Clintons Enjoy Hamptons Hospitality
Senator Clinton may have been booed in Chicago over the weekend by a crowd of liberal bloggers at a forum, but in the Hamptons she was met with open arms, and wallets.
She and President Clinton wrapped up a three-day Hamptons fund-raising swing yesterday that sources say netted more than $1 million for the former first lady's presidential campaign.
Yesterday's events included a pancake breakfast at the East Hampton home of longtime Clinton supporters Alan and Susan Patricof and a reception hosted by the heir to the Entenmann's baked good fortune on Long Island's North Fork.
Sources said several hundred guests attended the backyard breakfast and that children were running around as Mr. and Mrs. Clinton took turns speaking. Tickets for that event sold for $500 a person or $1,000 for a family and both Clintons focused their remarks on the senator's longtime commitment to working on children's causes, a source who attended the breakfast said.
The weekend's East End events were attended by a star-studded cast of supporters, including fashion designers Donna Karen, Elie Tahari, and Diane von Furstenberg, actor Chevy Chase, hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons, rocker Jon Bon Jovi, and business and entertainment mogul Barry Diller. Sources also said that a member of Senator McCain's New York finance committee, Howard Gittis, attended a Clinton fund-raiser Saturday at the home of his business partner, Ronald Perelman, the cosmetics executive.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton ducked out of fund raising for a few hours on Saturday to attend a Democratic presidential forum hosted by the Daily Kos Web site in Chicago. The crowd at that event was not quite as hospitable. They booed her after she refused to say she would reject campaign contributions from lobbyists. Mrs. Clinton's two leading rivals, senators Obama and Edwards, have said they would reject such donations.
