In full campaigning mode and in preparation for his reelection bid of 2012, President Barack Obama visited California this week. His two-day fundraising tour included six events held across the state, from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Late-night Thursday, a final event at Tavern in Brentwood, charged much as $35,800 per attendee. Present within other public figures were Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown; George Clooney; Steven Spielberg; Tom Hanks; and Will Ferrell. The larger event held earlier at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, charged as little as $100 per person.
A group of activists received the president outside Sony Studios with protests ranging from immigration rights and the economy, to the US involvement in foreign wars. Signs that read "$ for jobs & schools, not war" "Change requires courage" and “stop deportations” were held up high by protesters.
Inside, Obama spoke before more than 2,500 supporters citing his accomplishments and policy changes since taking office. Healthcare reform and tax cuts as well as repealing"Don't Ask, Don't Tell” and ending the Iraq war; were mentioned respectively.
Talking about the economy and derived challenges, Obama addressed the need to get the unemployed back to work, to grow the economy, and reduce the deficit, although, clarifying that never at the cost of overturning his administration’s trademark.
"There's people who want to get rid of our healthcare bill. I won't reduce our deficit by eliminating the things that made us great,” the president said.
Within other pending campaign promises, Obama insisted that immigration reform needs to be approved. Regarding this last point, skepticism is common denominator between advocates that gave him their vote in 2008.
“We believe the President truly wants to reach a balanced solution to this problem. But wanting and doing are two different things. Unfortunately, while we wait for Congress and the White House to regain enough gumption to confront this issue, our loved ones continue to be beaten, tased, killed, deported, raided, fired, violated, abused, and criminalized,” said Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).
“President Obama must intervene now with administrative remedies that can stop the suffering and pain, stop the gridlock in our immigration court system, protect worker’s rights, and finally deliver some of the change he promised he would,” Salas added.
Thursday morning, a group of attendees at a breakfast fundraiser in San Francisco interrupted Obama by singing in protest for the detention of Bradley Manning,who is in custody in relation to the WikiLeaks case.
Obama also managed to squeeze a stop in Reno, Nevada, for a town hall meeting where he spoke about the economy.
On Wednesday, the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto was the perfect scenario for a young crowd --led by no other than Mark Zuckerberg – to ask questions about jobs, the economy, the deficit, the road to recovery, and –yes- the Dream Act and immigration reform.
“I can’t solve this problem by myself,” said president Obama when questioned about his promise to overhaul the immigration system.
“The Democratic caucus in the House I think is prepared for -- a majority of them are prepared to advance comprehensive immigration reform. But we’re going to have to have bipartisan support in order to make it happen. And all of you have to make sure your voices are heard, saying this is a priority, this is something important -- because if politicians don’t hear from you, then it probably won’t happen.”
“I can’t do it by myself,” the president reiterated, and added that he’s confident that reform of the immigration system is something feasible. “I want to get that done while I’m President,” he added, but no concrete plans to introduce an initiative were addressed.
Obama’s West Coast fundraising tour totals were not revealed but is estimated that he attained millions of dollars from about 2,700 attendees, including several high-profile donors.
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