Obama collects Newport support

Sen. Barack Obama lived up to his “rock star” billing at a private fundraiser in a Newport Coast family’s home Monday morning.

About 100 Obama supporters paid between $1,000 to $4,600 to meet the Illinois senator at Michael and Shohleh Chegini’s home. The $1,000 tickets were the price to get in, but donors who paid $4,600 got a chance to meet Obama personally and take pictures with him.

“The energy was amazing; people from all different walks of life wanting to support this man,” said Kimchi Nguyen, an intern for the Democratic Party of Orange County who was at the fundraiser. “He’s amazing — very smart and very savvy, and I’m sort of star-struck now.”

But all the attention hasn’t gone to Obama’s head, said Melahat Rafiei, executive director of the Democratic Party of Orange County who was also on-hand at the fundraiser.

“The senator is amazing. He’s a down-to-earth kind of a guy,” Rafiei said. “He has a rock-star image, but when you meet him he’s really humble.”

It’s unclear how much Obama raised. Rafiei said the event generated “well over $100,000,” but Michael Chegini said the presidential hopeful raked in “well over the goal amount” of $125,000 to $150,000.

Reporters were not permitted on the premise to cover the event and efforts to reach Obama’s campaign were unsuccessful Monday.

The senator spoke for about 45 minutes on a wide range of issues, domestic and international, including the war in Iraq.

“He said we have to take care of our own human rights issues, like Guantanamo and the situation of our soldiers in Iraq, and our own universal healthcare and education systems in order to serve as the model for other countries,” said Sasha Chegini, Michael and Shohleh’s son. Sasha, who is a junior at UC Irvine, also serves as an intern for the Democratic Party of Orange County.

After his speech, Obama answered questions from the diverse group at the fundraiser. Some of the groups represented were Iranian-Americans, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans, Rafiei said.

In addition to exciting and mobilizing Democrats, Obama’s presence in Orange County signals an important change in the California primary season.

“For a long time, Orange County was just a deep pocket,” Frank Barbaro, chairman of Orange County’s Democratic party. “But this is different, because putting our primary on Feb. 5 is no longer the tail wagging the dog. We’ll finally have a major say in who becomes the nominee.”

Michael Chegini, who is actively involved in the local Democratic party and other political groups, is hopeful that the event will bring about significant change in Orange County’s political scene.

“A lot of people don’t understand what the Democratic party means here because it has been in the background for so long,” Chegini said. “But we’re starting to be offensive instead of defensive and we’re bringing figures like Obama here to win the county back.”