WHO KNEW THAT THE TOWN WAS POTEMKIN?:

A FRIENDLY CROWD: President's Audience Heavy on Supporters (Washington Post, 3/28/09)

While any member of the public with an Internet connection could submit a question for the event, the five identified questioners called on randomly by the president in the East Room shared commonalities. They included: a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union; a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama in the Hispanic community during the primary; a former Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates who endorsed Obama last fall in an op-ed in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; and a Virginia businessman who was a donor to Obama's 2008 campaign.

One of the questioners, Sergio Salmeron, became involved with the Obama campaign early in 2008, writing on his blog: "We need to mobilize towards changing the trend of '2 to 1 Latinos favoring Hillary over Barack.' Let's make a resolute commitment."

He was a volunteer canvasser for the Obama campaign, he told The Washington Post, and did voter registration work and translated materials for the campaign. A partner at Global Paradigm Strategies, Salmeron is a volunteer "member of the Democratic National Committee" and continues to be active with the Obama campaign's successor, Organizing for America, which is how he got the White House invitation, he said.