When the White House released a list of 15 Congress members and Senators who had been invited to watch the Super Bowl with President Obama, Californians quickly noticed the invitations did not extend west of the Colorado River. No Antonio Villaraigosa, no Xavier Becerra — not even Arnold. In fact, only two of the invitees are Westerners — Arizona Congressmen Trent Franks (R) and Raul Grijalva (D).
Perhaps indicating an accelerating Cold War between the GOP and White House, Republican Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl had also been invited but turned down the President. Kyl's office explained he had planned to watch the game with his family (yeah, right), but there's no word on why McCain, who lost to Obama in November, did not want to attend. (We know he's not washing his hair that day.)
Here's the list of those who have RSVP'd:
Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release January 30, 2009
PRESS BRIEFING
BY PRESS SECRETARY ROBERT GIBBS
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
The following is a list of elected officials who will be guests at the President's Super Bowl party.
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Congressman Artur Davis (D-AL)
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Congressman Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA)
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH)
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC)
Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA)
Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI)
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