I got an email from President Barack Obama! 

14 Sep 2011

I was super jazzed when I got this email from our President, Barack Obama today. He invited me to dinner! I do have some problems with some of the stuff he’s done over the past few years, so I felt compelled to write him a quick note back. Hopefully, he’ll respond soon. That would be the friendly thing to do, right?

Anyway, here’s our exchange. I can’t wait for dinner.

Friend –

I’m writing to invite you to dinner.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve done this before. I’ve asked the campaign to organize small, five-
person dinners with supporters like you as a regular thing.

These dinners are important to me. Not just because they help me stay connected to supporters like you who are
doing the hard work of building this campaign, but because they set us apart.

No matter what our opponents do over the next 14 months, we have chosen to put people at the heart of our
campaign – and we’re focused on building it one grassroots donation at a time.

I’m asking you to make one today.

Will you donate $5 or more today to be automatically entered for a chance to join me for dinner?

I read a few letters every day from the many that come to the White House. Those personal connections with the
people who put me here drive me and remind me why I set out to do this job in the first place.

Our focus on everyday Americans and their stories has always made our organization more than just a political
campaign.

From the very beginning, we’ve set out to practice a different kind of politics – proving that we don’t need
checks from Washington lobbyists or unlimited special-interest money to win an election.

That’s why I’m asking you to step up and donate today. When you do, you’ll be automatically entered to win a
place at dinner:

http://my.democrats.org/Dinner

Maybe I’ll get to thank you in person.

Barack

Barack,

Appreciate the email. Odd generic email address you use, but I guess that’s to keep the crazies at bay, right? I know how that is!

So, I’d love to have dinner. And honestly, I’d love to give you much more than $5. I’ve been a big supporter of yours since your first DNC address (and when it turned out that my old boss and fantasy baseball opponent played basketball with you in law school! Small world!)

The only thing is that I feel entirely let down by you and the Democratic party over the past 2.5 years. As a lifelong Democrat, I feel like we’ve been caving on things that are both the core of our party, and the things that separate us from the people who just don’t care about our fellow Americans (and our fellow world citizens).

So, let’s make a deal. You get your jobs deal through. Maybe you even get your team to start talking more about investing in America (you know, to get us out of these economic doldrums we’re in). You start talking and acting like a progressive, tough, bad-ass Democrat again, and I’ll give you some money and join you at dinner. Until then, I’ll hold this carrot out there for you, to remind you of how you got elected. You got elected by being f’ing awesome, not being someone who backs down from John Boehner. Seriously, John Boehner scares you? I just don’t get it. You must have some sort of Sixth Sense-like twist coming. Is he a ghost? Or maybe he’s really got some sort of vampire thing going, and that’s why he’s that color (trying to fit in).

In any event, when you start being bad-ass again, and making me proud of my party like I was in November of 2008, I’ll start helping you out. Tit-for-tat and all that.

Sound good? Awesome. Look forward to hearing from the old Barack soon.

Your pal,
Ryan