Lunch with Michelle raises $400,000 for governor's race

Seattle: A ready-to-be wowed crowd gathered on Thursday at the WaMu Theater to hear Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, bring his message of change and a list of the work to be done during a fundraiser for Governor Chris Gregoire. "Do we settle for the world as it is, or fight for the world as it should be?" she asked the 1,600 Democrats who gathered, with women easily outnumbering the men.

The crowd paid at least $200 (Dh734) each for a lunch of grilled chicken salad and strawberry parfait, then wrote additional cheques while they sat at the table.

Organisers said the 90-minute event added $400,000 (Dh1.47 million) to Gregoire's re-election campaign, and the total is likely to be even more after cheques collected during the event are counted.

Michelle Obama seemed to meet the crowd's expectations with her passion, the vision she shares with her husband and a down-to-earth approach. She talked about a partnership between Washington state and Washington, DC, and said her husband is drawn to strong leaders who share his mission.

"Strong leaders like Governor Gregoire," Obama said.

While the lunch gave a big boost to the campaign's bank account, perhaps even more crucial was the chance to build on the connection between Gregoire and Obama as the November election nears.

Gregoire is in the thick of a fierce election rematch with Republican Dino Rossi, who she narrowly beat nearly four years ago. After two recounts, Gregoire was declared the winner by 133 votes out of nearly 3 million cast.

Pollster Stuart Elway said his June 22 poll, the most recent available, shows Gregoire leading Rossi by about 8 percentage points. Other more recent polls have the two essentially tied. Elway said Thursday's luncheon is too precise of an event to have much impact in the polls.