Bowser attended a Democratic National Committee fundraiser at Zaytinya on Monday evening, where she got the coveted photo — one likely to show up on countless mailers sure to appear in your postbox soon. (The Bowser campaign has posted a high-resolution photo on its Web site, accessible to potential independent efforts on her behalf waged by unions or political action committees.)

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She did not, however, stick around for a shout-out from POTUS. From a White House transcript of the event: “I want to acknowledge the woman who’s going to be the next mayor of D.C. — Muriel Bowser. (Applause.) Where’s Muriel? Stand up. She had to go? She had to go? Well, I love her anyway. She had to go campaign. She’s already got votes here.”

Her campaign declined to say where she was headed to next. “The most important thing is that President Obama and Muriel were able to meet yesterday, and she was able to share with him her progressive vision for the District,” said spokesman Joaquin McPeek.

One place she did not head was the Southwest/Navy Yard Candidates Forum at Arena Stage, where independent rivals David A. Catania and Carol Schwartz discussed their positions on various neighborhood issues for 90 minutes in front of a crowd of more than 200 and an empty chair highlighted Bowser’s absence.

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On Tuesday, Bowser is set to sidle even closer to a national Democrat, holding an afternoon “woman-to-woman phone banking event” with Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) at Bowser’s Ward 8 campaign office on Martin Luther King Avenue SE.

Catania’s campaign was glad to portray the presidential endorsement Monday as a sign of a tightening race, and on Tuesday, Catania campaign manager Ben Young called it astounding that a D.C. mayoral candidate would need national help to win.