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Whittmore Meets w / Mrs. Obama

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
I'm not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but if not, Andrea Whittemore posted on Facebook that her mother met with Mrs. Obama today at the Nevada Women's Summit in Reno, and Annette gave her a letter written by Andrea...

"I wrote it last night thinking in case I wasn't well enough to attend . I just was very very short in stating 17,000,000 suffer from ME/CFS from around the world . Then I stated we only get 3,000,000 dollars to reasearch this disease from our government. This must change I also asked her to please look into XMRV and find out the implications involved. I thanked her for coming and hoped Reno would be the host I know she can be :) this was the summary of it."

I hope it's okay to quote from Andrea's post. If not...then please delete this. The actual post can be found on Annette Whittemore's Facebook page...in a comment that Andrea posted in reply to another comment.
 

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
Yes, it's encouraging. It's not as if she makes policy or anything, but Michelle Obama seems to be a proactive First Lady, so it's great that Whittemore was able to meet with her.

And Senator Harry Reid was there of course too, so I would imagine that both will followup at a later date.
 

bullybeef

Senior Member
Messages
488
Location
North West, England, UK
There could be a gap in the market opening for celebrates, and politicians to become patrons of XMRV/ME charities. Although Mrs. Obama may not be able directly able to change policies, she could look to be the first person in power to represent, and campaign for us. We could do much worse.
 

BEG

Senior Member
Messages
1,032
Location
Southeast US
More and more, I'm convinced our donation $'s should be going to the Whittemore-Petersen Institute. To have Mrs. Obama's ear, well, that's fantastic.
 

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
Sounds like it was mainly a campaign stop to rally the troups for Reid's re-election fight this fall, but she also focused on women's health care issues. No doubt Whittemore's long-term friendship and connections with Reid helped in allowing her to meet Mrs. Obama -- which yes -- is a great thing.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOhoWJv9c7xxKvf_vJLxGqKwHU_AD9G2RMCG0

"RENO, Nev. — First Lady Michelle Obama promoted healthy lifestyles among women and children Tuesday in Nevada and tried to help breathe life into the re-election campaign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, calling him "one of my favorite people in the world."

"Over the years, he has been a tireless advocate on behalf of women," Obama told about 1,600 people in a keynote address to a women's summit in a downtown Reno convention hall.

The Nevada Democrat, facing trouble in the polls in his bid for a fifth term in November, has been a leader on such things as health care reform for women, protection from domestic violence and equal pay for equal work, she said."

and here... http://www.rgj.com/article/20100602...ama-stumps-for-women-s-equality--Reid-in-Reno

"Public policy that ensures gender equality in health care and the work force not only benefits the women it's meant to protect, but it also strengthens the social fabric of the country, first lady Michelle Obama told a boisterous crowd of mostly women Tuesday at a downtown Reno convention hall.

In a speech at the Women's Summit 2010 to promote her initiatives on healthy living for women and children, Obama touted the work of her husband and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on behalf of women but said women must step up.

"It's up to all of you every-day women to carry that role forward," she said. "What we're working toward is to ensure our daughters and our granddaughters can dream just a little bigger and reach just a little higher than we did."
 
R

Robin

Guest
Expect more attention from the Obamas regarding Reid. As Senate majority leader he's important to them, and he's really been struggling to hang on to his district.
 

justinreilly

Senior Member
Messages
2,498
Location
NYC (& RI)
Hopefully Mrs. Obama will go on Celebrity Apprentice representing WPI! : )

I wouldn't read too much into this- ie Mrs. Obama, as someone in the political limelight, meets many people asking for help with issues and we don't have any indication that she will help us.

That said, this is exactly what we need! We need to keep contacting everyone who can help us. I urge everyone to do like the Whittemores and contact the powers that be.

I am constantly bowled over with how much WPI does for us. Thank you so much to the Whittemores for constantly championing us.:victory::victory:
 

Hope123

Senior Member
Messages
1,266
Yes, I agree with Justin -- she probably gets talked to about a lot of issues all the time.

Nevertheless, it always good to reinforce a point. On that note, I would encourage people who haven't written her or even if you have, to write her again and mention her meeting Andrea W. in Reno.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact


I know the White House delays snail mails due to screening for anthrax, etc. but you might want to consider faxing them a note. If you can write legibly, consider a hand-written one. It'd be interesting if you could attach a picture somehow. Personalize it to make it stand out; put your family in it. See Right-sided column of site. The reason why is in this day and age of e-mail, a written note is something rarer.

I wrote a high-level official recently about CFS via snail mail and got a slightly personalized snail mail letter back, which was full of diplomacy but nonetheless, wasn't something I expected.