RUTHFULLY YOURS

Six weeks before the election, President Obama couldn’t fill the ballroom at the Roosevelt Hotel, despite cheap tickets on offer. And then he was met by hecklers.

Who would have thought that six weeks before a cliffhanger election, President Obama would have to reach down to the D list to fill a room to listen to him? Most of us low rollers arrived early to see President Obama up close and personal. Our tickets for the general reception at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York were only $100. Some thought the email invitation was a joke. Some bought tickets for $50 from their desperate Democratic committeeman. Some bought the same day.

President Barack Obama speaks at a fundraiser in New York City September 22, 2010. (Photo: Susan Walsh / AP Photo)

“It’s Filene’s,” enthused Sharon Douglas, reliving her heady days as a volunteer in Obama’s 2008 campaign. The doorman beckoned conspiratorially and ushered us out one door and in through another to stand at the back of the $500 line. Their crowd came from Wall Street in car services and killer heels. Our crowd came on subways in flats and scuffed teacher’s shoes.

Only after I received four email invitations and two personal calls imploring me to come did I call Speaker Pelosi’s office to check the admission price. “You mean, to be in the room with the President of the United States is now on fire sale for $100?”

“Yup.”

“How long do we get?”

“Half hour.”

“How many $100 givers have rsvp’d?”

“Mmmm 250.”

“Do we need to line up early to get in?”

“That’s not necessary. Everybody  will get in.”

And everybody did—450 people in a room that holds 650.  Even Obama’s fire sale didn’t sell out.

But the foot soldiers were a cheerful bunch.  We expected no stroking. We stood for two and a half hours munching on deli food and enjoying the open bar. I sat on the floor next to the six-year-old black daughter of a Swedish law professor who drove down from Albany. We read “Wizard of Oz” together, hoping for magic. Astrid Grahn-Farley wrote in her school notebook, “me and mommy wait long line for presdint obama.”

“We love you!” shouted one audience member when the President finally appeared and flashed his spotlight smile our way.

“I love you back!” he called. “That’s why I’m here.”

This was a busy, challenging week for the President, with appearances at the Clinton Global Initiative and today at the U.N. General Assembly. “It’s also nice just to stop by and see some friends,” he was saying, when two screeching hecklers next to us thrust sheets in the air painted with “KILL. No retreat. FUND AIDS.”  One was a surly blond who had given her extra ticket to an unemployed gay man.

Supporters turned on the pair, shouting “Obama-Obama-Obama,” and the president intervened in his mediator mode:  “We heard your point. This young lady here, she wants increases in AIDS funding. That’s great. We increased AIDS funding. She’d like more. I’m sure we could do more—if we’re able to grow this economy again…”

When the hecklers grew more raucous, the President tried to ignore them. “In the last decade, we experienced the slowest job growth of any decade since World War II – “

“Don’t ask, don’t tell!” hollered the female heckler.

“The incomes of middle-class families –“

“Don’t ask, don’t tell!”

“…fell by almost 5 percent—“

“Don’t ask, don’t tell!”

“…fell by almost 5 percent –“

Our crowd tried to push the hecklers back.

“No, no, it’s all right,” said the President, curbing the fury in the room. “We don’t have to—it’s okay.  You don’t need to yell,” he reasoned with them. “Listen, my most urgent task as President was to prevent a second Depression.” (Applause.) “We’ve been through war and Depression and struggles for equal rights and civil rights. In each instance, we have made progress. Progress took time. Progress took sacrifice…”