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Obama Scores $7.8M in San Francisco Blitz

Biggest take for a single day; this time no 'bitter' gaffes

By Sam Biddle, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 18, 2008 9:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – Barack Obama raised $7.8 million at a series of San Francisco fundraisers last night, the Los Angeles Times reports, reportedly a record single day's take for the candidate. Obama spoke before three separate groups in the same hotel, including one ballroom filled with 350 VIPs paying a reported $28,500 per couple.

The evening was a big improvement over the spring San Francisco fundraiser where Obama made the remark about "bitter" small-town Americans clinging to their God and their guns, which helped him lose to Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania. This time he hit some of the same themes, but more carefully: "Americans understand the disaster of these last 8 years. But we also know that change is always tough. Even when people are having a tough time, sometimes the devil you know may be preferable to the unknown."

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Barack Obama raised a whopping $7.8 mil in one night at a San Francisco fundraiser. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Barack Obama raised a whopping $7.8 mil in one night at a San Francisco fundraiser. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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I understand why a lot of folks are saying, this should just happen. Just read the papers. These are the knuckleheads who have been in charge. Throw ’em out. But American politics aren’t that simple.

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Obama Scores $7.8M in San Francisco Blitz