Obama's Los Angeles Crew



(image via theipinionjournal)

Every Democrat President has an "LA Crew," go-to players -- and, in a feature role, their mansions -- who hold fund raisers and, quite possibly, cushion things for when the President leaves office. Hollywood divides itself accordingly during the course of the campaign season casting their lots almost arbitrarily with the candidates. It's an even exchange: the Los Angelinos get to dine on tales of their proximity to the glamour and thinkiness of the White House (while gratuitously wearing glasses with fake lenses and vapidly talking "policy" on Real Time with Bill Maher), and the President gets cold hard cash to fill their political coffers.

Even Reagan had an LA posse (Bush, for obvious reasons of serious lack of cool, didn't). Politico's Jeffrey Ressner puts together a list of the Los Angeles players that roll with President-elect Obama:

Michael Lawson: "A partner with the international law firm Skadden, Arps and a board member of the Music Center and the Los Angeles Airport Commission, Lawson and his wife, interior designer Mattie McFadden-Lawson, have been big Obama donors since his first U.S. Senate campaign."

James Lassiter: "Will Smith’s longtime manager and head of their production company, Overbrook Entertainment, Lassiter — always known by his initials, J.L. — grew up in the same Philly neighborhood as Smith and was introduced to the actor/rapper by his former sideman, DJ Jazzy Jeff." (Corsair: Finally, DJ Jazzy Jeff will have some influence ..)

Nancy McCullough: "An entertainment lawyer in L.A., McCullough was a year behind Obama at Harvard but worked closely with him at the school’s Law Review. Heavily involved in lawyer-monitored voter protection efforts before and during the election, she was also there at the start of Obama’s campaign, huddling in the front row in Springfield, Ill., when he announced his presidential bid. More recently, she sat on Obama’s Arts Policy Committee along with novelist Michael Chabon, photographer Pat York and Disney exec Thomas Schumacher."

The full list here.