Inside The Geffen Fundraiser; Who's Really Supporting Obama?
LOS ANGELES - Sen. Barack Obama picked up about $1.3 million in Hollywood money for his ’08 campaign Tuesday night at a posh Beverly Hills fundraiser which followed a large afternoon rally in one of L.A.’s poorest neighborhoods.
“We’re all shopping,” said former Mad About You sitcom star Paul Reiser in describing celebrities interested in but not totally committed to the Illinois Dem instead of Hollywood’s long-established ‘08 favorite Sen. Hillary Clinton.
At least 300 actors, filmmakers and studio executives paid $2,300 per ticket (the maximum allowed federal campaign donation) to attend the Beverly Hilton dinner organized for Obama by Dreamworks SKG studio moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. It was Katzenberg who announced the $1.3 million figure, according to a pool report of the dinner by San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Carla Marinucci. (Event organizers barred all other news media.)
“Don’t sell yourselves short,’’ Obama said in his 25-minute speech, per the pool report. “You are the storytellers of our age.” But after a humorous introduction from his wife Michelle, Obama added that in his change-is-in-the-air campaign, “the starring roles don’t go to me. They go to the people of America.’’
Spielberg called Obama, “great,” and actress Jennifer Anniston called him, “lovely,” the pool report said. Attending too were singer Jackson Browne, actor Ben Stiller, filmmaker Ron Howard and actors Morgan Freeman, Eddie Murphy and Mario Van Peebles.
The swank fundraiser came after Obama charmed several thousand supporters at a large outdoor afternoon rally in South Los Angeles, wrapping up a three-day fundraising blitz up and down the campaign cash-rich Golden State. Obama’s tie-less, shirt-sleeves-rolled-up 30-minute speech was anchored in his campaign’s ongoing themes of changing America and ending the Iraq war and foreign oil dependence. “We fund both sides of the war on terrorism,” he told the crowd.
Orange County, Cal., businesswoman and soccer mom Tanya Hutchison said she epitomized the divided loyalties of African-American women equally attracted to Obama and Clinton. “I love Hillary too and she’s a minority and I want to support both,” said the mother of five, who runs a women’s empowerment web site. “I’m not 100 percent on either.”
Well-known California Dem faces were absent from the rally. U.S. Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) attended the rally along with some Los Angeles City Council members, but noticeably absent was L.A.’s always camera-ready Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose major donors include supermarket mogul and Clinton supporter Ron Burkle.
Though only one reporter was allowed into the dinner, some attendees offered their opinions after leaving the early evening event;
- Rev. Jesse Jackson said his stopping by Obama’s fundraiser was, “quite coincidental” and that he was in L.A. working on some trade and education issues. As for Obama, “Barack has my vote. He’s from Illinois.” He also described former Sen. John Edwards as, “a sleeper.”
- Quentin Tarantino and Al Gore film producer Lawrence Bender said Obama, “is my candidate. He’s a force or nature.” (Obama on Tuesday praised Gore’s Bender-produced film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” saying that thanks to this Oscar-nominated documentary, the issue of global warming, “suddenly is in everyone’s living room.”)
- Grammy-winning Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said Obama is her ’08 choice for now - “early on.” She added that aside from fundraising, the real point of Tuesday’s dinner was that, “everyone was gettin’ a feel for him, for the first time.”
- Former Paramount Pictures CEO and longtime Democratic Party activist Sherry Lansing said Obama was, “spectacular” but that she has loyalties also to Clinton and Edwards.
Longtime L.A. political consultant Steve Barkan said Obama has generated so much excitement among California Dems partly because, “people want to see, touch, feel.” He echoed his fellow Dems in praising what he said is the wealth of ’08 candidates including Obama, Clinton, Edwards and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, combining into what Barkan called the party’s, “Hilla-bam-ward-son." [DAVID FINNEGAN]
Finnigan is a freelance reporter in California and can be reached at david.finnigan@yahoo.com .
I predict that Hillary Clinton will be the democratic nominee in 2008. I can't yet predict who will win the general election, but obviously I hope it will be Hillary. Why do i make such a prediction? Hillary has money advantage, fame advantgage, formidable campaign talent arsenal advantage. And the best political strategist of our time; Bill Clinton.
