Obama fundraiser: Two chosen to dine with stars at Clooney’s house

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Tonight a science teacher from New Jersey and a communications coordinator from Florida will be treated like Hollywood celebrities. Beth Topinka, a teacher from Manalapan, N.J., and Karen Blutcher, a public relations employee for a utility company in St. Augustine, Fla., won tickets to attend a fundraising dinner for President Barack Obama at George Clooney’s Studio City home.

Their husbands will also attend the affair, which is expected to draw such entertainment industry luminaries as Robert Downey Jr., Barbra Streisand, Tobey Maguire and DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, who organized the dinner with his political advisor Andy Spahn.

Tickets for the dinner cost $40,000 per person, and the night’s event could raise as much as $15 million for the Obama campaign. Proceeds for the event will go to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee authorized by Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and several state Democratic parties.

The two winners were among tens of thousands of Americans who contributed donations averaging $23 for a chance to win a ticket to the high-profile soiree. They will dine on food served by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and will hear Obama discuss policy among his loyal contributors.

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— Nicole Sperling