CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.  RIGHT.

Posted at 6:13 p.m. ET

Mike Allen, at The Politico, lets us in on the kind of change we can expect in politics if The One makes it over the finish line next week.  I wonder how many young, idealistic kids ringing doorbells for "O" tonight are aware of this:

Aides to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) scheduled pricey luncheons, roundtables, readings, VIP receptions and policy dinners with campaign officials and advisers, offering donors a taste of his potential administration.

Supporters could eat dinner in Los Angeles with Warren Buffett, an Obama adviser and one of history’s shrewdest investors, for $28,500, the federal limit for donations by an individual to a national party committee.

Or they could attend a “VIP reception” with the sage of Omaha for $10,000, or an “economic roundtable” for just $1,000.

The Obama campaign declined to comment on the schedule.

Of course they declined.  They figure, only one reporter asked about this, and we can stiff him without getting the press upset.  When has the press ever been upset with Obama?

Much has been made of Obama’s canny mining of small-dollar donors, with constant e-mails asking for donations of as little as $5. The average donation in September was $86. Two-thirds of the $150 million was raised via the Web.

But his campaign also has an elaborate machine for courting big check-writers. Obama kept the checks flowing this month with a gold-plated schedule of headliners who would have new prominence in a Democratic Washington.

A reception, policy discussion and lunch was offered in Newark, N.J., with David Cutler, Obama for America’s senior health care adviser, for $500 for a guest or $2,300 for a VIP.

Guess life and death issues don't bring as much as Buffett.

—Luncheon in New York with Dennis Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator under President Clinton — $10,000, $5,000, $2,500 or $1,000.

—Reception in Belmont, Mass., with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick — $2,500, $1,000, $500 or $250.

—Reception in New York with Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), Obama’s running mate —- per couple $28,500, $14,250, $5,000 or $1,000.

—Reception in Chicago with Michelle Obama — $28,500, $10,000 or $2,500.

Now we're talking.  No cheapskates here.

Yup, it's a new day in American politics.  Brought to you by the Daley machine in Chicago. 

I know we're all looking forward to being uplifted by this change we can believe in.

Yuch.

October 29, 2008.