It's hard to be too harsh on Obama about the dinner. He's a politician, and they all have to fundraise. But this particular dinner was so ostentatious -- from the guest list, to the ticket price, to the advertising campaign -- that it likely grated on the public's nerves in a way that typical fundraisers don't. Obama's own star power has faded significantly since 2008, and it made the dinner party seem sadder and tackier than it would have four years ago -- like a middle-aged person trying just a little too hard to hold onto his youth.