Clooney Fundraiser May Be Largest Ever

President Obama’s upcoming fundraising event with George Clooney is shaping up to be one for the record books.

People can donate $3 for a chance to meet George Clooney at his home. (Getty Images)

On May 10, the 150 guests who are slated to show up at Clooney’s home are expected to drop $6 million into the president’s campaign war chest, all to try and keep the keys to the White House in Obama’s hands for another four years.

In an effort to really ramp up the cash flow, though, the Obama campaign has come up with a gimmick crafted to squeeze some money out of lower income folks and perhaps even unemployed 99 percenters.

The scheme is expected to raise an additional $6 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter, doubling the expected original take. If all goes according to the Democrat plan, the resultant $12 million take will catapult the fundraiser into the category of the largest presidential campaign finance event in history.

Here is the design: The Obama campaign came up with an idea of a nationwide contest, dubbed “Obama, Clooney and You,” where for a donation of $3 participants are entered into a raffle, and the ultimate winner of the contest is going to get to meet Clooney at his home.

Obama supporters were sent a slew of e-mails, texts, and tweets about the fundraising contest, urging them to make donations and take a chance on a Clooney glance.

An e-mail sent by the campaign asked the following question: “Want to meet George Clooney and Barack Obama — at Clooney's house?” It went on to say that “he's [Clooney’s] saving seats for two grassroots supporters like you and their guests. It's just not a chance most people get — well, ever.”

All that “grassroots supporters” needed to do was to write a check for the suggested amount of $3 and they would get “a chance to hang out with President Obama at George Clooney's house . . .”

If we go down Memory Lane, we can still see Obama, the fierce campaign finance reformer, decrying the evil influence of money and even saying that lobbyists would not be allowed to contribute to his presidential campaign.

However, according to The New York Times, the president repeatedly gives lobbyists extensive access, particularly when brought in by a big donor.

The Times noted that Obama “has made a point of not accepting contributions from registered lobbyists, a review of campaign donations and White House visitor logs shows that special interests have had little trouble making themselves heard. Many of the president’s biggest donors, while not lobbyists, took lobbyists with them to the White House, while others performed essentially the same function on their visits.”

Obama took the unprecedented step of criticizing the Supreme Court during a State of the Union speech over the justices’ decision on the Citizens United case, which held that the First Amendment barred the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions.

The president subsequently declared that he would not allow Super PACs to assist his campaign but later abruptly reversed himself on his no-SuperPAC money promise, letting it be known that Super PACs friendly to his re-election could be utilized by donors.

Even supporters have noticed that Obama has morphed into the fundraiser-in-chief, using Air Force One to transport him to more than 130 fundraising events.

The number of campaign cash-seeking events in which the president has participated exceeds the combined total of the five last White House predecessors during their first terms. Obama also appears to be scheduling his appearances in locations that will in one way or another benefit his re-election bid.

Now, with the goal of collecting a record sum of cash, the Obama campaign is using Clooney as the bait and encouraging people to give online betting at try.

In June of 2011, the president said, “There are days where I say that one term is enough.”

Obama apparently hasn’t had one of those days in a very long time.

James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax.TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.