The meeting with Obama came about after Qazwini had asked David Bonior, the former U.S. Rep. from Michigan, if he could meet with Obama during his visit. Qazwini was not selected to be part of a group of 20 people who met with Obama, but Qazwini later got a private meeting with Obama, Alawan said.

"They gave him an opportunity for a one-on-one," (Spokesman) Alawan said.

As far as we know, no one else in the State of Michigan received this sort of time and honor from Senator Obama.  The Imam was granted a place of honor and prominence above every other Michigan voter, resident, politician, donor, delegate, elected official, minister, activist and community leader. During the Senator's first visit to Michigan in well over three-hundred days the Muslim cleric was elevated above everyone else.

Not that I'm unwilling to give the campaign the benefit of the doubt.

A quick check of the campaign's website and news articles related to his Macomb County visit turn up no mention of Qazwini.

Update [2008-5-16 12:55:1 by Nick]:The FREEP is reporting that the Barackstar met privately with super-delegate and likely 2010 Dem Gubernatorial candidate Bob Ficano before his Macomb County stop, too. So it looks like the Imam was elevated above ALMOST everybody.

Especially related to that broader, more public 20 person VIP meeting.

But here's how these things work.  Campaigns give the locals a timeline and the folks on the ground coordinate the logistics.  Obama's camp says, for instance, `he's got fifteen minutes to meet with a small group, find 20 VIPs' and officials put together a list.  You need names, descriptions, often need social security numbers... it's a big hullabaloo.  

So the locals send that list off to campaign HQ and HQ does what they call vetting.  They take a look at the names and the bios and the information available and start crossing off names.  `So-and-so isn't important enough, this guy's social security number flags him as a wanted felon, we think this one's a Hillary guy' and `no thanks, the last thing we need is the region's most prominent Muslim cleric kicking up dust for us when we've finally killed most of those Koran rumors.'

I wasn't a fly on the wall but I've worked enough campaigns, put together enough VIP lists and done enough personal vetting to know how the game is played.  

Qazwini didn't make the big list, apparently.  But he made himself enough of a squeaky wheel that the Obama camp had to engineer a last-minute course correction and make time for a one-on-one sit-down with the man.  That or Barack wanted to meet with him in private from the start.  And it could be either one.  There's no option C.

However it happened, it begs a question the Obama campaign certainly wishes no one was asking... with prominent labor leaders, ministers at mega-churches, super delegates, max donors and countless other potential one-on-one sit-down meeting possibilities... and with twenty others getting only a group gathering... and what with this being Barack Obama's first real campaign stop in Michigan in over a year... why a private closed door meeting with Imam Hassan Qazwini?