Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Obama camp: 1,000 attended 'half-full' fundraiser

CHICAGO -- Republicans quickly jumped on a report that President Obama’s largest fundraiser here Sunday was only “half full,” but the crowd for the event was larger than the Obama campaign had initially anticipated.
“At Obama fundraiser in Chicago. Admission only $51, but room is half full,” New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor wrote on Twitter.
The Romney campaign seized on Kantor’s estimate, as spokesman Ryan Williams tweeted, “Thrill is gone.” The Drudge Report also piled on, linking to Kantor’s tweet, which has been reposted by a few hundred others. (Kantor quickly followed up with additional tweets noting that only some tickets to the event cost $51 and that the campaign said the event was sold out.)
But the crowd for the afternoon fundraiser at the Bridgeport Art Center totaled 1,000, an Obama campaign official said – more than the 850-person estimate the campaign offered earlier in the weekend. Tickets for the Gen44 fundraiser, targeted at younger supporters, started at $51, but many were more expensive.
And, to this reporter and several others in the White House press pool, the room seemed plenty full. There was empty space at the back of the large loft space during and immediately after the president's remarks, but the crowd was densely packed to get close to the stage at the front of the room where Obama spoke.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/08/obama-camp-attended-half-full-fundraiser-131883.html

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