Arthur Leopold

Reclusive comedian Dave Chappelle missed two flights out of Ohio last night and failed to get to a Manhattan fund-raiser for Congressional candidate Kevin Powell of Brooklyn.

The clip above shows Powell earlier in the evening, before the announcement about Chappelle, continuing to criticize incumbent Representative Ed Towns for what Powell thinks is a lack of leadership.

“My opponent does not chair a single committee after 25 years," Powell said to the audience. "I want y’all to think about that for a second. Why doesn’t he? Because he’s missed about a thousand votes since 1993.”

Later, while comedian Chris Rock, rapper RZA of Wu-Tang Clan and drummer ?uestlove of the Roots mingled in the VIP section with big-dollar donors, Powell returned to the stage and told the crowd of several hundred they would be admitted free to a rescheduled event sometime later.  read more »

George Soros just contributed $500 to the campaign of congressional candidate Kevin Powell, who is running to unseat 13-term Representative Ed Towns in Brooklyn.

Soros' political director Michael Vachon confirmed the contribution by the billionaire liberal activist, saying Soros made the donation on-line about 30 minutes ago. “Soros is supporting the candidacies of several young progressives around the country and Kevin Powell is one of them,” Vachon said.

Arthur Leopold, a fund-raiser for Powell, tried to take the significance of the contribution one step further. “Soros endorsed Barack Obama early because he wanted a new wave of leadership. He’s not only looking nationally but I also think he’s looking locally,” Leopold said.

Congressional candidate and former Real World star Kevin Powell will be opening up a campaign office and sharing it with Brooklyn for Barack, a large independent organization that helped Obama carry the district on February 5.

The office at 54 Greene Avenue opens Saturday, and, according to a media advisory “painting begins: 9 am/Petitioning begins: 11 am."

Powell is trying to unseat Representative Ed Towns, who has represented the 10th Congressional district (Fort Greene, Bed-Sty, Brownsville, East New York and Canarsie) since 1983, but only narrowly won re-election in 2006. This year, a few unions, like SEIU 1199, are withholding support.

Towns, like all of his Democratic colleagues in New York's House delegation, supported Hillary Clinton in the primary.

The office opening is significant because it's the first major signal (that I've seen, anyway) that an organized group of Obama supporters in New York are shifting their focus to local races and aligning with other candidates.

Powell, a writer and community activist, will be relying heavily on the Obama supporters in Brooklyn for campaign help. The head of Brooklyn for Barack, Jordan Thomas, is supporting Powell, as is Obama fund-raiser Arthur Leopold.  read more »

A member of Barack Obama’s finance committee, Arthur Leopold, will be raising money for congressional candidate Kevin Powell as Powell makes a bid to unseat Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn.  read more »

Barack Obama’s youngest fund-raiser might be 19-year-old Arthur Leopold of Manhattan. Today he gave me a brief interview over (appropriately) instant message. Below are some excerpts, beginning with his answer to my plea for predictions about February 5:  read more »

One day after the New Hampshire primary, Barack Obama will be back at the Grand Hyatt for a major rally/fund-raiser.

Nineteen year-old Arthur Leopold, who said he's the youngest person on Obama's finance committee, says that "people are really excited now.”

The event at the Grand Hyatt, according to Leopold, was planned about a week and a half ago.

His fund-raising email is after the jump.  read more »

Barack Obama will be back in New York this month for some late second-quarter fund-raising. On June 22, he'll be attending a low-dollar event at the Hammerstein Ballroom, with tickets starting at $100 and reaching up to $500 for a private reception before the fund-raiser.

The event is being organized by Arthur Leopold, whose highly enthusiastic letter to donors can be seen after the jump.

 

 

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Barack Obama's first events in New York City since announcing his presidential run will be on March 9, according to one of the event organizers, Arthur Leopold.

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.

-- Azi Paybarah