Here's a shot of Barack Obama from one of his fund-raisers in NYC on Friday, courtesy of a reader who attended one aimed at young professionals at the Grand Hyatt.

Introducing Obama at the event was was JFK speech writer, special adviser and alter-ego, Ted Sorenson. According to the reader, "he hit on what are definitely their talking points - they say he doesn't have experience and yet look who did have experience -- Cheney and Rumsefeld and look where experience has gotten us. What's more important is leadership. And since he was Kennedy's guy he was able to really hammer home the Kennedy/Barack connection (there was another man who they said was inexperienced 47 years ago, who they said was born with the wrong kind of heritage to be President."

But there was only one thing lacking from the fund-raiser.

Which either means that the response was overwhelming -- organizers say they've changed the event's location to a new, bigger space in the Grand Hyatt Hotel to make "room for more people," and, of course, for more money -- or that it wasn't quite overwhelming enough.  read more »

The first is a pricey get-together (suggested contribution: $1000-$2300) at the Grand Hyatt from 6 to 8 p.m. The second is a less formal gathering of supporters at The Grand for only $100 a head.

Here's an invitation to a February 15th dinner at the Grand Hyatt honoring Eliot Spitzer. Notice that it's hosted by the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee.

I'm waiting on word back from Spitzer, the Assembly Speaker's office, and DACC and the state Democratic Party.

"One of the open secrets in Washington is that senators of the same party and same state rarely get along. Hillary and I are both ambitious hard working politicians who occasionally step on each other's toes. We have had out high point and our low points. But we have the bonds of my campaign in 1998 and hers in 2000 that are unique to our relationship."

(Hillary Clinton will be throwing Chuck his book party in his favorite haunt, a cheap Chinese restaurant in D.C.)

"Our victory was well deserved, but the Democratic Party still needs a new paradigm," he writes. And Schumer thinks he is just the person to provide it. His key to perpetual victory is encapsulated in the title for Chapter 2: "It's the Middle Class Stupid."

They live in Massapequa and are both 45. He's an insurance agent and she works in a doctor's office. They have two cars in the garage, are worried about terrorists, heath care property taxes and college tuition. They are infrequent church goers and "politically, they are up for grabs."

Chuck says that he was at first reluctant about taking on the head job at the DSCC.

"The number-one reason that I decided to take the job was because I worried that if we had another bad election, if we lost another two or three seats, it would be over...The Supreme Court would take this nation backward 130 years."

"We were competitive among the middle class - voters with household incomes between $30,000 and $75,000 - only because of near- unanimous support among middle-class African-American voters. Meanwhile, among white middle-class voters - a third of the electorate - Bush beat Kerry by twenty-two points. Twenty-two points!"

Schumer attributes the decay of Hispanic support for the Democratic Party in 2004 to their increased incomes, which put them more in the middle class that he thinks the Democrats were ignoring.

At 8:45 a.m., Mike Bloomberg will meet with Jeb Bush and School officials on Chamber Street.

At 3 p.m., the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation discusses "SI Conference 2007" at the Borough President's office.

Also at 7:30 p.m., S.I. District Attorney Dan Donovan, will speak to Brooklyn Young Republicans.

Mrs. Clinton had been delayed by traffic. She said she'd been flipping through the paper over the weekend and had found something she wouldn't normally read. She said she had learned that "Mercury is in retrograde, whatever that means" and had been thinking of that as her little caravan had inched along.

-- Choire Sicha

"For all of you from Mississippi, I'd like to extend my deepest apologies," he said. "I promise I'll visit as soon as I find a food taster. My brother David Dinkins isn't available."

A reader knowledgeable of the business community in the City shared their thoughts on the list of Corporate Leaders for Spitzer, which was unveiled at a small press conference in the Grand Hyatt yesterday.

--Roger Altman A close confident of Hillary Clinton, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasurey, and someone whose private equity firm, Evercore Partners, just went public.

--Michael Carey Former Governor Hughe Carey's son who was fired by the Bloomberg administration. The younger Carey wanted to be the president of the city's Economic Development Corporation, and Bloomberg's people said no.

--Blair Effron An active Democratic political operative who probably played a role in brining together the entire list of Corporate Leaders for Spitzer.

--Lewis Ranieri Along with Alfonse D'Amatao, was almost removed from the board of CA Inc., after a scandal-plagued era at the company.

--Richard Ravitch A Bloomberg supporter who went to war with Dan Doctoroff and City Hall to block the West Side Stadium deal.

--Henry Silverman Pataki's appointee on the Port Authority, whose company has had some legal trouble.