Politics

Obama Girl Gets Stood Up

By Matt Cooper

Andrea Chalupa reports from Denver: As the human traffic shuffled out of Denver's Pepsi Center after hearing Michelle Obama extol the virtues of her husband, across town Amber Lee Ettinger, better known as "Obama Girl," waited for a close-up that never came.

Ettinger, 26, was slated Monday night to perform her signature YouTube hit "I Got A Crush On Obama" at the Mercury Lounge, followed by an auction to win a date with her. About a dozen people showed up by 11 p.m., nearly half were with BarelyPolitical, the entertainment website that discovered her and produces her videos.

Granted, it was the first night of the Democratic convention and Ettinger had to compete against Slate giving out free campaign-themed books at its party in the Tattered Cover bookstore, as well as Rock the Vote's Ballot Bash featuring Fall Out Boy.

And the venue event organizers chose for the "Obama Crush Party" felt like it was on the outskirts of downtown. It was next to an abandoned lot and a Hertz.

Ben Relles, founder of BarelyPolitical, decided to pull Ettinger from the night's bill and instead show some of her videos, which range from erotically moving around in a bed while calling on Hillary Clinton to stop attacking Obama, to taking on "Giuliani Girl."

Look out for another "Obama Girl" video this week. Only this one will be called "Obama Boy" and it's all about Ettinger going back to 1966 and telling a five-year-old Barack to "be strong."

Relles promises this will be a big week for Ettinger as she takes to the press circuit, beginning with CNN Tuesday morning, followed later in the week with planned appearances on MSNBC and Fox & Friends.

There will also be "Obama Girl" man-on-the-street interviews from the convention to run on BarelyPolitical.com. Among her tough questions: what makes a candidate sexy?

As for life after the election, Ettinger, who worked as a parts model and actor, appearing in a deodorant commercial, knows the clock is ticking on her fifteen minutes.

"Whether I like it or not I'm on this timeline alongside Obama," she says. But she hopes to cross over into music, having just released the single "Second Time" on iTunes. She's also working on a jewelry line with her mother and reading scripts.

According to Ettinger, there's also a possible deal with SpikeTV in the works.

Who else does she hope to run into in Denver other than her crush? "I'd love to meet Scarlett Johansson because she has the same feelings I do."

Andrea Chalupa

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Related Links
Why Conventions Matter
Table for One: Denver
Don't Decide Before Denver

Full post as published by Portfolio.com: Capital on August 26, 2008 (boomark / email).