USA: President Barack Obama met with Hollywood power brokers at a campaign fundraiser held at the home of actor George Clooney

Record ID: 346578

  • Title: USA: President Barack Obama met with Hollywood power brokers at a campaign fundraiser held at the home of actor George Clooney
  • Date: 11th May 2012
  • Summary: CHILDREN DRINKING LEMONADE
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8KZ8V4TB9BFQ7SA5UTMHYSL47
  • Story Text: Hollywood's biggest star on Thursday evening (May 10) was not George, Oprah, Brad or Tom...but the President of the United States, Barack Obama, who took top billing at fundraiser held in his honor at the home "A-list" movie star George Clooney.
    Earlier, President Obama drew cheers and applause for his endorsement of same-sex marriage during a fundraising spree on Thursday that culminated in the night's multimillion-dollar extravaganza.
    Obama's campaign revved up supporters with teases about Clooney, encouraging fans to donate as little as $3 online for a chance to dine with the Oscar-winning actor and the president in Los Angeles.
    Tickets for the fundraiser at the Oscar-winning actor's house cost 40,000 dollars (USD) and 150 people - including Barbra Streisand, Salma Hayek, Tobey Maguire and Jack Black - were expected to attend, a campaign official said. That puts the haul from those attending at 6 million.
    Local residents with flags and children selling lemonade from stands, lined the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the President as his motorcade winded its way to Clooney's Studio City home.
    "It is like Super Bowl Sunday everyone is really excited to be here," said Tamby Stollman. "We put a sign up at our school, Carpenter down the street, welcoming the President. Everyone is excited."
    Other groups, like the organization, "Campaign for Fair Settlement," took the President's visit as a chance for their voices to be heard.
    "I wish he would do more about the homeowner situation," explained Beverly Roberts, one of the protesters who is hoping Obama does more in solving the housing foreclosure crisis. "I am not the only one. There are hundreds and thousands of more, that are in trouble and some worse than me. I'm not in foreclosure but I am headed that way."
    "Tell the President to keep up the good work," added fellow protester Melvina Bogan. "But to very assertive when he is talking to the bankers because they can be very deceiving."
    Meanwhile, Obama's announcement on Wednesday (May 09) that he believes gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry - a position likely to go over particularly well with the Hollywood crowd expected to fill Clooney's Los Angeles residence - was also generating a buzz among the crowd waiting for the President.
    "This is an equal rights and civil rights issue," explained Dan Fotou, among a group of protesters holding signs asking for equal rights. "While Obama has come out in favor of equal rights equality, we also want to say that there is more to do. So, we are here today to say that."
    "I happen to be one half of a couple who wants to get married and we have a drop dead wedding date of 2013," said Majay Roble, who was also taking part in the protest. "We are hoping to marry in California. When Obama said that it gave me hope that it might happen before the end of his second term."
    Organizers say the star-studded gala may gross as much as 15 million overall as a result of the flood of interest from supporters who gave an average of about 23 each to enter the online sweepstakes for a last-minute invitation to the dinner, a source close the event told Reuters.
    The winners were Beth Topinka, a science teacher from New Jersey, and Karen Blutcher, who works at a public utility company in Florida. Both women were to bring their husbands as guests to the dinner.
    A campaign official would not release the total sum to be raised from the raffle, saying any projections above 6 million were speculative.
    Obama has spent months raising money for his re-election to build a huge war chest to fight the presumed Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, in an election on November 6.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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