The stars come out for Sherrod

If, as has been said, politics is show business for homely people, Sen. Barack Obama, the freshman from Illinois, stands out not only as an exception to the rule, but as a true "rock star'' of Democratic politics.

Saturday, June 3, Obama brings his act to a Sherrod Brown fundraising luncheon at the Westin Hotel in downtown Cincinnati.

Obama will be followed into Cincinnati on Sept. 12 by a genuine rock star, singer-songwriter Carole King, whose soft-rock standards were the soundtrack for the lives of baby boomers like Brown. She'll perform at the Aronoff Center to raise money for Brown's campaign to unseat Sen. Mike DeWine.

The invite from the Brown campaign is marketing Obama and King events as a package deal. The lowest ticket price, $500 (described in the invitation as "standard seating"), asks that the donor choose between the political rock star and the musical rock star.

But if you kick in $1,000 to $2,100 (the maximum contribution for the general election cycle), you get a ticket to both events. Write a $2,100 check and you also get an invite to a Sept. 11 private cocktail reception with King and Brown at the east Walnut Hills home of Allan and Jennie Berliant, the hosts of both fundraisers.