Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney arrives in the Bay Area today for a high-priced fundraiser on the Peninsula, but only those paying to get in will know what he says there – no press will be allowed.

Unless, of course, someone surreptitiously videotapes this evening’s event at the Strawberry Hill estate on Redington Road in Hillsborough, as someone did a similar event this past May in Florida. That video, released this week by Mother Jones, included Romney’s now-notorious comments about roughly half the country:

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.”
[snip]
“[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Should guests at this fundraiser be frisked at the door for recording devices?

Anyway, tickets to tonight’s event cost $500 for young professionals, $1,000 for bronze level, $2,500 for silver level and $5,000 for gold level. Giving $15,000 gets two tickets to the reception as well as a photo for two with Romney, as does bundling $25,000 to $50,000.

Giving $50,000 gets four tickets, including two with preferred seating at a special reception, and four photo reception tickets; bundling $100,000 gets four tickets, two special reception tickets and two photo reception tickets; and a couple that gives $100,000 gets four tickets, two special reception tickets and four photo reception tickets.

Musician David Foster will entertain the crowd. The event is to start at 4:45 p.m., but Romney isn’t scheduled to arrive at San Francisco International Airport until shortly before 6 p.m.

The fundraiser is for Romney Victory Inc., a joint fundraising committee including Romney’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the state GOP entities in Idaho, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Vermont.

President Barack Obama’s Bay Area fundraiser on Monday, Oct. 8 will be at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, on Grove Street in the city’s Civic Center.

Tickets for this 5:30 p.m. concert-rally – for which the musical guests are yet to be announced – are selling at $100 for “Muni;” $250 for “Cable Car;” $1,000 for “Ferry,” which includes preferred seating; and $2,500 for “Bay,” which includes premium seating. The $7,500 “Golden State” package gets you premium seating plus a photo opportunity with the president, and then you can pay an additional $2,500 for each guest you want in the photo with you. Tickets are available online.

It’s not yet clear whether this will be his only event in the Bay Area; he usually does one big rally-type event and several smaller, more exclusive and expensive events in the same visit. He’ll be in Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 7.

California’s political watchdog agency today slapped the committee behind 2008’s Proposition 8 – the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage – with a $49,000 fine for campaign finance reporting violations involving more than $1.3 million in contributions.

According to the Fair Political Practices Commission, ProtectMarriage.com-Yes on 8 and its treasurer, David Bauer, “failed to file late contribution reports in a timely manner; failed to file in a timely manner, contributions of $1,000 or more received during the 90-day election cycle ending on November 4, 2008; failed to file contributions of $5,000 or more in a timely manner, in an online campaign report within ten business days of receipt; failed to properly dispose of an anonymous $10,000 contribution received on or about October 28, 2008; and failed to disclose occupation and/or employer information regarding persons who contributed $100 or more” – 18 distinct violations in all.

“The total amount of contributions not timely reported on these reports is approximately $654,424, which is approximately 2% of the total contributions received by Respondent Committee during the audit period,” commission staffers wrote of the late contribution reports, in an exhibit to the stipulation agreed to by ProtectMarriage.com. Staffers noted “there are no cases that are similar in size and amount of contributions received that have been considered by the Commission in the recent past.”

ProtectMarriage.com also “failed to disclose 188 contributions of $1,000 or more totaling $582,306 during 90-day period before the November 4, 2008 General Election within 24 hours of receipt in online campaign reports,” the exhibit said. It also failed to disclose contributions of $5,000 or more on or about July 21, 2008 and August 5, 2008, totaling $95,000.

Rep. John Garamendi, challenged in his bid for re-election by Republican Colusa County Supervisor Kim Vann, apparently feels it’s enough of a race to warrant asking some well-known names to help him raise money.

Garamendi, D-Fairfield, on Monday had a fundraiser at the San Francisco office of the Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe law firm, with former Mayor and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown as the guest speaker and the current and former chairmen of the California Democratic Party – John Burton and Art Torres, respectively – among the co-hosts. Individual tickets ranged from $250 to $2,500, while “PAC Friends” were asked to give $1,000 to $5,000.

Now Garamendi is touting an evening with House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., on Tuesday, August 21 at Prima, a lovely Italian restaurant in Walnut Creek; the theme will be “rebuilding the American manufacturing base.” Individual tickets for this one range from $500 to $2,500, while PAC sponsors will pay $2,500 and PAC co-hosts will pay $5,000.

