Barack Obama raises millions in Beverly Hills
He holds two fundraisers in what might be his last visit to California before the election.
Barack Obama arrived in Beverly Hills on Tuesday and left with millions from the entertainment industry.
The Democratic presidential candidate's first event, $28,500 per ticket, was at Greystone Mansion, a Beverly Hills landmark that has been a setting for numerous films, including "Ghostbusters" and "Air Force One," as well as the scene of a lurid 1929 murder.
The second event, at Regent Beverly Wilshire, cost $2,500 per ticket and was to include entertainment by Barbra Streisand. The money will be divided among Obama's campaign account, the Democratic National Committee and joint accounts set up by Obama and the DNC.
Obama's campaign aides wouldn't say how much they expected to raise. But the Greystone event was expected to draw 300 people. If all paid, the take would top $8 million. The second event was expected draw 900 people, or more than $2 million if all paid.
The event could be the last time Obama comes to California before the Nov. 4 election, though surrogates will be here raising money. With California almost certain to vote Democratic, experts believe his time is better spent in swing states such as Ohio, where Republican rival John McCain campaigned earlier in the day.
Speaking in Ohio, a day after he raised $5.1 million at a single event in Florida, McCain said Obama "says he's siding with the people just before he flew off for a fundraiser in Hollywood with Barbra Streisand."
"Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than right here with the working men and women of Ohio," McCain said.
Streisand will be honored at the Kennedy Center later this year for her contributions to American culture. As part of the honor, the famously Democratic entertainer is expected to be feted at a White House reception by President Bush, whom she has repeatedly derided.
On Obama's flight from Denver to Burbank, Obama strategist David Axelrod suggested voters would not care that the Democrat was hobnobbing with Hollywood glitterati.
"I think they've heard the whole Republican whoop-de-do before, and this time I don't think they're going to subscribe to it because there's so much at stake," Axelrod said.
Obama's money machine is running at full throttle. He raised a record $66 million in August, pushing his total to more than $450 million, compared with about $205 million for McCain. The amount they raised last month from California won't be known until the final August reports are filed with Federal Election Commission this weekend.
