PRINCETON: Some local Dems to skip the first lady

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   First Lady Michelle Obama might be coming to Princeton Township for a political fundraiser on Sunday, but some Princeton Democrats say they won’t be there.
   The event, with tickets going for $2,000 or $10,000, is intended to raise money for her husband’s re-election campaign.
   ”I ain’t going,” said Borough Councilman Roger Martindell on Wednesday in citing unspecified “other plans.”
   Borough Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller explained Wednesday that she too has plans, in this instance helping her daughter and son-in-law move into their new home.”I’m not able to attend but excited that she’s coming to Princeton,” said Borough Councilwoman Heather Howard in an email Tuesday.
   Representatives from the Obama national campaign office in Chicago and the New Jersey office did not respond to requests for comment to discuss the fundraiser, due to be held at the home of Andrew and Carol Golden.
   Mr. Golden runs the company that manages the $17 billion endowment fund of Princeton University, while Ms. Golden works for Corner House, the local substance abuse program. She also is the chairwoman of the board of trustees of the Mercer County chapter of Planned Parenthood.
   The couple are donors to Democrat politicians and causes, with Ms. Golden having given $11,000 to Texans for Truth, a group that challenged former President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas National Guard, election records showed. She declined to comment last month about the fundraiser.
   Princeton is familiar territory for the first lady, having graduated in 1985 from Princeton University. But in her senior thesis, she wrote of feeling like an outsider as a black student at the Ivy League school. She was noticeably absent from her 25th reunion two years ago, giving rise to speculation in the media that she harbors ill feelings to her alma mater.
   Borough Mayor Yina Moore, who is going to the event, said Wednesday that she understood that the fundraiser primarily was organized by Princeton alumni. Like Ms. Obama, Ms. Moore graduated from Princeton.
   Borough resident Richard Glanton, the former head of the Philadelphia-based Barnes Foundation, plans to attend Sunday. He said on Wednesday that he got to know the Obamas while he was living in Chicago. A Republican, he said GOP nominee Mitt Romney has “aligned himself” against the interests of the middle class.
   As for the first lady’s visit this weekend, it is not clear if law enforcement will restrict access to the area around the Goldens’ home.
   Jacob F. Christine, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Newark Field Office, said Wednesday that he could not comment on protective operations about the first lady’s visit due to security concerns.