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Streisand sings for Obama supper
2008-09-16
DENVER, Colorado (AFP) - Oscar-winning singer and actress Barbra Streisand will perform at a glittering and lucrative Hollywood fundraiser for Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday, aides said. The White House hopeful will host a dinner costing 28,500 dollars per person in a Beverly Hills mansion, and Streisand will then sing at a reception at the swanky Beverly Wilshire hotel, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday. Streisand supported Obama's party rival Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries but is now backing the Illinois senator in his hard-fought campaign against Republican John McCain for the November 4 election. Obama aides declined to say how many people were expected Tuesday, nor which other stars might attend. Politico.com said upwards of 250 high rollers would attend the dinner and Hollywood's Variety newspaper said about 900 people would be at the reception, with singer Ben Harper also performing. Together, the events could raise nine million dollars, which would be the most amassed by any candidate in a single day, according to Politico. Senator McCain raised an impressive 5.1 million dollars at his own fundraising dinner late Monday in Florida, the Republican's campaign said. Supporters paid 50,000 dollars a ticket to attend the buffet dinner in Miami's InterContinental hotel, taking McCain's total fundraising in Florida to date to 26.2 million dollars. At a Tinseltown event in late June, just after he eliminated Clinton from the race, Obama drew an all-star cast of supporters including actors Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, John Malkovich and Dennis Quaid. The audience also included supermodels Cindy Crawford and Heidi Klum, whose husband, singer Seal, sang two songs to fire up the VIP crowd. Tuesday's events in Beverly Hills come after Obama racked up a record-breaking 66 million dollars in fundraising last month, beating his previous high mark of 55 million in February. McCain raised 47 million dollars in August -- his best month so far. But the Republican has accepted public financing for his effort, which limits his spending to 84 million dollars for the general election campaign. Obama has opted out of public financing, but both candidates are maintaining a regular schedule of fundraisers to top up their coffers for the most expensive US election ever. Donors Tuesday have to give 2,500 dollars to attend just the reception. Under US law, the first 2,300 dollars of donations can go to Obama's campaign and anything over that will go to the Democratic Party's election war chest.
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