George Clooney rather famously promised Barack Obama, some five years ago: “I’ll give you whatever support you need — including staying completely away from you.”
Clooney’s reticence has to do with the Republican habit of turning the Democrats’ embrace of Hollywood against them (despite Republicans’ own success with candidates like Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger), and while there is every sign the GOP will use that anti-Hollywood brush again as Clooney hosts a fundraiser for the president on May 10, Obama’s reelection team is doing the opposite of keeping Clooney away from the candidate; instead, they’re in full hyperlink.
With roughly 125 people paying about $40,000 per person, the evening at Clooney’s Los Angeles residence is expected to raise $5 million-$6 million, sources say, and another $4 million-$5 million from an online contest in which supporters who made a small donation were invited to enter a drawing for two to attend the fundraiser. The president’s reelection team has played up the contest to the hilt, marketing it as “Obama, Clooney and You,” and sending almost daily reminders to supporters as a way to boost low-dollar donations.
“This is going to be a record-breaking evening here in Los Angeles, with tremendous support at every level in the entertainment community,” says Andy Spahn, a political consultant for Jeffrey Katzenberg. Both are Obama bundlers, and are organizers and among the co-hosts of the event, which was to be held at Katzenberg’s new Trousdale Estates home, but according to sources was not yet ready for a presidential visit.
