Comedian Joe Mande responded to Fox Nation calling President Obama's 50th birthday party a "Hip Hop BBQ" with the creation, above. "This is an outrage," Mande deadpanned when posting his tweaked version. *With thanks to Raphael Brion, editor of Eater.com for sending this in.
Showing posts with label Obama Turns 50. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama Turns 50. Show all posts
Monday, August 8, 2011
A Faux Obama BBQ...
Comedian Joe Mande responded to Fox Nation calling President Obama's 50th birthday party a "Hip Hop BBQ" with the creation, above. "This is an outrage," Mande deadpanned when posting his tweaked version. *With thanks to Raphael Brion, editor of Eater.com for sending this in.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
President Obama's 50th Birthday Weekend Ends
Back from Camp David & onto the campaign trail... President Obama's 50th birthday weekend came to an end on Sunday afternoon as he returned to the White House from Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, landing on the South Lawn at 1:52 PM. The weekend was, to say the least, harrowing. On Saturday, the Taliban took credit for a rocket attack that downed a US helicopter in Afghanistan, killing 30 members of the US military, including 22 members of SEAL Team Six. The President was briefed and issued a condolence statement. On Friday, Standard and Poor's downgraded the US credit rating, to devastating results across the financial world. Still, the President smile
d and waved to reporters as he walked across the South Lawn with First Lady Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, Roxanne Nesbitt (daughter of family friends Marty Nesbitt and Anita Blanchard), and nephew Avery Robinson (at top). All attended the President's pull-out-the-stops 50th birthday party at the White House on Thursday. Celeb guests included Jay-Z, Charles Barkley, Chris Rock, Hill Harper, Emmitt Smith, Grant Hill, Hill Harper, as well as close friends and politicos. 
Also joining the President at Camp David this weekend were Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, body man Reggie Love, and official photographer Pete Souza. (Above: A rare photo of the President in his office at Camp David, receiving the briefing on the death of US forces) The President returns to the campaign trail on Monday, with two DNC events in Washington; one at a private home, and one at the St. Regis Hotel. The President has no other public events on his schedule for Monday.
*Top photo by AP; second by Pete Souza/White House
Saturday, August 6, 2011
President Obama's Statement After Taliban Attack Kills US Forces In Afghanistan
President mourns American heroes; briefed at Camp David... "My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the Americans who were lost earlier today in Afghanistan," President Obama said in a statement released by the White House today, following the Taliban attack that killed 30 members of the military, including 22 members of SEAL Team Six. The President was briefed on the attack while on a weekend break at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. According to the White House, the President spoke by phone to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Chief of Staff Bill Daley, and national security staff. (Above: The White House released this photo of the call)
The President's full statement:
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the Americans who were lost earlier today in Afghanistan. Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan. We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied.
We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country. At this difficult hour, all Americans are united in support of our men and women in uniform who serve so that we can live in freedom and security.
*Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Obama's 50th Birthday Bash Gets Drudged, Foxed
Fox gets accused of racism for reporting President's milestone celebration as "Hip Hop BBQ"...Stories about President Obama's 50th birthday party at the White House on Thursday were the above-the-title headlines on Drudge Report all day on Friday. One of the links was to Obama Foodorama's report about the bash, which was loaded with Hollywood A-listers and sports legends. Fox News' citing the party as a "Hip Hop BBQ" was also on Drudge, and it was causing accusations of racism by mid-afternoon. “Obama’s Hip-Hop BBQ Didn’t Create Jobs,” read the headline on The Fox Nation, an offshoot of the main Fox site. The story was accompanied by the photo compilation, above, of the President and party guests basketball player Charles Barkley, comedian Chris Rock and the rap mogul Jay-Z.
Not pictured with the story were any high-profile attendees of other racial backgrounds, such as Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks, or Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago.
