First Lady Michelle Obama paid a visit to the Malibu area last week, and for $2,500, actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith welcomed donors into their home for a chance to hear the First Lady speak at a fundraising luncheon. Attendees also had the option of paying $10,000 for a picture with her and $40,000 for a personal meeting.
The scene outside the privately gated Smith estate, just off Mulholland Highway on Cold Canyon Road, was quite a spectacle Thursday morning last week as dozens of cars drove by and news media trucks proliferated near the gate more than three hours before the first lady’s arrival.
Onlookers were treated to about a three-second glimpse of Obama’s motorcade as her black SUV whisked into the estate at about 1:30 p.m., escorted by Secret Service, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and the California Highway Patrol.
As she sat in her car waiting to enter the fundraiser, attendee Andrea Jones said the president and the first lady inspired her to donate to the Democratic cause and pay for a seat at the luncheon.
“This election is really crucial and I believe in Obama’s message,” Jones said.
Another attendee, Donald Welch, said he had also been to past fundraisers, including one at Oprah Winfrey’s home.
“This is one of the last fundraising events,” Welch said. “I’m here because it just needs to be won and done.”
But a chance to participate in the first lady’s visit was not limited to those who could afford to pay the hefty lunch price. Random passersby, media trucks and Mitt Romney supporters joined in on the spectacle, standing across the street from the Smith home where numerous Secret Service agents and sheriff’s deputies patrolled and screened incoming donors.
Hours before Obama’s arrival, a small group of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan supporters set up camp outside the gate to the Smith estate. The group of four showed up with a large Romney and Ryan sign, an American flag and campaign T-shirts, hoping that the First Lady would catch a glimpse of them.
“We’re not hoping to sway her vote at this point, but we’re hoping to irritate her a little bit,” demonstrator Dale Thomas said.
Some passersby honked in support of the impromptu demonstration, while others gave a thumbs down gesture or rolled down their car windows to tell the Republican group they were supporting the wrong candidate.
Sherry DaSilva, a neighbor of the Smiths and an Obama supporter, said she decided to walk over and demonstrate after witnessing the Romney supporters.
“I had to come here and make sure there was some Obama representation,” DaSilva said.
Retired firefighter Don Wallace also joined DaSilva toward the end of the afternoon’s demonstration, arguing vehemently with the Romney supporters over Obama’s presidency.
“We have had nothing but obstruction from Congress Republicans,” Wallace said. “I came down here to try and protect [the First Lady] and get her some balance.”
None of the political demonstrators or members of the press got very close to the first lady’s motorcade as it whisked in. The Secret Service asked the media and demonstrators to stay on the opposite side of the street from the Smith home.
Jim Kollar, a deputy special agent in charge for the Secret Service, could not comment on the specifics of Obama’s security detail in Los Angeles, but he said that Secret Service agents in Washington, D.C., coordinate with field offices throughout the country and the world whenever the president or his wife travel.
“We ask for what we feel based on the threats that we get, what would be adequate that would make the first lady’s or the president’s visit safe to the area,” Kollar said.
Dozens of sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers joined the Secret Service for added security in front of the Smith compound and also during Obama’s motorcade across Los Angeles.
Kollar said the Secret Service also always brings in help from local law enforcement in its security detail.
Later that afternoon, the first lady travelled to Burbank for an appearance on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” talk show that night.
