Obama's GOP Pen Pal

[HopeOverFear]

First a letter, now The White House

Joni O'Neill was in her Mission Viejo flower shop late one night, watching the news, when she saw a story critical of President Barack Obama.

She sat down right then and wrote him a letter.

O'Neill, 54, is a Republican. She'd voted for the other guy. She told Obama that.

"I was honest. I said these times are difficult and challenging and I could be really angry about it. But I don't have time for that. I'm just going to move forward and that's what I'm hoping the country would do.''

She also wrote that she believed him when on election night "... you said you'd be my president too. I took that as an invitation to be positive.''

"He wrote me back,'' she said in a telephone interview Tuesday night as she prepared to leave for the nation's Capital.

The letter was hand written.

"It's priceless,'' she said of the president's response.

In his reply, Obama thanked O'Neill for her kind words. One line particularly stood out.

O'Neill had told the president she hoped he would keep smiling; that his smile reassured her when she watched him speak.

He wrote back: "You know I will keep smiling, just for you.''

"He made it really personal.''

White House officials say that every day the staff gives Obama 10 letters from the thousands that are sent to him. And it's not unusual for him to personally answer.

As if that wasn't cool enough, six months after she and the president became pen pals, O'Neill heard from someone at the White House who invited her to this job summit, designed to explore ways to fix that part of the economy. The summit is Thursday, Dec. 3 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, right next to the White House.

..."Although I'm a Republican and I didn't vote for the president, he's my president,'' O'Neill says. "In my opinion he's doing the best job he can. I think he is thoughtful and careful about the decisions he makes. I think he has a phenomenal team behind him who are trying to make all the right moves.''

She just wants the country to move forward and stop the bickering.

...She wasn't thrilled with the blanket extension of unemployment benefits.

"If it was me and I'd lost my job I would do anything,'' O'Neill says. "I'd flip a burger, anything, just not give up.''

She says she sees people who have lost lucrative jobs who believe it's beneath them to take something menial. So she saw the unemployment extension as a continuation of a crutch for such people.

O'Neill is not likely to pull any punches when she gets her chance to talk to the administration.

"What I hear across the United States is one common denominator – fear,'' she says.

"It's kind of like we're paralyzed. Nothing is moving. Nothing is happening.

"We just need to get it going.''

[Cha]

1. Oooops, "you can't Rec'd posts in this forum"..

:D

What a rare breed this woman is.

[SeattleGirl]

2. That's very cool, Hope

Especially getting invited to the jobs summit; that must have been a thrill for her.

And you know, even though I don't completely agree with her about the unemployment benefits extension (some places REALLY suck for jobs, even menial ones), I like it that she speaks her mind AND is willing to allow others to do the same.

[NYC_SKP]

3. She's right, he's everyone's president. And he's a Democrat, probably still getting more converts.

...from the GOP.

:kick:

[NYC Liberal]

4. Wow, thank you for posting this!

Quote

..."Although I'm a Republican and I didn't vote for the president, he's my president,'' O'Neill says. "In my opinion he's doing the best job he can. I think he is thoughtful and careful about the decisions he makes. I think he has a phenomenal team behind him who are trying to make all the right moves.''

I think this was my favorite part. There's some sanity in this country after all!

[goclark]

5. Maybe she should start posting on DU

She seems like an honest person that has excellent critical thinking skills and a good heart.