"The article, published Friday morning, generated more than 2,000 comments and substantial objections from people who found it to be inaccurate at best and racist at worst," noted New York Times, adding "Media Matters for America, a progressive group that campaigns against Fox, asserted that the article was part of a pattern of “race-baiting headlines and content” on the Web site."
No reporter or editor’s name was attached to the “hip-hop BBQ” article. Through a spokeswoman, Bill Shine, the executive vice president for programming at Fox News, declined to say whether the article adhered to the site’s standards.
The “didn’t create jobs” comment in the Fox headline most likely was a reference to the White House press secretary Jay Carney’s statement earlier this week that “the White House doesn’t create jobs.” Mr. Carney said the White House declined to comment on the Fox article.
Other news outlets also carried the story of President Obama's birthday party with compilation photos of the President and his African American celeb guests, such as Politico, which featured a triple photo of the President, Jay-Z and Rock, but the headlines and text could not be deemed racist. Politico's was "Inside Obama's 50th-Birthday Party," and the story was a recap of party details.
Above, a Drudge screen grab with the President's party headlines above the title (click for large, readable view).*Fox Nation photo
Friday, August 5, 2011
President Obama's 50th Birthday Portrait
The White House has released the only official photo of President Obama taken on his 50th birthday on Thursday, August 4th. The image shows the President meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the Oval Office, and was Photo of the Day today on the official White House blog.The President's birthday week saw the completion of the debt-ceiling deal with Congress, and today, a downgrade of America's credit rating from triple A to AA+ by credit agency Standard & Poor's. The US stock market plummeted by more than 500 points before closing.
The only event noted on the President's daily schedule for August 4th was a 10:30 AM Presidential Daily Briefing; a press lid was called at 4:00 PM. By 5:00 PM, guests were arriving at the White House for the President's closed-press "casual" but "fabulous" birthday party in the Rose Garden and East Room; exclusive details from inside the event were posted here at Obama Foodorama. No photos were released from the party.
*Photo by Pete Souza/White House
Video: Letterman's Foodie Top Ten List For President Obama's 50th Birthday
#9: "Treated himself to piece of First Lady's carob-flavored kelp loaf birthday cake"...#5: "Sent 82nd Airborne on In-n-Out Burger Run"...As President Obama celebrated his 50th birthday on Thursday with a "fabulous" but "casual" party at the White House, David Letterman on CBS's Late Show announced his list of "Top Ten Ways Barack Obama Celebrated His Birthday." The list had a number of amusing foodie notations, including #9: "Treated himself to piece of First Lady's carob-flavored kelp loaf birthday cake." #5 references the President's now legendary public love affair with hamburgers: "Sent 82nd Airborne on In n' Out Burger Run." #7: "Pizza and video games at Washington kids' restaurant "Chuck E. Schumer's." #3 is about relaxing: "Shark Week & two pints of "Chubby Hubby."
In the past two months, President Obama and Press Secretary Jay Carney have both noted that they can "walk and chew gum at the same time," when responding to criticism about why the President was continuing to attend campaign fundraisers outside the White House, while the economy is in desperate shape. #8 on Letterman's list: "Asked for an iPad, let Republicans negotiate him down to a wad of gum."
The President also had an early birthday celebration in Chicago, with three different fundraisers on Wednesday night.
Top Ten Ways Barack Obama Celebrated His Birthday
10. Updated his resume
9. Treated himself to piece of First Lady's carob-flavored kelp loaf birthday cake
8. Asked for an iPad, let Republicans negotiate him down to a wad of gum
7. Pizza and video games at Washington kids' restaurant "Chuck E. Schumer's"
6. Asked for any cash gifts to be in Canadian dollars
5. Sent 82nd Airborne on In-N-Out Burger run
4. Invited fun costumed characters
3. Shark Week & two pints of "Chubby Hubby."
2. Got a fabulous makeover from Michele O'Bachmann's husband
1. Forged a Kenyan birth certificate to get him out of this miserable job
*CBS video. With thanks to Eater.com.
