The Winners and Losers at Tonight's White House State Dinner
Eva Longoria will be attending tonight's White House state dinner honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Beyonce and George Lopez will be there, too. But not Bill Clinton. State dinner snubs: a comprehensive survey of the guest list and seating chart.
Eva's date won't be husband and basketball star Tony Parker, but some guy named David Figueroa. (Who is that? This guy, I think.) In addition to the usual Geithners and Bidens, the guest list includes George Lopez, Whoopi Goldberg, richest man in the world (and New York Times overlord) Carlos Slim, and Robert Unanue, president of Goya Foods, the most delicious supplier of refried beans ever to be based in New Jersey. Beyonce will be there, too, but only to perform. There's only one Arizonan on the guest list: Arizona Republic publisher John Zidich.
Other exciting details you should know:
- The Rick Bayless-conceived menu will serve up jicama salad, Hawaiian fish ceviche, and beef with Oaxacan black mole.
- Dessert is a chocolate-cajeta tart with toasty marshmallows, goat cheese ice cream, and "graham cracker crumble."
- The seating arrangement will be boldly iconoclastic! Instead of separate President and First Lady tables, there will be "one large head table." Heh. "Head."
- Conspicuously missing from the guest list: Bill Clinton. Looks like Hillary's going stag.
- What, no Sonia Sotomayor? Yes, I know she's Puerto Rican, but they invited a bunch of Cuban Telemundo people, so why not the first Latina Supreme Court Justice? Maybe Supreme Court justices don't go the state dinners? Update: But Justice Kennedy is seated at the head table!
- Gayle King is Newark mayor Cory Booker's date? Hmm.
- As promised, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez was also left off the list, perhaps because of his recent civil disobedience in protest of Arizona's immigration law. Though the state dinner studiously avoids vocal members of either side of the debate, one person was too powerful to skip: L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who recently led the L.A. protest to boycott Arizona. Villaraigosa's cousin, California Assembly Speaker John Perez, will also be there.
- As long as we're talking Mexican-American celebrities, where's Salma Hayek? Too busy at Cannes? And what about Cesar Millan? (Bo breathes a sigh of relief.)
- Pelosi's not at the head table, but Harry Reid is.
The guest and head table lists are here. Who else is missing? Who's apt to crash? Help us obsess in the comments section.
