Aniston, Clooney & More Come Out To Support Obama

Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller
and Eddie Murphy were just some of Hollywood’s hottest celebrities who forked
over campaign dollars at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential contender
Barack Obama.

Presidential candidates have long been attracted to California by the
prospect of high dollars and the opportunity to bask in Hollywood glamor. Now
there is also another lure for 2008 candidates like Obama — the state may move
up its primary, creating a treasure trove of delegates to be won in the early
run-up to the nominations.

The star-studded, $1.3 million fundraiser for the Illinois senator on Tuesday
was just the latest California stopover from top-tier presidential contenders
from both parties. Arizona Sen. John McCain was scheduled to be in the Los
Angeles area with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday, and former
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in the state earlier this month.

Lawmakers and Schwarzenegger are poised to move the state’s primary to Feb. 5
from June.

The level of presidential activity in the state is unusually intense, with
roughly a year to go before votes are cast.

Obama banked checks from stars such as actors George Clooney, Barbra
Streisand, and Morgan Freeman, Natalie Maines of the Grammy-winning Dixie
Chicks, and director Ron Howard. The private fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton
Hotel was attended by 300 contributors who donated at least $2,300 each.

“He’s lovely,” Aniston said of Obama.

Earlier, Obama urged an audience of thousands at an outdoor rally in Los
Angeles to help him transform America.

Appearing to speak to critics who suggest he doesn’t have the experience to
lead the nation, Obama said, “I’ve been in Washington long enough to know it
needs to change.”

He promised to take on issues from health care to education, while changing
America’s course in an unpopular Iraq war.

“I can’t do it without you,” Obama, tieless and in shirt sleeves, exhorted
the audience of as supporters enthusiastically waved blue “Obama ’08” signs.

The Beverly Hills fundraiser, arranged by three of the entertainment
industry’s biggest names — DreamWorks studio founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey
Katzenberg and David Geffen — was a reminder that there would be fierce
competition among candidates for Hollywood dollars. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton,
D-N.Y., and husband Bill Clinton have long-standing ties to the industry.

The entertainment industry is a perennial source of cash for Democrats, with
big names often donating to multiple campaigns while withholding formal
endorsements until later.

Spielberg, for example, is a host of the event but has not made an
endorsement. Katzenberg and Geffen are backing Obama.

Clinton is counting on a Hollywood windfall next month, when a major
fundraiser is scheduled at the home of supermarket tycoon Ronald Burkle, a
longtime friend and fundraiser for her husband.

The day took Obama to widely contrasting places, although they were just
miles apart. At the outdoor rally he talked at length of the struggles of common
Americans, then later addressed a crowd of celebrities at the $2,300-a-ticket
fundraiser where guests nibbled on shrimp dumplings and crab cakes.

At the park, where admission was free, William Gude of Long Beach said
Obama’s appeal came from his outside-the-Beltway ideas and opposition to the
Iraq war.

“The people with the most experience are the people who got us into this
mess. Along with everybody else, I’m ready for a change,” the 32-year-old
personal trainer said.

“I can’t take another Bush or Clinton,” he added.

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