According to a knowledgeable source with ties to the Clintons and Obamas there has been no final decision on whether the president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama, will be at the marriage ceremony or reception of the upcoming Chelsea Clinton wedding.
According to this source, while the public is being led to believe that it won’t happen, security plans are still being developed for such a possibility.
What would it mean for the wedding, for history, and for both the Obamas and Clintons? Would the appearance of the Obamas, even at the reception, upstage a private, family affair? Or would it add prestige and honor?
According to some recent polls, the Clintons are now more popular than the Obamas. So it is not likely that any guest, including the president and first lady, would upstage her marriage to longtime, 31-year-old boyfriend and Goldman Sachs banker, Marc Mezvinsky.
News about the wedding has been a story in itself, with speculation that the public, media savvy Clintons have purposely dropped disinformation to help shroud the event in privacy. Hints about the wedding last summer embarrassed news agencies when it didn’t happen. It is now set for July 31, 2010.
Published accounts were also wrong about the dress. It will be a Vera Wang creation, not Oscar de la Renta as widely reported. And the location will not be at Martha’s Vineyard but deep on the grounds of a Clinton supporter a few hours north of New York City.
All of these efforts may not be enough to sufficiently dampen public interest. The Jenna Bush wedding took place during a low ebb in the popularity of President Bush and at a time when the war on terror counseled as little publicity as possible.
Jenna was married at the Bush family's Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas, a rather remote location. But the Clinton wedding will be within driving distance of the media capital of the world. And at a time when the Clinton presidency is being viewed more favorably in comparison to his two successors.
-- Edited by Hillarysmygirl16 on Thursday 15th of July 2010 11:20:26 AM
If he has an ounce of empathy he will abstain from attending and let the family enjoy their time of happiness without reminders of how he birdflipped them in 2008.
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Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010 Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010
I agree with both comments. I'm betting he'll go - for appearance sake. But, then, again, he may have something pressing to attend to.... like golfing. lol
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It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony
Someone in the Clinton family could always go the passive-aggressive route and seat the Obamas next to someone like James Carville or one of Hillary's Republican brothers.