Obama invitee's switch story omits a detail

[PMBrent]

Obama invitee's switch story omits a detail

Palm Beach Post, FL, USA


Obama invitee's switch story omits a detail

By Jose Lambiet
Palm Beach Post Columnist

Sunday, June 24, 2007


When Delray Beach firefighter Jennifer Lasko, wrote a short essay about
herself and sent it to Barack Obama's presidential campaign along with her
$25 contribution, she highlighted her political transformation from Reagan
conservative U.S. Army soldier to antiwar liberal Democrat.

[Photo: Jennifer Lasko]

Obama's handlers were so taken that they plastered her story online like a
trophy Thursday, and invited Lasko and three other donors with gripping
personal stories to a private dinner with the senator.

Lasko, however, did not mention another radical change in her life when she
wrote Obama - and now she's left to wonder whether the revelation that she
was a man named John, not so long ago could hurt Obama's campaign.

"I asked to be excused from the dinner," Lasko said Saturday. "I never
wanted undue attention. But I figured that this was a private thing, and I'm
just a citizen who wants to discuss issues. I was foolish to think I could
keep it under wraps. There are a lot of close-minded people who'll make an
issue of this."

Lasko, 42, said she asked the campaign to announce that she withdrew from
the July 10 event in D.C. for "personal reasons." She said she was saddened
to do it. The invitation, she said, was "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The Lake Worth resident told Page Two she had major sex-change surgery in
January 2005 while a fire-rescue employee. Palm Beach County records show
John William Lasko legally changed his name to Jennifer Ann Lasko in
December 2004, days before the surgery.

"I am legally a woman," Lasko said. "I am a woman anatomically and
spiritually. My co-workers have been very supportive."

Her specialty, Lasko said, is soothing out-of-control patients, something
that earned her the nickname of Ms. Congeniality.

Lasko began her political transition in 2000, long before she changed
gender. Then a John McCain supporter, Lasko became disillusioned with her
party while watching George W. Bush's, campaign trash her favorite.

"They hit below the belt, so I voted for Al Gore," she said. "My gender
change didn't have anything to do with politics, but it may have pushed me
farther away from the Republican Party."

In Obama, Lasko says she sees a man who wants to unify the country — and
someone who, like her, is concerned about dependence on foreign oil,
education and Iraq. In Hillary Clinton, Lasko sees a divisive, polarizing
force.

Obama's campaign, meanwhile, was mulling over Lasko's change of heart
Saturday.

"We selected Jennifer to be a part of this dinner because of her commitment
to her community," Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "Barack Obama hopes
that she'll decide to attend after all. If she doesn't, he hopes to meet her
in the future."

When asked whether the campaign had vetted Lasko to prevent embarrassment to
her or anyone else, Psaki said: "What we would have found wouldn't have
mattered. She still would have been invited."

Lasko's story and picture were still on the official Obama Web site late
Saturday.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/06/24/a2a_jose_col_0624.html




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