception, and he has also traveled with the President and First Lady Obama. (Above, with Mrs. Obama in Hawaii, at the APEC Spouses' Luncheon last November)

The President and First Lady Obama are "the greatest and best bosses one could work for," Bernard confided to West Hollywood's LGBT POV during a party thrown in his honor at a private Los Angeles home last August.

Bernard's social events in the past year included two State Dinners, which went off without a hitch. The weeks ahead will be extra busy for Bernard, with a trio of high profile Presidential dinners. This Sunday, the President and Mrs. Obama host the annual black-tie Governors Dinner. On Feb. 29, the President and Mrs. Obama will welcome about 200 guests for the formal "A Nation's Gratitude Dinner," which will honor veterans of the Iraq war. In mid-March, they will welcome Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Mrs. Samantha Cameron for a State Dinner, the sixth of the Administration.

April 9th brings the biggest event on the annual White House social calendar, when more than 30,000 guests will attend the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn. One "off-the-record" event Bernard personally hosted that's of note is a White House lunch with Modern Family actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his boyfriend; Ferguson tweeted about it last October, and included a photo of his lunch from the Navy Mess.

Bernard earns $118,00 annually, according to the 2011 Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff, less than his female predecessor, Julianna Smoot, who earned $150,000 annually. Smoot, like Bernard's former romantic/business partner, Rufus Gifford, now works for the President's re-election campaign; Smoot is Deputy Campaign Manager, while Gifford is National Finance Director. Bernard is the third Social Secretary for the Obamas, who began their time at the White House with Desiree Rogers filling the post. Bernard's bio is here.

*AP photo

Staff Fueled By Cookies At Obama Campaign HQ

The sweet chaser for pizza and vats of coffee...
If you're wondering what superfood is powering President Obama's re-election campaign, apparently it's chocolate chip cookies. This photo was posted by a campaign staffer to BarackObama's instagram account. It got 195 comments, which included observations about everything from the look of the cookies to SOPA and internet freedom.

"Chocolate chip cookies and a serving of fruit: helping to sustain the #Obama2012 HQ staff today," was the message with the photo.

"Obama posting cookie pictures is a joke... Use our resources for something meaningful, not your shameless self promotion," wrote intagram user aarondomino.

Under tight deadlines, OFA staffers usually gorge on lousy food and drink loads of coffee, according to Rufus Gifford, the National Finance Director for Obama for America, who shared details of staffers' dietary habits in an e-mail to potential donors.

"We've all had more pizza and bad takeout in the past few weeks than anyone should have in a year," Gifford wrote. "The staff and I are working around the clock, powered by too much coffee."