Raising around $15 million in one night for his re-election campaign at an exclusive dinner in Los Angeles, President Barack Obama rallied the crowd of celebrities and political heavyweights in attendance with jokes and serious insights into the fight ahead.
"We're not finished. We've got a lot more work. And as we look forward towards this next campaign, the choice between the path that I've set for this country and that of my opponent could not be starker...What it comes down to is they have a different vision about how America works," Obama said during his dinner speech at actor George Clooney's Studio City home.
The president set out a hopeful but realistic message in his speech, saying the American people have proved their strength and resilience, but deserve more from government.
"That fundamental American promise...that everybody had a fair shot and everybody did their fair share and everybody played by the same rules. Those basic values had been dissipating for a decade or more," Obama said.
"If you're a senior citizen who, because of bad luck, got laid off, or the company ended up dissolving without your pension being vested, tough luck. You didn't plan well enough. That's not the America I believe in," he said, adding he worked on issues such as health care, Wall Street reform, clean energy and education not because they were "popular," but "because it was right."
Obama received an especially loud round of applause when he referred to his decision this week to put his support behind gay marriage legalization. Tying the issue to his overall ethos of American life, the President said a country that welcomes difference and promotes inclusion is "a logical extension of what America is supposed to be."
The president raised around $15 million for his re-election campaign at the dinner. This amount included the $40,000 a head ticket fee plus proceeds from the $3 online raffle of two tickets for the dinner, which went to two non-celebrity Obama supporters.
The winners were science teacher Beth Topinka of Manalapan, N.J. and utility company worker Karen Blutcher, from St. Augustine, Fla., a mother of a five-year-old son with Down syndrome. Both women brought their husbands.
Also spotted at the dinner were actors Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr., Salma Hayek, Jack Black, Barbra Streisand, comedian Billy Crystal and designers Diane Von Furstenberg and Trina Turk. Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) and and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were also in attendance.
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