“This is a critical event for me,” he said in an e-mail that went out today. “The Republican SuperPACs have made me a prime target in the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District, pouring over $130,000 of PAC money into my opponent’s campaign in just the last two weeks of June and now buying up millions of dollars of air time to smear and distort my image. Please consider supporting my campaign and help me fight back by attending this event.”

The Center for Responsive Politics has updated its list of President Obama’s campaign “bundlers,” those who gather other people’s donations and deliver them to the campaign en masse. Here’s the list for California, down to the $100,000 mark:

The center notes that Federal Election Commission regulations only require disclosure of funds bundled by registered lobbyists. In 2008, both Barack Obama and John McCain agreed to disclose any bundlers who raised over $50,000 for their campaigns. Obama’s re-election campaign is again disclosing those bundlers for the 2012 election, but Mitt Romney’s has refused.

So all we know is that 34 registered lobbyists have bundled a total of $5,250,506 for Romney’s presidential campaign; none of them are from California.

Republican congressional candidate Ricky Gill cancelled a Stockton fundraiser that was to be co-hosted by a businessman whose son was just indicted on federal marijuana charges.

Those who brought the event to my attention believe Gill’s association with anyone under federal investigation or indictment is damning, especially given that this is the second instance. My colleague, Lisa Vorderbrueggen, has written about the Gill family’s business connections to – and Gill’s own campaign contributions, later returned, from – Harvey Whittemore, the Nevada lobbyist now under federal indictment in a campaign-finance scandal.

But this seems like a somewhat different matter, given the debate now raging in California and elsewhere over the Obama Administration’s crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries operating in accordance with state and local laws.

The $125-per-person fundraiser was to be held tomorrow, Thursday, July 26, at Le Bistro, a Stockton restaurant co-owned by Bruce Davies, a local Realtor; the Davies family was listed among the event’s co-hosts. Bruce Davies in 2010 had applied to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Stockton, according to the Stockton Record, and had proposed using part of Le Bistro’s kitchen to produce edible marijuana products.

Matthew Davies, Bruce Davies’ son, was indicted by a federal grand jury this month on marijuana cultivation charges; he and two other Stockton men are accused of having grown marijuana in a warehouse and a home within the city.

The Stockton Record reports that a multi-agency probe began last September after Davies and told a CHP officer that he was on his way to his marijuana storage facility, where he stored marijuana for his Medizen dispensary in Sacramento, because the burglar alarm had gone off – hardly an effort to hide his activities. Federal agents later seized 1,962 plants and 40 pounds of processed marijuana from the warehouse, which also apparently had supplied the Central Valley Caregivers Cooperative in Stockton.

Gill is running against Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, in the newly drawn 9th Congressional District. McNerney in 2008 reversed his previous opposition to medical marijuana, voicing support for an amendment that would bar the federal government from spending money to investigate and prosecute those who are operating in accordance with their states’ medical marijuana laws.

Gill spokesman Colin Hunter today said the campaign cancelled the fundraiser as soon as Matthew Davies’ indictment was reported in the Record, and Gill has not received any contributions from the Davies family.

“This is a transparent attempt to distract from the real issue in this campaign: Jerry McNerney’s utter failure to stand up for our communities in Congress on jobs, foreclosures and agriculture,” Hunter said. “Perhaps the Democrats ought to worry about the real contributions McNerney took – from big banks and from Solyndra’s lead investor, to name just a few – rather than the hypothetical contributions Ricky didn’t.”

Hunter said Gill “does not object to the legitimate, physician-prescribed use of marijuana to treat serious, chronic or debilitating illnesses. He believes state and federal governments should work together to craft a sensible enforcement plan that will hold accountable those individuals operating outside or in clear violation of medical marijuana regimes, but will not penalize seriously ill patients seeking only to manage their pain.”

So, how scandalous would it have been if Gill had raised money from people linked to medical marijuana? Lots of Bay Area politicians have taken contributions from people connected to local dispensaries. But consider who and where Gill is: What flies in the mostly Democratic Bay Area might not fly for a Republican in that Central Valley-centric district (even if Democrats have a 7-point registration edge there).

I’ve just filed my pool report from San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel. Here it is, verbatim:

Romney entered the Fairmont Hotel’s Gold room at 5:32 p.m. to a cheering, standing ovation. About 250 attendees had been sipping drinks and noshing on shrimp cocktails.

