Obama Fundraisers Trump Day At Beach

Two beaches along the Connecticut shore will remain closed today because of nearby presidential fundraising parties that will net the Obama campaign millions of dollars.

According to a terse press release from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Sherwood Island State Park will be closed “due to a special event at the park.” Westport’s Burying Hill Beach will also be shuttered.

“My understanding is that they asked for Sherwood Island to be closed and for Burying Hill Beach to be closed,” said Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff. “And we have complied with the request.”

The special event is Barack Obama’s arrival in Fairfield County for fundraising events in Stamford and Westport this evening. The parties are not at the park.

Calls to the Obama campaign were not immediately returned. The DEEP declined comment and referred questions to the White House.

“It is the height of arrogance,” said state Rep. Larry Cafero, the Republican leader from Norwalk. “Now a second beach is closed?”

“The fact that it is happening solely for political fundraisers is truly galling. Can you imagine if this was August 2004 and George W. Bush was running for re-election and he asked and was granted permission by the governor for a shut down like this?”

The beach closure, to allow a quick helicopter exit from congested Fairfield County, comes as the Obama campaign has made an effort to contrast the president with Mitt Romney. For example, Obama will not be taking a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard this year.  But on this visit, Connecticut voters will be left with another, perhaps lasting, image: while 50 guests pay $35,800 a piece to party with President Obama and celebrities at Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s six acre beachfront estate in Westport, sunbathers will be shut out.

The beach forecast in Westport is for a high of 86 with partly cloudy skies.