*Getty photo at top of post is wax cupcakes at DC's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which decorated the President Obama Oval Office display with balloons and streamers.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
All The Details: Inside President Obama's 50th Birthday Party At The White House
Yes, they did the Electric Slide and the Congo: Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock, Jay- Z, Charles Barkley, Tom Hanks, Emmitt Smith, Grant Hill, Whoopi Goldberg, and other celebs dine and dance with the President and First Lady...President Obama and his A-list pals danced barefoot in the East Room on Thursday night, after dining in the dramatically lit Rose Garden to celebrate his milestone 50th birthday. Obama Foodorama was told by guests who attended the "fabulous" but "casual" five-hour party for more than 200 people that the President "let down his hair" and literally danced for hours, finally leaving his own party shortly before midnight.
Stevie Wonder gave a "surprise" performance during the celebration after dining with the President and First Lady Obama, leading the crowd in a soulful rendition of "Happy Birthday." Wonder's hit "You and I" was the President and Mrs. Obama's wedding song. Guests included Jay-Z; Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson; Chris Rock; hoops legends Charles Barkley and Grant Hill; Whoopi Goldberg; Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith; Steve Harvey; and actor Hill Harper. He's one of the President's closest chums from Harvard law school, and star of CSI: NY. Jazz great Herbie Hancock and his ensemble played four songs, as first reported here; R & B singer Ledisi dazzled the crowd with two selections.
The night was balmy, and when dinner was done, DJ Cassidy spun dance tunes--"like at a Bar Mitzvah," said one guest. The rug was rolled back in the East Room and the chairs pushed aside so guests could dance, led by the President and Mrs. Obama.
"'I'm going to challenge you all to dance,' the President said, and everyone did," said the guest.
That's when everyone's shoes came off, and things kicked into high gear with the barefoot jammin'--the President himself reportedly danced for three full hours. Among other dances, guests did the Electric Slide, which impressed Chris Rock so much he tweeted about it:
"Just left the Presidents birthday party at the White House. Herbie Hancock played, Stevie Wonder sang and yes they did the electric slide. A great night." Rock wrote (sic).
The President also led a huge Conga line around the East Room, pulling in everyone in his path, according to one observer.
"He was chill, and like, 'how you doin, man? Come dance!,'" reported one attendee. "He put everyone at ease."
The celebration was a family affair, too: Obama daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, mingled with the grown-ups under the watchful eyes of their grandmother, Mrs. Marian Robinson, and their godmother, Eleanor "Mama Kaye" Wilson.
The guests toasted the President throughout the night. Also on hand to mark the Presidential milestone were Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the President's former Chief of Staff. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former governors Bill Richardson and Tim Kaine, and Mr. Obama's staunchest allies in the debt battle--Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Senior White House staff also celebrated: Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Cecelia Munoz, John Brennan, and Valerie Jarrett. Mrs. Obama's former Chief of Staff, Susan Sher, flew in from Chicago, as did two of the President's closest pals: Dr. Eric Whitaker, University of Chicago Hospital Vice-President, and The Parking Spot President and CEO Marty Nesbitt. Campaign fundraiser Andy Spahn was spotted, too. Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives/assistant chef Sam Kass wasn't on cooking duty, and joined the guests.
On the menu...and the party favors
There was "not a tie in sight" for the birthday dinner, according to one guest; men wore light summer-weight button downs and trousers, and women were attired in summer dresses--many taking their fashion cue from Mrs. Obama, and going sleeveless. Dinner was grilled chicken and steak, ribs, and hot dogs, with salad made with fresh greens plucked from Mrs. Obama's Kitchen Garden, as well as vegetable sides, accompanied by American wines. There were about twenty tables for ten, covered with simple gray cloths, and anchored by sprays of yellow flowers and greens in the Rose Garden. Birthday cake was served (choc0late), of course, and a selection of fruit pies: Huckleberry, peach, cherry and apple. The meat grilling started in the early afternoon, outdoors at the White House.
