Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

November 24, 2009

Obama's First State Dinner

"The most sought-after invitation in Washington -- for tonight's state dinner for the prime minister of India, the first state dinner hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle -- arrived in the mail a little over a week ago," Politics Daily reports.

"But no one is complaining about the short notice. Some 400 guests are expected for the party, the most elaborate entertaining the First Couple have done to date."

ABC News says "the complete guest list, under lock and key until this afternoon, will be scrutinized once it is released later today for celebrity figures and big donors perhaps being repaid for campaign support by receiving the golden ticket."

Nonetheless, the Washington Times reports that top Republican lawmakers were not invited.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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