47 Dish Out Thousands To Be Guests At Private Presidential Dinner
BINGHAM FARMS (WWJ) - What do President Barack Obama, attorney Geoffrey Fieger and former Detroit Tigers great Willie Horton have in common?
They were among the 47 people who had dinner Wednesday at businesswoman Denise Ilitch's house in Bingham Farms as part of an exclusive Democratic Party fundraiser.
Speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950, Fieger said he was thrilled to attend the soirée.
"I don't know if I was more excited about being with Barack Obama or sitting next to Willie Horton," Fieger joked.
The well-known attorney said the president chatted with everyone informally.
"It was very interesting and compelling for probably about 15 or 20 minutes. He's just a really good speaker. I mean, imagine just having a small dinner party and one of the guests stands up and speaks to you, but he happens to be the leader of the free world, and then he took questions," he said.
Did Fieger get a chance to pick the president's brain?
"Nope, he wouldn't call on me. I raised my hand, but he wouldn't call on me," Fieger said laughing.
Fieger did, however, get the signature of the first black president of the United States.
"I had President Obama sign three cards for my children and he was kind enough to do that. Most people, I think, were a little bit intimidated about asking him to sign autographs. But my wife and I wanted him to sign three for our children and he did that kindly," said Fieger.
Some people paid $40,000 to be a guest at that dinner, but Fieger wouldn't divulge how much he gave up to be there. And, he said Obama didn't just address the guests who paid to be there.
"That was the neat part. He took it upon himself, the wait staff was from Bacco's Ristorante in Southfield, and he actually, before he met any of the people at dinner, he took it upon himself to introduce himself and shake the hands of all the wait staff. I thought that was very impressive and I think they were very impressed with that too."
