First Lady Has Fund-Raising Birthday
By SONYA ROSS
Associated Press, October 25, 2000
NEW YORK (AP) - What a way to celebrate a birthday: Hobnobbing with famous stars while collecting millions of dollars for your Senate campaign.
That was how first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spent Wednesday, the day before her 53rd birthday.
"I'd like to say I'm 43, but that's fuzzy math," Mrs. Clinton joked, borrowing a phrase being bandied about in the presidential campaign. Turning to her political pitch, she said, "We have a lot of work to do. This campaign is far from over."
Joined by her husband and daughter Chelsea, the Democratic Senate candidate from New York was feted at a special birthday gala, complete with cake and song, that brought in $2 million for her campaign. She faces Republican Rep. Rick Lazio on Nov. 7.
The first lady got a birthday surprise - comedian Chevy Chase and actor Tom Cruise flew in especially to greet her. ``I just think you're going to be a wonderful senator from this state,'' Cruise told her.
"She looks pretty good to be 53 years old," President Clinton said. When the crowd started chanting, "Four more years," Clinton shouted: "Hey! You're off message!"
He recounted how Mrs. Clinton strode over and introduced herself to him when they were students at Yale Law School. "I said that to say she has the requisite aggression to be a good New Yorker," Clinton said.
The president had a New Yorker experience of his own. Robert DeNiro came on stage to rid Clinton of his clipped ``For-get a-bout it.''
"If you're going to make it in this town, it's 'fuhgeddaboudit,'" DeNiro said, "For-geda-bout it," Clinton tried. "Fuhgeddaboudit," DeNiro drawled, to which Clinton replied: "You tawkin' ta me?" a line from DeNiro's classic role in Taxi Driver.
The Clintons were treated to "The Show," a production of music and comedy skits directed by James Naughton and featuring Cher, soul singer Al Green, Ben Affleck, Cameron Diaz, Jon Stewart, Nathan Lane, Chris Parnell, Denis Leary, Molly Shannon, Edward Norton and Will Ferrell. They were also the guests of honor at a party afterward.
Green, an Arkansas native, sang "Happy Birthday" and urged the audience - including the Clintons - to sing his classic, "Let's Stay Together." Mrs. Clinton briefly joined Lane on stage to try to fill a 15-minute gap while waiting for Cher to take the stage.
"OK, so I'm the late, Cher, obviously," the singer quipped before her first song.
Throughout the show, Parnell spoofed Lazio's attempt to get Mrs. Clinton to sign a pledge rejecting so-called soft money contributions. He tried desperately to get Mrs. Clinton to sign his high school yearbook, a guest log, even an arm cast, before getting dragged away by Secret Service agents. Actor Darrell Hammond portrayed Clinton at an interview for a New York co-op, listing his pets as a cat, a dog and "one snake," former adviser Dick Morris.
Wednesday's was the third trip to New York in four days for Clinton, who raised more than $500,000 for his wife through a series of appearances around the state.
Earlier Wednesday, the president said he would sign legislation to keep the government running on a day-to-day basis, and challenged members of Congress to remain in Washington to negotiate the federal budget.
"We've come to the end of October, nearly a month past the end of the fiscal year, and we still have not seen from Congress the completed budget," Clinton said. "From this point forward, Congress should work every day and every night to put progress over partisanship."
Then, with Chelsea in tow, Clinton himself left town.
Before the gala, Clinton addressed two fund-raisers, one that brought in $300,000 for Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who is running unopposed, and another that raised $1 million for the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee.
"Turn (out) as many voters as you can," Clinton told the Democratic campaign committee event. "Remember, not voting is almost as bad as voting against us."
While Meeks told of escaping a tough life in Harlem to become a member of Congress, Clinton bounced Meeks' 1-year-old daughter, Nia-Aiyana, on his knee, and playfully clapped her hands together. The president said he was "remembering when Chelsea was that age."
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