Friday, May 11, 2012

Obama campaign raises $15 million at star-studded Hollywood fundraiser - @CNN

A fundraiser held Thursday at actor George Clooney's home raised $15 million for President Obama's campaign.
A fundraiser held Thursday at actor George Clooney's home raised $15 million for President Obama's campaign.
  • Obama: 2012 campaign will be tougher than four years ago
  • The president says: "2008, in some ways, was lightning in a bottle"
  • A California fundraiser delivers $15 million
  • Mitt Romney and Obama are in a virtual tie, a recent poll shows

(CNN) -- Hollywood pulled off another blockbuster as a star-studded guest list delivered $15 million into the campaign coffers of President Barack Obama Thursday night.

The fundraiser at the home of actor and activist George Clooney in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles attracted dozens of guests including Clooney's girlfriend, actress/model Stacy Keibler; DreamWorks studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg; designer Diane Von Furstenberg; Barbra Streisand and her actor husband James Brolin.

In a largely jovial address to guests, Obama acknowledged that the road to the White House in 2012 will be much different than the campaign four years ago.

"This is going to be harder than it was the last time ... 2008, in some ways, was lightning in a bottle," the president said.

Obama's $15M dinner with Clooney

Obama is locked in a tight race with presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

A Politico/George Washington University poll released this week shows Romney with a one-percentage point advantage, 48%-47%, over the president among likely voters, well within the survey's sampling error.

"Folks are still hurting out there and those frustrations with Washington and the nonsense they see on the news is making them more cynical than they were in 2008," Obama said. "So we're going to have to fight against cynicism and a belief that maybe things can't happen and maybe the game is rigged, what's the point. That's what we're going to be fighting against this time."