The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

Barack Obama and his campaign is hoping to pull in between two million to three million dollars on a West Coast swing this weekend through California, where the highlight is a San Francisco fundraiser at the home of millionaire philanthropist/composer Gordon Getty.

Getty, whose family is closely aligned with current San Francisco mayor and big Hillary backer Gavin Newsom via several past business partnerships, isn't letting that get in the way of supporting the boutique national candidate.

Perhaps more politically interesting than Getty's support is that of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who many in the Democrat Party consider to be the female, Left Coast-version of Obama. The daughter of an Indian mother and an African-American father (a physician and a Stanford economist, respectively), Harris is considered a rising political star. She handily won re-election in the liberal bastion, and has been embraced by the very political base that is driving Obama's success. "She won her first campaign on a promise of never seeking the death penalty," says a longtime San Francisco political operative. "Even in cases involving cop-killers she has not sought the death penalty."

Harris was an early Obama supporter in the face of pressure to jump on the Hillary Clinton bandwagon. Some believe she is angling for a senior position in an Obama Administration.

topics:
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Business, Africa