Donors At The State Dinner: The Special Relationship With Obama Campaign Bundlers

Mega fundraisers have their own "Dinner with Barack"...
Thanks to Obama for America's ongoing "Dinner with Barack" contests, regular folks can now enjoy a meal with President Obama for just a $3 donation and bucketloads of luck. But as noted here, there were about two dozen high-dollar Campaign donors at President Obama's lavish State Dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday. CNN today reported a handy breakdown of the dollar amounts given by the 47 "bundlers" invited to join the President, Prime Minister, and First Lady Michelle Obama at the largest State Dinner of the Administration, held in a dramatically lit pavilion at the bottom of the South Lawn. The bundlers included Vogue editor Anna Wintour and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who have each raised more than half a million for the President. (Above: Weinstein arriving with his wife Georgina Chapman, who designed Mrs. Obama's gown for the evening, under the Marchesa label)

Also in that heady category: Media mogul Fred Eychaner, Pfizer executive Sally Susman, Stoneyfield Farms president and CEO Gary Hirshberg, and Microsoft executives Suzi Levine and John Frank.  Actor George Clooney--not a major fundraiser--was the biggest star on the guest list of more than 320 people.

Bundlers are those who raise mega bucks for the Campaign, through their own donations and encouraging others to do so; Weinsten and Wintour have hosted multiple fundraisers for the President. CNN estimated that the 47 donors who attended the State Dinner have raised at least $10 million, "and likely much, much more."

CNN notes that "the Obama campaign provides a list of these “volunteer fundraisers” on its website, but rather than reveal exactly how much they have raised, they simply place the donors into tiers. Thirteen of the dinner attendees raised more than a half a million dollars for the president, 24 raised between $200,000 and $500,000, eight raised between $100,000 and $200,000 and three between $50,000 and $100,000." (Above: Wintour at the dinner)

The full list of the bundlers who attended and how much they raised:

Amount Raised: $500,000k+

The Honorable Matthew Barzun, Louisville, KY

Mr. Tom Bernstein and Mrs. Andrea Bernstein, New York, NY

Mr. John Crumpler, Durham, NC

Mr. Fred Eychaner, Chicago, IL

Mr. John Frank, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft, Bellevue, WA

Mr. Barry Karas, Los Angeles, CA

Mr. Orin Kramer, New York, NY

Mr. Michael Monroe Parham, Seattle, WA

Mr. Dana Matthew Perlman, Los Angeles, CA

Ms. Sally Susman, New York, NY

Mr. Harvey Weinstein, New York, NY

Ms. Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief, Vogue Magazine, New York, NY

Amount Raised: $200,000-$500,000

Gerald Acker, Huntington Woods, MI

Mr. Mark Alderman, Bryn Mawr, PA

Dr. Jean-Phillipe Austin, Miami, FL

Mr. Neil G. Bluhm, Chicago, IL

Mr. Wally Brewster, Jr. and Mr. Robert Satawake, Chicago, IL

Mr. Jim Crown, Chicago, IL

Mr. Joseph Falk, Miami, FL

Mr. Rajiv Kumar Fernando, Chicago, IL

Mr. Lou Frillman and Mrs. Carol Frillman, Seattle, WA

Mr. Anthony Gardner, Washington, DC (London, England)

Mr. Samuel Heins and Ms. Stacey Mills, Wayzata, MN

Mrs. Janet Keller, Laguna Beach, CA

Mr. Charlie Kireker and Mrs. Marie Kireker, Weybridge, VT

Mrs. Mai Lassiter, Los Angeles, CA

Mrs. Suzi Levine, Seattle, WA

Ms. Susan Ness, Bethesda, MD

Mrs. Carol Pensky, Washington, DC

Mr. Jay Snyder, New York, NY

Mrs. Sandi Thompson, Woodside, CA

Mr. George Tsunis, Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Amount Raised: $100,000-$200,000

Mr. Chad Griffin, Los Angeles, CA (Above: Griffin is at right with his dinner date; he is the new President of the Human Rights Campaign, and was business partners with Mrs. Obama's current Communications Director, Kristina Schake, before Schake joined the East Wing)

Mr. William Freeman, Nashville, TN

Mr. Don Hinkle, Tallahassee, FL

Mr. Gary Hirshberg, Concord, NH

Mrs. Andra Liemandt, Austin, TX

Mr. James Murray and Mrs. Bruce Randolph Murray, Keene, VA

Ms. Diana Shaw Clark, Washington, DC (London, England)

Amount Raised: $50,000-$100,000

Mrs. Ellen Richman and Mr. Richard Richman, Greenwich, CT

Mr. John Scully, San Francisco, CA

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama