BEVERLY HILLS, CA - In between campaign swings through battleground states of Colorado and Nevada, Barack Obama dropped by Democrat-friendly Los Angeles to headline a pair of fundraisers that brought in an estimated $9 million.

Obama spent his Tuesday night in Beverly Hills, mingling with the celebrity set, including the likes of Chris Rock, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jodi Foster, Will Farrell, Pierce Brosnan, and Steven Spielberg. Oh, and the one entertainer the GOP loves to hate more than any other - Barbra Streisand - who provided entertainment at the second fundraiser of the evening. According a staffer - press were not permitted to enjoy the concert - Streisand performed parts of songs, but did not sing entire numbers.

About 300 donors, each coughing up $28,500, took in Obama’s first speech at a Beverly Hills mansion. Despite the grandeur of his surroundings, Obama spoke somberly of the current economic situation at his first fundraiser. “It’s reminded people that this is not a game. This is not a reality show, no offense to any of you,” he said to laughter. “This is not a sitcom.”

According to the pool report, Obama ’s 15-minute speech was “serious” in nature, and only interrupted a handful of times by applause.

At his second fundraiser/Streisand concert, Obama told a crowd of about 800, “This should be a celebratory evening; we’ve got 48 days to go in a campaign, a campaign that started 19 months ago, at a time when a lot of folks thought we might not get here.”

But, he added, “I’m not in a celebratory mood,” citing economic turmoil, recent hurricanes, and the deadly Los Angeles train crash. The somber-sounding Obama told Democrats not to worry about his calm demeanor. “The reason I’m calm,” Mr. Obama said, “is I have confidence in the American people.”

While Obama raked in the cash, rival John McCain accused Obama of jetting off to Hollywood to be with “his celebrity friends” just hours after he spoke of “siding with the people” in Golden, Colorado. “Let me tell you my friends, there is no place I’d rather be than here with the working men and women win of Ohio,” McCain said on the campaign trail.

Obama will return to “Purple America” tomorrow, holding events in Elko and Las Vegas.

Barack Obama pulled in around $2 million in Thursday night, appearing at two Chicago fundraisers. So what do high rolling donors get for the steep cost of attending?

According to the pool report, mini beef tenderloin burgers, champagne, crab salad in pastry, and fruit parfait. Not to mention the company of high profile Obama supporters like Tour de France winner Greg Lemond and ComEd CEO Frank Clark. Of course there’s also the chance to get to talk with the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama in a more intimate setting than those 20,000+ person rallies he often holds.

At his $28,500/head White House Victory Fund engagement, Obama “talked to nearly everyone in the room (by his own estimation),” and at the latter event where most of the 150 in attendance paid $2,300 to get in, Obama joked with the crowd about his bicycling outfit made infamous in an AP still taken last weekend.

AP

An excerpt from the pool report:

“When one bicycle enthusiast yelled out, “Thanks for wearing a helmet!” Mr. Obama suggested that before donning the helmet, he remembered one of the cardinal rules of politics: never allow yourself to be photographed wearing nerdy headgear.

“I had an internal debate,” he said. “Because I knew that the AP was going to take a picture, and they were trying to portray it like Dukakis wearing that tank helmet. But I wanted to make sure that the children who saw that picture knew that even the Democratic nominee for president wears a helmet when he goes biking. (Hearty applause.)

“Now, obviously the rest of my apparel was apparently not up to snuff, because I got a hard time from all sorts of blogs,” he said, “Who said I looked like Urkel.”

Read the full pool report below the jump

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(((UPDATE 5pm Sunday: The campaign will open up fundraisers to the press starting Monday.)))

The McCain campaign has decided to open up fundraisers to a print pool reporter in the near future, an adviser confirms to FOX.

The presumptive GOP nominee told reporters as recently as May 28 that he was keeping fundraising events closed because his donors requested privacy, but still pledged run “the most accessible campaign in history to the media.”

However, the campaign has come under pressure from it’s traveling press corps and media organizations of late to open up the events since Sen. Obama allows a print reporter into his events to document his remarks. The criticism also reached a new pitch after the joint President Bush-McCain fundraiser last month was closed to the press.

Closed fundraisers took center stage during the primary campaign after controversial comments Obama made at a closed San Francisco fundraiser leaked out. The IL Democrat told donors at the event that some Pennsylvania voters “cling” to guns and religion because they are “bitter.” McCain alluded to those comments during his May 28 press conference, telling reporters, “I say the same thing in fundraisers and closed events as I do in open events.”

The McCain campaign, like Obama, will strictly open the events to a rotating pool print reporter–no photo or video access– who will share editorial information with the rest of the press corps.

Given how important media access is to McCain–exemplified by his regular media availabilities aboard his campaign bus and almost daily on the campaign trail–campaign aides say the decision is consistent with GOPer’s pledge to run one of the most open and transparent campaigns in history. The move will also eliminate an issue that Democrats could use against McCain during the campaign.

done

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — While he is typically more accessible to the press than his rivals on the campaign trail, Sen. McCain said Wednesday that his fundraisers will remain closed to the media.

“It’s because the people who are…raising the money request that. And I will continue to be accessible, and the most accessible campaign in history to the media,” McCain told reporters today, but not before bringing up Obama’s infamous “bitter” comments, which the Democrat originally uttered at a private fundraiser of his own. “I’d also like to say I do not say in my, during fundraisers comments like the people in Pennsylvania being bitter and angry and turn against their religion and the Constitution because of their economic conditions. I say the same thing in fundraisers and closed events as I do in open events.”

But Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols pushed for proof of this consistent message asking, “are we just supposed to take your word for it?”

“If you want to. If you want to. You don’t have to,” McCain shot back.

The presumptive Republican nominee’s fundraisers have come under increased scrutiny after he held a private event with President Bush Tuesday, where both men reportedly spoke to attendees. While McCain often offers reporters hours more of Q and A time each week compared to his opponents, he keeps all fundraisers off limits while Sens. Obama and Clinton both allow a representative from the media to cover money events at public venues.