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Oct 31, 2008 5:59 pm US/Central
Obama 'Raffles' Chance To Join Him Election Night
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., arrives at a rally at Western Gateway Park in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday.
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images
The Obama fundraising juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down. There may be only a few days left in the campaign, but the Democratic nominee continues ask his supporters for cash.
As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, there's a new wrinkle to the strategy: It involves what appears to be a raffle.
Although Obama has already raised a record $640 million for his White House run, now he's trying to raise more by dangling a real prize in front of previous contributors.
In an e-mail to supporters, Obama says his campaign is saving some of the best seats for select donors at his election night rally in Grant Park Tuesday.
"Show your support at this crucial time with a donation of $25 or more and you could join me on election night," the message says. "If you're selected, you can bring a guest and we'll fly you in and put you up in a hotel. You'll go backstage at the big event. You'll have a front row seat to history."
A local campaign operative for Republican John McCain said there's something fishy going on.
"Whenever you specifically ask for a certain amount of money and you're asked to be entered into any kind of contest, that becomes a lottery, a raffle, and that falls under gambling statutes," Kevin DuJan said.
DuJan conceded the McCain campaign is running behind in cash, but he questions how the Democrats are staying ahead.
"Obama has set a dangerous precedent especially in terms of taking those credit card donations and not verifying where they are coming from," he said.
The Obama campaign does have some new and pressing expenses. There was that half-hour television special Wednesday night that reportedly cost more than $3 million. And the campaign has agreed to pay $2 million or more to the city of Chicago for the cost of Obama's Grant Park bash.
What are the precise ground rules of this "front-row-seat-to-history" giveaway? And what about those claims that federal election laws may be violated?
Obama's campaign declined to comment.
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