Obama Calls on Celebrity Drawing Power
Having lost much of his own magic, the president falls back on high-profile supporters
Finally, an Obama lottery for guys like you. The latest pitch in what's become an ongoing comedy routine/fundraising strategy for the Obama campaign: a lucky draw to shoot hoops with Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Ewing, Sheryl Swoopes, Kyrie Irving, and Alonzo Mourning. "Oh, and you'll get to meet President Obama and Michael Jordan over dinner, too," wrote Marlon Marshall, deputy national field director of Obama for America in an Aug. 7 e-mail.
Why give Melo bigger billing than the president? Obama's campaign team knows all too well that when your star power has faded a bit, there's nothing like hanging with celebrity friends. The president's dinner with George Clooney in May raised $15 million, mostly from people who weren't there. That's because, along with charging $40,000 a ticket, organizers staged a lottery that drew tens of thousands of people who contributed $3 or more for a chance to go. (Two won, including Florida resident Karen Blutcher, who told the St. Augustine Record that she met Clooney, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Salma Hayek, and Barbra Streisand, along with President Obama.)
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?