WASHINGTON — When it comes to raising money from high-end fund-raisers, it takes Barack Obama or his wife, Michelle — headliner at an event with Hollywood elites today — to bring in the top dollar.
Surrogates have a sliding scale of worth in Obama’s fund-raising world, where political market forces dictate how much the campaign can charge for face time.
Today, Michelle Obama is in California for an event at the Bel Air home of entertainment magnate Carol Ostroff and husband Mark, where to be listed as a host, one had to raise $10,000. The lure, of course, is spending time with Michelle.
Obama, of course, draws the top dollar for his war chest.
Thursday night was a doubleheader in Florida for Obama: In Miami Beach at the Bath Club, people who wanted to be the top-level chairs of the event had to raise $46,000.
The market rules in fund-raising.
Here are samples of events, the marquee draw, and what the top amount was to donate or to raise:
May 17, Portland, Ore., Obama, $10,000.
May 22, Boston, campaign chief operating officer Betsy Myers, who heads the Obama women’s network, $500.
June 1, Medina, Wash., sports celebrities Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens, and Debbie Allen, $5,000.
June 1, Manchester, Mass., top Obama foreign affairs adviser Tony Lake, $150 to $500.
June 3, South Pasadena, Calif., New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, $5,000.
June 9, Chapel Hill, N.C., Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, $2,500.
June 6, Washington, campaign manager David Plouffe, $150 to $500 for a 30-minute “VIP Strategy Session” before the general reception.
