Streisand raises millions for Obama in Hollywood fundraiser

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Jake Turcotte

Good money. But bad timing.

After a day when the John McCain staff provided easy fodder for the Barack Obama campaign, McCain was able to play turnabout, courtesy of the Democratic nominee.

Glitz and cash

While the nation apprehensively watching Wall Street, Barack Obama kept with his schedule and appeared at two Barbra Streisand sponsored fundraisers that are estimated to bring in $9 million.

The fundraisers were chock full of A-listers, including Will Ferrell, Leonardo DeCaprio, Chris Rock, and Steven Spielberg.

Plain folks

Contrast that with McCain who was at a rally in Vienna, Ohio -- staged perfectly for TV cameras with plenty of people in baseball caps and jeans.

Did McCain take advantage of the opportunity? Just a little bit.

"[Obama] talks about siding with the people — siding with the people — just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends," McCain said. "Let me tell you, my friends: There's no place I would rather be than here with the working men and woman of Ohio."

No sitcoms

The Democratic nominee addressed the credit crisis as well, saying it  “…reminded people of what’s at stake. It’s reminded people that this is not a game." To the Hollywood crowd, he added, "This is not a reality show, no offense to any of you.”

Streisand, who is no stranger to politics, offered some "personal" remarks at the event - according to FOX News.

"I'm not here to make a political speech... Tonight my thoughts are only personal... I can't wait for the morning on November 5th when the people who said 'Yes we can' wake up and say 'Yes we did.'"

Too much?

On the economy, McCain said Obama was guilty of exaggeration.

"Today he claimed the congressional stimulus package was his idea," McCain told the crowd. "That's news to those of us in Congress who supported it. Senator Obama didn't even show up to vote."

McCain was responding to Obama's remarks earlier in the day when he said, "In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress."

As ABC's Jake Tapper noted yesterday, this isn't exactly true.

"But though the bill that eventually passed more closely resembled Obama's than either Clinton's or McCain's, those involved in the drafting of the legislation say it was more a matter of agreeing on a good idea and was not a matter of, as Obama claimed, his proposal having 'formed the basis' for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress."

New ad

In the "I can put out more commercials than you" contest, the McCain campaign was the first to launch a new commercial this morning, airing a spot in which McCain calls American workers "the best and the world."

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