George Clooney played the suave host, chef Wolfgang Puck whipped up something for dinner and President Barack Obama and about 150 of his Hollywood set donors enjoyed a few laughs at Clooney’s good humoured expense. Obama told the crowd that his famed Hope poster from the 2008 was derived from a photograph of Obama sitting next to Clooney when Obama was a US senator. “This is the first time that George Clooney has ever been photo-shopped out of a picture,” Obama said. “Never happened before, never happen again.” The event, held under a stretched transparent tent outside Clooney’s sprawling Tudor-styled canyon home, raised nearly $15 million, a record for a single fundraiser. The guests paid $40,000 to attend, accounting for about $6 million of the evening’s financial haul for Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Party. The remainder came from a raffle for small dollar donors. Two winners-both women-got to take part in the dinner and, even though Clooney was the host, they brought their husbands. “We raised a lot of money because people love George,” Obama said. “They like me; they love George.” Among those at the dinner were such actors and performers as Robert Downey Jr, Barbra Streisand and her husband James Brolin, Jack Black, Salma Hayek and Tobey Maguire. Heading to Clooney’s house, along the exclusive canyon roads, families gathered at dinner time to gawk, wave and cheer the presidential motorcade. Children manned a lemonade stand with a sign: “Presidents drink free.” And around the corner, a boy held up another hand-drawn piece of cardboard: “Will trade Lakers for Bulls if you stop.”
