Indian and Irish pow wow

Indians and Irish at White House 

Who is Jonathan Windy Boy, and why was he invited to the White House on St. Patrick’s night when a large number of leaders in the Irish American community were not?

Mr. Windy Boy is a Cherokee Indian from Montana who is a keen advocate of grass dancing, according to his profile, a form of American Indian dancing that is very popular. He was also very helpful, as a state senator, to the victory campaign of President Obama in that state.

Jonathan was definitely at the White House on St. Patrick’s night.  His long dark hair and Indian-style dress made him stand out among the staid collars and ties and dresses of all the others.

The reality is, though, that Mr. Windy Boy tells us a lot about where Obama’s political instincts are at.

While literally hundreds of Irish American leaders from coast to coast were fuming at their lack of an invitation to the biggest Irish invite of all, Jonathan Windy Boy was able to sweep in.

Perhaps he even passed that prominent Irish American figure who was so upset at not being invited that he lingered outside hoping that someone would get him in.

Jonathan Windy Boy probably had no idea of the importance of the evening for those who were locked out — and those who literally screamed the house down with the White House when they discovered they were not on the initial invitation list .

As far as Mr. Windy Boy was concerned, he had done the business for Obama and had been rewarded with a party invite.

Next time in Montana no doubt Jonathan Windy Boy — who is interviewed on You tube by Shawn White Wolf if you want to learn more about him at  http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=e6SdqzEoWqE — will be doubly grateful for attending the White House at the behest of Obama.

 A shift in power

A careful analysis of the crowd at the Obama White House St. Patrick’s party shows the shifting power at the center of the new administration when it comes to Irish America.

What is clear is that politics and re-election  is king with the new Obama people, and that community leaders who have no obvious ties to the president are not going to make the cut.

It’s a fairly straightforward, Chicago-style determination by the president and his staff, who are clearly lacking in any sentimentality about who they think will help them in the future and who will not.

By our count there were only 79 bona fide members of the active Irish American community among the crowd of 300 or so. We suspect that would be a number that is greatly down from the old days.

Indeed, it was also clear that a large number  of names were not even Irish, though obviously some may have been through marriage.  We counted 122 in that category out of the 300 guests on the list.

The geographic base has shifted also, of course. When did you think you would see a White House crowd of Irish where only five members with addresses from Massachusetts were present?

Hardly surprising that in terms of the states the majority of invitees came from Illinois with 30.  Only 20 came from New York.

The numbers of Irish from Ireland, north and south, measured around 30 in total, a fair enough ratio given that the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen and Northern Ireland leaders were there.

It was clearly an exceedingly tough ticket for people from Ireland, a far cry from the good old days when former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern would arrive with a large retinue in tow.

Largest single group

The largest single group at the party?  That would be politicians, or White House aides, numbering about 85 according to a count. 

They included the whole gamut, from Vice President Joe Biden to the mayor of Danville, Connecticut, to the aforementioned Mr. Windy Boy from Montana.

Given the importance of local as well as regional politicians to the Obama grassroots drive for the White House, that is hardly surprising.

All in all about 85 politicians were on the list for the Obama White House bash – almost one-third of all who attended.

It certainly shows that Obama is celery directing his energies into storing up the support he enjoyed in November into follow up backing n 2008.

In that respect, having elected politicians beholden to him make a lot more sense than community activists who may or may not get involved.

If you had skin in the game politically and were in any way tied to the Obama presidency, you were invited to the White House on St. Patrick’s Day is the clear message.

As for the non-connected political activists who may have spent a lifetime creating the networks of the Irish American community, well, too bad for 2009.  There’s always next year.