OAKLAND — Norman Hsu could have been here on Sunday if he weren't otherwise occupied.
While the wayward fundraiser was in a jail cell in Redwood City, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the main object of his largesse, was sopping up money from Northern California donors on the final day of the third quarter.
Clinton brought her quest for campaign money first to the Napa Valley, for lunch at the Hall Winery, owned by Kathryn and Craig Hall. Kathryn Walt Hall was ambassador to Austria from 1997 to 2001. Clinton then zipped across San Francisco Bay for a reception at the Pacific Heights home of Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
She crossed the bay again late in the afternoon for the day's one public event, a boisterous block party in downtown Oakland. Organizers estimated that there were 14,000 in the crowd.
It was a low-dollar fundraiser, with many paying $20 to become part of Clinton's "Club 44," a reference to the number of the next president.
The event featured a sitar player, gospel singers from Glide Memorial Church, and politicians including Feinstein, California Senate leader Don Perata (D-Oakland) and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Clinton called the latter "Gov. Newsom" and quipped: "That's what he told me to say." Oakland Mayor Ronald V. Dellums was notable for his absence.
In a somewhat raspy voice, Clinton touched on the themes of healthcare for all, a reversal of global warming, an end to oil company subsidies, universal preschool, and withdrawal from Iraq.
"The era of cowboy diplomacy is over," Clinton said. "We would like to restart the 21st century and undo the damage that has been done."
In one of the most Democratic cities in the nation, Clinton was well-received.
"It was much more than I expected," said Lanique Demartha, who came from Richmond to hear Clinton, and expects to vote for her.
"It would be nice to have a woman as president."
Bonnie Stewart, an Oakland insurance agent who said she was now a Democrat who supported Clinton because she believed in the need for universal healthcare, said: "It didn't sound like it was scripted. There were some good lines."
Clinton is the Democratic front-runner in the polls. But she and her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), are locked in a tight race to raise the most money.
Both are expected to bring in between $18 million and $20 million in the third quarter, a drop from the first two quarters. The third quarter is traditionally the toughest one in which to raise money because it covers the summer, when many who might contribute are vacationing.
