The Human Side of Hillary

The fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton at the Hollywood home of Roland Emmerich raised about $200,000, sources say, as she and other contenders made one last loop through Los Angeles before the end of the second-quarter fund-raising deadline.

The event, co-hosted by Emmerich (who was in production and could not attend), Chad Griffin and Yashar  Hedayat, was aimed in part  at gay Hollywood. Others who were there included  Greg Berlanti,  Bruce Cohen and Brad Bessey, along with Patricia Wetting, Dean Devlin, Joely Fisher, Marisa Tomei, Ken Olin, Chris Landon and members of the cast of "Brothers & Sisters."

Although it was closed to the press, those who were there said that Clinton, wearing a coral top, black slacks and two-tone pumps, told a personal story of how a gay couple in Arkansas came to help her father, hardly an enlightened man when it came to gay rights. The point of the story was that the couple put a face on gay rights to her father;s prejudices. One of the couple even held her father's hand when he was dying.

In her 20 minutes of remarks to the crowd she said that she had a lot in common with the gay community when it came to attacks from the right. As she has said before, she called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a "failed policy."

When it came time for a Q&A, Clinton called on a girl in the seventh grade, who asked her about breaking through glass ceilings. She then answered more questions, including one about health care, before calling on one man who suggested that her answers were a bit too scripted. Some donors booed the man. Looking a little miffed, Clinton responded to the so-called "authenticity question." I don't have the direct quote, but Clinton apparently pointed to the fact that she has been giving many speeches a day --- why doesn't he try doing that? And she drew cheers when she ended the response with,  "And that wasn't a canned answer."

It's preaching to the choir, but those I talked to said they were impressed at the personal nature of Clinton's remarks and how relaxed she seemed.

There's more on the event --- and the rest of Clinton's day --- from Karen Ocamb of In Los Angeles magazine.

Clinton was just one 08er in L.A. over the weekend. Joe Biden, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson were also campaigning.

A correction from a previous post was made on the amount raised.