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White House Dossier

Obama State Dinner Recalls Clinton Coffee Klatches

One out of nine guests expected at last night’s State Dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron are helping finance President Obama’s reelection campaign, according to an analysis by ABC News. The event is reminiscent of the infamous Clinton White House “Coffee Klatches” at which previous or prospective Democratic donors were invited to meetings with Bill Clinton.

While technically Obama’s use of the White House to fete his donors may be legal, it certainly gives the appearance that he is using the White House grounds and a swank taxpayer-funded event to raise money.

Not only does this look like a reward for fundraising, but it seems like an enticement to continue doing so. This is because the fundraisers, who totaled 41 of the 364 expected attendees, are campaign “bundlers,” which means they generally not only give the legal maximum themselves but solicit others to contribute to Obama. So their work for the president may continue.

ABC found that the group is responsible for donating and collecting $10.7 million for the Obama campaign. The bundlers include some familiar and prominent names, according to ABC:

They include Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, media mogul Fred Eychaner, Pfizer executive Sally Susman, Stoneyfield Farms president and CEO Gary Hirschberg,  and Microsoft executives Suzi Levine and John Frank.  Several have each raised more than half a million dollars for 2012, according to estimates provided by Obama’s campaign and Democrats.

The Clinton operation brought in about $27 million for the Democratic National Committee from those invited to attend dozens of coffees with Clinton in 1995 and 1996. Many donors contributed during the month before or after the coffees.

Obama also came under criticism last year for a March 2011 DNC-organized meeting in the White House Blue Room between Obama and fundraisers and donors.

39 thoughts on “Obama State Dinner Recalls Clinton Coffee Klatches”

  1. Shofar

    So should I add the State Dinner to this months list of fundraisers?

    When does the Lincoln Bedroom become available for rent? God knows he’s already renting out the Oval Office to special interest groups.

  2. DeniseVB

    I hate this as much as I hate the abuse of AF1 to use for fundraisers. The Republicans did it too, so we can’t argue it. We have to take party politics out of the White House and I think a one term limit might just do it. We only get 4 years of actual governing from a 2-term President anyhow, the first two of each term. The last two are either campaigning or lameducking.

    Obama’s just taking FULL advantage, so it’s more obvious.

  3. Susan

    All the money in the world is not going to buy the vote of millions of us Americans who have had enough of this man, his wife, and his tribe of Marxist czars.

  4. Girly1

    Ironically, Blago is going to prison today for trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat! What is the punishment for a sitting President who is using Federal property and spending hundreds of MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to buy the Oval Office?

    When does Obama’s abuse of power reach the level of high crimes and misdemeanors?

    Should the FBI start wiretapping WH phones for campaign soliciting felonies?

    And what about the wife? How much campaign soliciting is going
    on in her little nook of the West Wing? What about her numerous fundraising trips on govt. property, AF Two?

    The WH is, and has been, campaign central for Chicago gutter politics since Day One! How are we ever going to rid ourselves of the stench?

    1. AZ Granny

      >>How are we ever going to rid ourselves of the stench?<<

      Call the Stench Busters? (as in Ghost Busters movie!) Seriously, I don't like campaign favor paybacks on the taxpayer dime and you can't convince me this was anything but that. I wonder how many of the Hollyweird elites will still support Obama when he's no longer president or will they drop him like a hot potato?

      1. langley barfly

        Chicago is cesspool of incestous politics…
        I still dont understand how Barack Hussein Obama IS NOT ‘connected’ to Blago’s situation (‘selling Obama’s Senate seat) Obama, or his people, must have dealt with Blago after the fact… SO Why isnt Obama connected to Blago?
        how much work/research has the ‘media’ really done into Obama’s so-called political career in Chicago…???

  5. srdem65

    Most of those attending the StateDinner would obviously be supporters of MrO’s Presidency, but what worries me is that SupremeCourtJustice Scalia found time to attend. There should be a distinct separation between the President and the Supreme Court that would preclude attending social events like this; it just looks bad.

    As for the rest of the glitterti, the 1%ers, and the hangers on..business as usual.

  7. MaryOhSoContrary

    There is a word I keep revisiting with the Obamas….optics. There is just something so “empirical” about grandiose State Dinners with the glitter a nd gowns…coupled with movers and shakers who write a five digit donation check without the involvement of PowerBall winnings…during a time of PROFOUND economic hardship.

    Optics are all wrong…like a Mascha gown accessorized by seventeen thousand Hobby beads.

  8. Girly1

    It transcends ‘business as usual’ when Obama uses the British PM as a campaign/fundraising prop… costing taxpayers millions! Schlepping him to a battleground State for a crummy basketball game is as transparent as the smirk on his phony smile. This was ALL about keeping his job!

    And using the pretense of a ‘State Dinner’ with Cameron as the draw to reward his donors is beyond the pale!

    Were any Republicans invited to the fundraiser? The Red States paid for half the tab…but had no representation! It is an outrage!

    1. Star

      Yeah–remember this, Mr Prime Minister–when we get a Republican president, elephants have VERY long memories. Surely a sycophant slobbering on a pretender won’t be forgotten.

  9. Michael W. Stewart

    The list of rich, elite, Neo-Marxists mirror that of the Clinton Connection, when he used The Palatial Pad for fundraising, arm-twisting and the daytime sexual tryst (President Clinton preferred daytime as nighttime seemed more ‘degrading’ according to the FBI Agent’s book on the Clinton White House). Mr. Obama is following in those feet-of-clay footsteps by drawing the same fawning donors, all of whom expect something back if Mr. Obama wins.

  10. Car in

    Now that they’re not “transparent” enough to tell us what wine they’re drinking at these functions, should we assume they’re spending less, or more, on the bottles of wine?

    Not telling us doesn’t mean they’re being “sensitive” to the economic times. Being sensitive means buying cheaper wines. DUH.

    I don’t think i’ve EVER drank a bottle of wine that costs over $20. They think being frugal means the wines are only $35 a bottle.

  12. Anonna

    You’ve missed the point about Critical Race Theory, Keith. It says (or Bells says) that blacks get to pick and choose which laws to obey. Obama and ilk have certainly cleaved unto that idea, though it’s necessary to point out that they have expanded it to “liberals may pick and choose ….”

  13. auzerais

    We will know Obama’s true allegiances when he opens the Situation Room to several of his many top illegal overseas bundlers with ties to terrorists, eg from Saudi Arabia, Hezbollah, Hamas, et al.

  14. Sharon

    It may be legal, but it doesn’t seem like it to me. Use of the White House and paid staff to entertain donors to a personal campaign doesn’t sound quite right. Obviously, he is taking advantage of every benefit he gets for being a president, the title alone brings in the big spenders. They are only there to flaunt their wealth and status, and have no clue what they are promoting. It’s the glitz and glamour of being invited to the WH, a chance to throw their money away on a worthless endeavor. But, they get media exposure, lots of photos, and lots of name dropping. Of course, they benefit not at all other than that, because their money is being wasted on a boring speech and a fancy dinner. They’ll go home and talk about who wore what, the great menu, who they met, and tell all their friends just how wonderful it was to be a part of the whole charade. So much for intelligence…not needed for a WH function.

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