HUSSAIN OBAMA IS AS ANTI AMERIA AS YOU CAN GET. HE NEEDS TO JOIN RANKS WITH THE JAHADISTS
Geffen is a jerk. Attacking Bill Clinton who is beloved among Democrats only hurts Obama. And repeating the the rightwing talking points and calling the Clintons liars is not going to help Obama. And when Geffen asks the "Is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton." The answer is "Yes" Barack Obama. At least Hillary completed her first term as Senator before before she considered running for president.Unlike Obama who after only 2 years in the Senate is running for President. I am sure this displeases the voters in Illinois who must be angry that he only wanted to be Senator to use it as a stepping stone to run for the Presidency.
Contrary to what Geffen states Republicans think Obama not Hillary would be the easiest defeat. The GOP respect the Clintons because they are a formidable team and know how to win elections and handle the rightwing slime machine. On the other hand it is Obama who is the unknown quantity who could have skeletons in his closet, such as the real estate deal he got from indicted felon Antonin Rezko. Rezko sold him a vacant lot adjacent to his new home for 1/6 the market value. William Safire has referred to it as "Rezkogate".The rightwing media is also having a field day with Obama`s Moslem sounding name and the years that he lived in the Muslim country of Indonesia.
The fact is that mainstream Democrats do not support Obama because he has not paid his dues and Geffen is just an out of touch elitist who in 1970 would have attended Leonard Bernstein`s fundraiser for the Black panthers.
Well said Mr. Geffen! It's about time that someone from our party stood up and said what we've all been suppresing for a long time:
1. Bill Clinton was a complete moral fraud;
2. Hillary Clinton is too volatile, irrational, and vindictive to lead the Democratic Party;
3. Barak Obama is the right man, at the right time, for America.
Geffen has always been known to be caustic and a diva. If he didn't have so much money you think anybody would care about him?
Hillary and Obama are both terrible candidates! Democrats across the country care about ending the Iraq war, not about "breaking barriers" by electing a black or a woman president. I'm angry with these two for distracting from the Iraq War. They are both selfish, ambitious politicians with huge ego and sense of entitlement. What a disappointment that these two are what the Democratic establishment wants to give us. Hollywood is so out of touch; they want Obama solely to have a black nominee.
Even if you don't agree with Hilary Clinton, I thought it was totally out of line to make such a statement about the Clinton's, calling them liars. He doesn't make them look back, just you.
I try not to let the internet get to me and get too ranting and disparaging, but there have been a lot of plainly stupid things thrown around in the comments here. first of all... "obama needs to join ranks with the jihadists"... yeah, that's not worth anyone's time. moving on...
anyone who heard about geffen's comments on the news but didn't actually read the maureen dowd column is caught up in other people's talking points and should actually read the column, because in context what geffen said is fairly reasonable and much less hateful than the soundbites make it out to be. actually, much more reasonable than a lot of the ill-considered opinions being flung about here.
also, inexperience: lincoln had no more experience than obama, but became our greatest president. james buchanan had more experience than perhaps any president in history, but was our worst. the fact is obama has already proven he has much better judgement than hillary - for instance, read his speech from before the iraq war... a state senator with much less access to intelligence than hillary got it spot-on, while her and edwards were either far too easily duped or just way too politically calculating.
obama's real estate deals? very minor, plus far too complicated to hurt his chances. how can you reduce that to a soundbite?
and possibly worst of all (after the jihadist comment) is the one about breaking barriers. it makes little to no sense. so, we shouldn't vote for a black man because his entire platform is that he's black, and that he ignores the iraq war? well, what about his iraq war resolution? what about his early opposition to the war? he might milk his own life story to help him stand out, but he certainly never insinuates that you should vote for him because he's black. even when talking to black crowds, he stresses issues more than the significance of his skin colour.
also, bill clinton was not a moral fraud. he was an excellent president. hillary is not volatile, she's just too calculating. that's a good quality for a senator, but not a president. and yes, barack obama is the right man at the right time for the right country.
people make me sick. It's alright for blacks to vote for latinos and whites but not alright for them to vote for us. If you all want to play that game then we will just stay home and let the whites and the latinos kill themselves and loath each other. thats why we blacks feel the way we do. we vote for you all and when we want to vote for one of our own you all bark. we didn't vote for al nobody said anything. a lot of us voted for clinton nobody said nothing now a black man come on the scene and you all can't stand it. Kiss our you know what how about that. Blacks let the republicans get in we don't need any of them. We will still have to work no matter who is the damn president. how about that
Incredible how the cultural elitists are supporting Obama. Don`t they realize that this candidate will tax them into oblivion?