Click Here(September 18, 2008)
*Sen. Barack Obama raised $11 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party at two star-studded fundraising events in Southern California Tuesday night, including one featuring a concert by Barbra Streisand. The presidential nominee's night began with a reception and dinner at $28,500 per person at the famous Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, and ended with Streisand's performance at the nearby Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which cost $2,500 per ticket. Before a crowd of some 800 people packed into the hotel's ballroom, Obama started his speech by addressing the current Wall Street mess, stating: "I am not in a celebratory mood," before citing a host of problems with falling incomes and joblessness. "A whole lot of Americans have been going through their own quiet storm," he said. Obama also sought to reassure concerned donors, as polls show him in a dead heat with John McCain. "People wonder sometimes, ‘He seems pretty calm,’" Obama said, to an audience that included Quincy Jones, Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Foxx. "The reason I am calm is I have confidence in the American people." Obama also joked about the unsolicited advice that comes his way from donors within the Hollywood industry. "Whenever I come to L.A. I get a lot of suggestions of what we should be doing," he said to some laughter. "I get a lot of suggestions for TV ads. ‘This is killer. This is the one that will put you over the top.'" Streisand belted a series of standards, including a version of "My Shining Hour" in which she sang, "This will be our shining hour in the White House again," and "Make Someone Happy" with the line, "He is the answer. We know Barack is the answer." Among the 280 folks gathered for the steak dinner at the Greystone Estate were Obama’s Southern California finance co-chairs Charles Rivkin and Nicole Avant, who spoke briefly, and DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg. Also present were Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodie Foster, Tobey Maguire, Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, Larry David, Jamie Lee Curtis, Clarence Avant, David Geffen and Steven Spielberg. In other campaign news, CBS' "60 Minutes" will devote its entire broadcast Sunday to profiles of both presidential candidates with new interviews, hoping to set the stage for the general election campaign's first presidential debate on Sept. 26. Scott Pelley plans to interview McCain in Wisconsin on Thursday, the same day Steve Kroft will talk to Obama in Nevada. The separate, nearly 20-minute pieces will mix profile material with a snapshot of a moment in the campaign. "They both have been very receptive to us, even though they know they're going to get hard questions," said Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Minutes." "They both know that we're going to be fair." Pelley plans to ask McCain, for example, about his thought process behind selecting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, and about criticism of some of his campaign ads. With the Wall Street meltdown this week, both candidates will be pressed on economic issues. • Side note: Sunday's broadcast will be the first "60 Minutes" in high definition.
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