We told you yesterday about local business owner Patty Briguglio and her chance Q&A with President Obama during his speech in Raleigh about health care.
Apparently, we weren't the only ones who noticed.
Briguglio, president and CEO of MMI Public Relations, is featured front and center on the front page of today's New York Times in a picture showing her discussion with the President after his speech.
According to Briguglio, the President promised her that any additional taxes her business would incur would be offset by additional credits, and she told him that she'd hold him to that.
But, she said, the conversation was not hostile.
"We weren't fighting, we were being nice," she said.
Since the paper's publication this morning, Briguglio said she's been receiving all kinds of calls and e-mails, including a follow-up call from the New York Times. NYT blogger Robb Mandelbaum devoted a whole post to Patty, the story behind the photo and her opinions on health care.
And, on her 15 minutes of fame, Briguglio said she wouldn't mind extending it a bit, if the President is so inclined.
"Rather than inviting me to the White House for a beer, I think he should invite me for a glass of pinot grigio and to talk about what he should do from a PR standpoint," she said.
Does that mean Briguglio is offering the White House assistance with PR?
"I guess I am," she said.
Retail reporter Sue Stock came to the N&O in 2004 and has been covering retail and shopping in the Triangle since then. She is the author of the popular 
Comments
Applying conservative principles to Health reform
Fri, 07/31/2009 - 11:44 — sandeepworksNo doubt Ms. Briguglio is a better steward of money than any government but that advantage is nothing compared to the dis-advantages of only having 19 covered employees to 1) negotiate with healthcare providers compared to Medicare which has some 40 million covered AND 2) pay for fixed costs like a suite of health specialists and equipment. Its a little like saying she'd be better at using 44 cents to send a letter anywhere in the country than the post office.
Its also true that Medicare could lower costs much more by paying for results, not procedures...and so could the public option.