( CNN ) -- Hollywood pulled off another blockbuster as a star-studded guest list delivered $ 15 million into the campaign coffers of President Barack Obama Thursday night . Interactive : Which celebs are donating ? The fundraiser at the home of actor and activist George Clooney in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles attracted dozens of guests including Clooney 's girlfriend , actress/model Stacy Keibler ; DreamWorks studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg ; designer Diane Von Furstenberg ; Barbra Streisand and her actor husband James Brolin . In a largely jovial address to guests , Obama acknowledged that the road to the White House in 2012 will be much different than the campaign four years ago . `` This is going to be harder than it was the last time ... 2008 , in some ways , was lightning in a bottle , '' the president said . Obama is locked in a tight race with presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney . A Politico/George Washington University poll released this week shows Romney with a one-percentage point advantage , 48 % -47 % , over the president among likely voters , well within the survey 's sampling error . `` Folks are still hurting out there and those frustrations with Washington and the nonsense they see on the news is making them more cynical than they were in 2008 , '' Obama said . `` So we 're going to have to fight against cynicism and a belief that maybe things ca n't happen and maybe the game is rigged , what 's the point . That 's what we 're going to be fighting against this time . ''
Obama : 2012 campaign will be tougher than four years ago . The president says : `` 2008 , in some ways , was lightning in a bottle '' the country went from being on top of the world to feeling like it had fallen off a cliff Mitt Romney and Obama are in a virtual tie , a recent poll shows .