Boyd Smith of Palo Alto – real estate development and investment mogul, a former Mormon stake president, and finance chairman for Romney’s campaign in
California – before introducing Romney called for a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Aurora, Colo., massacre and their families. He said America is at one of its most important moments, in “a war of ideas, a war of philosophy – it’s a war that can be won however, by using that analogy, if Mitt Romney is our general. … I consider myself, and am proud to be a foot-soldier. I ask you to join me.”

Romney began speaking at 5:38 p.m.

“Our hearts are with the many people who’ve lost loved ones in Colorado,” he said, adding President Obama’s visit to Aurora was entirely appropriate and promising to deliver less partisan remarks today given the nation’s mourning.

“We turn to a power greater than our own to understand purpose and if not to understand at least to be able to soothe the wounds of those who have been so seriously hurt,” he said.

Romney noted a gathering in the audience of Gold Star and Blue Star families – those who’ve lost relatives in military service, and those who have relatives currently serving, respectively. He had them stand, and they were given applause. Romney noted “the great sense of unity that comes in this country as we recognize those who serve our country.”

Romney told a story from his time as governor, of going to Boston’s airport to meet a servicemember’s casket as it was returned from a battlefield; people lined up several deep at the airport’s windows. “Every single person had a hand on their heart” and expressions of appreciation on their faces, he said.

Turning to the economy, Romney said “these are tough times and even people working are having real tough times trying to make ends meet.” Consumer confidence is down, and economic growth is sluggish, he said.

Why run for president when things are so tough? “The answer is: I think I can fix it.”

“I’ve had the unusual experience in my life of working in places that were troubled,” he said, from a struggling company to a floundering Salt Lake City Olympics, to a troubled state as governor.

“Boy, somebody’s got to do something for California,” he said, earning laughter and applause. “California’s got to make a couple of tough decisions; the right leadership would make a difference here.”

“We are a hard working energetic patriotic risk-taking entrepreneurial people,” he said, praising those who strive to work or seek more education to get better jobs; he told several anecdotes about people who’ve built their own business in lawn-mowing, upholstery and other fields. “There is that entrepreneurialism in the American spirit which if tapped will allow us to reboot our economy, and soon.”

To do so, Romney said he would “take advantage of our energy resources … this is our ace in the hole.” America has “massive new resources, both in oil and gas” which must be tapped, he said. “We have energy in massive amounts,” he said, citing an article he saw that said “America can be the largest energy producer in the world.”

Second, Romney said, he would pursue more foreign trade, which he said “puts more Americans to work in higher-paying jobs.”

“Number three, you’ve got to finally balance our budget, you can’t keep spending more money than you take it,” Romney said, adding “real leadership” in Congress and the White House would immediately end any talk of America being in decline.

He said former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has spoken of building human capital as well as financial capital in order to strengthen the economy, but that can’t be accomplished if schools are underperforming. Romney singled out Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman, California’s 2010 GOP gubernatorial nominee – who got a brief standing ovation – to report from the back of the room that California ranks toward the bottom of the nation in academic performance.

“That’s got to change, and that’s number four in my plan to get America working again,” he said.

And fifth, he said, “We have restore economic freedom in this country.” The founding fathers knew freedom comes from God, not government, and that freedom includes life and liberty – protected by our servicemembers – as well as the pursuit of happiness, the opportunity to pursue our own dreams. “This is a free land.”

Romney said he was with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. – rumored to be on his short list of potential vice presidential running mates – the other day, discussing what it was like to be an immigrant family in Florida, an embrace of the American dream of working hard and taking risks to attain one’s dreams.

“I love this country, I love America, I love the principles on which America was founded, I want to restore those principles,” he said, noting 23 million people are out of work or have stopped looking. “These are real human beings, our fellow citizens. … We need to put them back to work.”

“I’m going to get the job done. I’m going to do it. We’re going to do it together,” he said, as the crowd rose to its feet in applause.

He said former British prime minister Tony Blair told him that what the world fears most is a weak America. “American strength is the best ally peace has ever known,” Romney said.

America has a duty to hold aloft a torch of freedom and opportunity, he said, and as the “Greatest Generation” of World War II fades away, it’s up to use to take up that torch.

“This is the time for us to step forward and take that torch,” he said.

Romney concluded his remarks at 6:07 p.m.

Five youths from two Boys & Girls Clubs in West Contra Costa County have been picked to attend President Obama’s fundraising rally on Monday evening at Oakland’s Fox Theater.

Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante executive director Billy Zeier, who will act as the kids’ chaperone, called it “a great opportunity … a once in a lifetime chance for these kids.”

“This is a game changer for them … that will be emblazoned and imprinted in their minds for the rest of their lives,” he said.

