CHILMARK, Mass. — Wearing khakis and a button-down shirt,President
Obama stepped before a crowd
of donors on Monday evening on this wealthy island retreat and acknowledged
that he did not have to make a hard sell for Hillary
Clinton.
“To some degree, I had you at hello when it comes to voting for Hillary,”
he said.
The fund-raiser on Martha’s Vineyard, at the hilltop aerie of Hank
Goldberg, a Washington developer, was belatedly added to Mr. Obama’s schedule
after hundreds of tickets for another fund-raiser this Saturday sold out so
quickly that Clinton campaign officials realized there was appetite for
another.
The demand reflected not just the continuing popularity of Mr. Obama with
Democrats, but also the hope of renewing an old relationship.
Long before the Obamas made their way to the island, the Clintons had planted
a flag in this enclave of chief executives and developers that presidents have
visited since Ulysses S. Grant. President Bill Clinton was known for
glad-handing his way through shops and restaurants, attending parties with
stars like Carly Simon, going to clambakes with William Styron, and
ingratiating himself in ways that have created enduring good will.
Far from a sense of Clinton fatigue, in this place there is nostalgia for a
time when a vacationing president actively participated in the local social
milieu.
Mr. Obama has come to Martha’s Vineyard every summer during his presidency
except in 2012, when he was campaigning for re-election. But unlike the
Clintons, the Obamas have largely limited their socializing to a small circle
of family members and friends.
Mr. Obama and Michelle Obama, the first lady, have gone out for dinner
almost every night since arriving here on Aug. 6. And on Sunday, they attended
an annual birthday party for the civil rights activist Vernon E. Jordan Jr. at
Lola’s, an Oak Bluffs restaurant specializing in Southern seafood.
But when the Obamas go out to dinner, they often enter through a back door.
Fellow diners describe them as unfailingly gracious patrons who apologize for
the intrusiveness of their Secret Service detail.
There is a yearning among some here, however, for more from the Obamas.
Many longtime residents recall the Clintons attending parties given by island
socialites. And when the couple arrived at a restaurant for dinner, Mr. Clinton
would often work the room. Mr. Clinton also made stops for ice cream and waded
into crowds, something the Obamas have largely avoided.
“I am a great admirer of President Obama, and I certainly respect his need
for privacy on the Vineyard,” said Rose Styron, Mr. Styron’s wife and a poet,
widely seen as one of the doyennes of the island’s elite social set.
And yet the Obamas have never attended a party at Mrs. Styron’s house, she
said, while the Clintons came many times, and also visited the homes of many of
her friends.
“We enjoyed our times here with the Clintons immensely,” said Mrs. Styron,
whose husband, now deceased, wrote “Sophie’s Choice” and other works.
President Obama during a round of golf on Aug. 7 at
the Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press
The Obamas have found other social circles in the section of the island
they frequent, Oak Bluffs, long a retreat for wealthy African-Americans.
The Clintons vacationed on
the Vineyard most years of Mr. Clinton’s presidency. In 1995, worried that
spending his vacation among the rich and famous made him appear out of touch, he
vacationed outside Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming so he could be shown
camping.
But
once Mrs. Clinton became a senator from New York, the Clintons mostly spent
their summer vacations on the beaches of Long Island, a switch
many here viewed as politically expedient.
There is
some hope here that if Mrs. Clinton wins the presidency, the Clintons and their
highly social ways will return.
And that has
made tickets to this week’s fund-raisers particularly popular.
About 60
guests, each paying between $10,000 and $33,400, attended the party on Monday
hosted by Mr. Goldberg, which benefited the Hillary Victory Fund. Attendees
were treated to breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean, champagne and a raw
bar. Hundreds of people paying $2,700 each, with some doling out much more, are
expected at a fund-raiser on Saturday hosted by Frank Biondi, an investment
banker, and his wife, Carol, that Mrs. Clinton is expected to attend.
And Lady
Lynn Forester de Rothschild is holding a fund-raiser that night for a few dozen
guests who will pay up to $100,000 per couple. Other fund-raisers, including
one attended by the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, have already been held.
Those
selling tickets said they had never seen such interest.
“We have
sold many more tickets than we would have ever dreamed was possible,” said
Betsy Sheerr, a longtime summer resident and Democratic fund-raiser. “The
enthusiasm all over the island is palpable.”
“People love
giving to a winner,” said Ann Brown, another longtime Democratic fund-raiser
here. “It’s suddenly become incredibly easy raising money for Hillary.”
But the
personal experiences so many on the island had with the Clintons are a dominant
factor. Many summer residents live in Washington, where the Obamas rarely
appear at parties held by the city’s social elite.
“Other
than fund-raisers, the Obamas don’t go to many parties in Washington, and they
don’t here,” said Willee Lewis, a longtime Vineyard summer resident who lives
in Washington.
Mr. Obama
has often spoken of the satisfaction he gets from family dinners most nights
with his two daughters. “I live above the store,” Mr. Obama said in a recent interview. “We’ve been able to
schedule, pretty religiously, dinner at 6:30 every night for the last eight
years.”
Mr. Jordan,
among the only Vineyard residents who has regularly entertained both the
Clintons and the Obamas, said in a telephone interview that no one could attend
every summer party on the island and that staying home with family was
admirable.
“People
cannot determine for the Obamas or the Clintons how they should spend their
vacations,” Mr. Jordan said. “They have to respect their privacy and their
decision of how they’re going to stay on the Vineyard.”
Gender also
plays a role. Older women dominate much of the social scene, and they tend to
see Mrs. Clinton’s campaign as historic. And besides ignoring their parties,
Mr. Obama has stumbled with them in other ways here.
“I love that
Obama plays golf, but when is he going to play a round with a woman?” asked
Anne Getz, an island summer resident and golfer who offered while walking her
dog on a beach here to spot Mr. Obama a couple of strokes per round.
“Is
he afraid of getting beat?” she asked with a competitive twinkle in her eye.
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