Zeier said Friday afternoon that five youths ages 10 to 18 are being selected from his club and from the West Contra Costa Salesian Boys & Girls Club in Richmond. A staffer from Rep. George Miller’s office called earlier Friday to notify him that the clubs had been awarded the tickets; Miller himself is a Boys & Girls Club alum, Zeier noted.

As of late Friday afternoon, he hadn’t received information about where in the theater they’ll be sitting or whether they’ll have any access to the president, and he said he was still locking down exactly which youths would attend.

“It’s going to show them they can get to the highest level of our world,” he said. “It’s going to show them their lives are limitless.”

As of late Friday, the $100 balcony seats, $250 general admission seats and $1,000 VIP seats for Monday night’s event are all sold out. Event-sponsor tickets costing $7,500 still remains; that gets you into a photo reception with the president as well, to which you can bring additional people for $2,500 each.

The president earlier Monday will attend a $35,800-per-person roundtable with tech leaders somewhere in the East Bay, and a $35,800-per-plate fundraising dinner at the Piedmont home of progressive activist/attorney Quinn Delaney and real estate developer Wayne Jordan. Jordan is among Obama’s leading “bundlers.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Emken’s success in the June 5 primary didn’t translate into a big fundraising boom for her, her latest report to the Federal Election Commission shows.

Emken, 49, of Danville, bested 22 other candidates to finish second behind U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in the June 5 primary; Feinstein got 49.3 percent of the vote, while Emken got 12.6 percent.

In the period from May 17 through June 30, Emken collected only $53,834 in new contributions, bringing her total in this election cycle so far to $182,927. Worse yet, she had only $26,754 cash on hand as of June 30, with $260,546 in outstanding debts and obligations.

Feinstein hasn’t filed(see update below) her May 17-June 30 report yet, but her previous report showed she raised almost four times more from April 1 through May 16 – $706,419 – than Emken has in this whole cycle.

“We knew this was going to be a financial challenge — in fact, I don’t know anyone who thought otherwise — but that snapshot has been taken and the picture is looking brighter,” Emken spokesman Mark Standriff said today. “In just the past few days, the Emken campaign brought on Ron Nehring as senior strategist and Anne Hyde Dunsmore, one of California’s most successful fundraisers, as our finance director. It’s still going to be an uphill struggle, but we’re picking up steam at the right time.”

Nehring is the California Republican Party’s former chairman.

Nobody expects the National Republican Senatorial Committee will sink much, if any, money into Emken’s campaign; Feinstein is widely seen as unassailable, and the NRSC will target its money to states where seats are truly up for grabs.

For context, 2006 Republican U.S. Senate nominee Dick Mountjoy raised $18,672 during the similar period from May 16 to June 30, 2006, leaving him with $20,854 cash on hand at the middle of that year. So maybe Emken shouldn’t feel so bad; then again, Feinstein beat Mountjoy 59 percent to 35 percent that November.

UPDATE @ 12:52 P.M.: My bad – Feinstein has filed her FEC report for May 17 through June 30. It shows she raised $575,678 during that time (almost 11 times as much as Emken) and had $3,085,603 cash on hand as of June 30 (115 times as much as Emken) with outstanding debts and obligations of $302,092.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will be in the Bay Area tomorrow, Thursday, July 12, to raise money for fellow Republican and Indo-American Ricky Gill, who’s challenging Rep. Jerry McNerney in the newly drawn 9th Congressional District.

Tickets to the 6 p.m. wine-and-hors-d’ouevres reception at the Fremont home of Kaval and Jasvir Gill cost $1,000, or $2,500 including a photo with the governor and the candidate.

Gill as of May 16 had raised about $1.38 million and spent about $675,000 with about $708,000 cash on hand remaining; McNerney, D-Stockton, had raised about $1.24 million and spent about $553,000 but had about $926,000 cash on hand.

UPDATE @ 4:26 p.m.: Jindal and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, also will be raising money Friday for a slew of California’s Republican House candidates with a midday reception and lunch at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, followed by a 6 p.m. reception at the Atherton home of Skip and Linda Law. For both events, a basic ticket costs $1,000, while co-hosts ($5,000), event hosts ($15,000) and event chairs ($30,000) get additional tickets, special access and photos.

I’ll be meeting with McCarthy and the candidates at around 2 p.m. Friday, and hope to post a blog item or story shortly thereafter.

UPDATE @ 2:04 P.M. MONDAY 7/16: I’m told Jindal cancelled his trip to California at the last minute.