Party favors for departing revelers were tucked into small black paper shopping bags with a shining gold Presidential seal on one side. The President and Mrs. Obama paid for the party out of their own pockets, according to a White House aide.
The politically unfortunate optics of throwing a big 50th birthday party for President Obama when his poll numbers are dropping as fast as the stock market were not lost on the White House, so the President's shindig was not listed on his official Thursday schedule, and it was closed to press. But the big Five-Oh only comes around once, and the party was a long one--guests were screened through the first security check point starting at around 5:00 PM and were still straggling out of the White House after midnight, with a number of the women guests spotted carrying their shoes, thanks to all the dancing.
Thursday's bash was the President's fifth birthday party--he was toasted earlier in the day in the Blue Room by White House aides as well as family and friends, as first reported by Lynn Sweet of Chicago Sun-Times. On Wednesday, the President celebrated his birthday early in his hometown, Chicago, with three different campaign fundraising events, where thousands of supporters poured plenty of cash into campaign coffers. Hancock and his ensemble played for those events, too, as did Jennifer Hudson and rock band OK Go. (Above: The President, Hancock, and a bandmember from OK Go on Wednesday)The First Family will spend this weekend at the Presidential retreat, Camp David, in Maryland.
Update: After Obama Foodorama posted this story shortly after midnight, Politico posted an a story at 7:43 Am EDT about the birthday party, adding to the guest list: Gayle King, who celebrated with President Obama for his 49th; Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk; Democratic National Committee chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz; former press secretary Robert Gibbs; David Plouffe; former Senior Advisor David Axelrod; former Social Secretary and now Deputy Campaign Manager Juianna Smoot; White House aides Bob Bauer, Denis McDonough, Michael Strautmanis, Pete Rouse, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, First Lady's Chief of Staff Tina Tchen.*This post was also updated with new info after more party guests went on the record.
*AP photo of the President and Hancock
More On President Obama's 50th Birthday Party...
Chicago friends fly in for President's milestone...lawmakers invited, too...UPDATE: A full party post is here
As first reported here this morning, jazz great Herbie Hancock and his ensemble are playing for President Obama's private White House 50th birthday bash this evening, which will be in the Rose Garden. The band is doing sound check at the White House right now, while the chefs are firing up the outdoor BBQ grills, as can be seen from the photo, above. Outdoor cooking at the White House is typically done in the paved area that's below the North Portico steps and next to the press briefing room, and my colleague Lynn Sweet of Chicago Sun-Times snapped the shot, above, of one of the assistant chefs in action.
Sweet also got further details about the President's party: The President's closest Chicago pals will be on hand to celebrate, including University of Chicago Hospital Vice-President Dr. Eric Whitaker and The Parking Spot President and CEO Marty Nesbitt, who is the treasurer of Obama's 2012 relection campaign. Both dined with the President on his birthday last year, in Chicago at graham elliot restaurant. Included in the party were Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will also be attending the White House shindig, she told Sweet after a press availability this morning. President Obama's friends, family and senior staff will toast him in the Blue Room before the party. As noted in this morning's post, daughter Malia will be returning from summer camp for the milestone celebration, and Mrs. marian Robinson, the First Lady's mother, and Obama family friend Eleanor "Mama Kaye" Wilson, the girls' god-mother, flew to Washington with the President aboard Air Force One last night.
The President and Mrs. Obama will be picking up the tab for the White House party. The First Family will head to the presidential retreat in Maryland, Camp David this weekend, after a very very busy month for the President. Later this month they will be going to Martha's Vineyard for an extended vacation.
*Photo by Lynn Sweet
President Obama Celebrates 50th Birthday Today; Herbie Hancock Will Play At White House Party
President will celebrate his milestone privately with family and friends...UPDATE: A full party post is here
UPDATE: More party details here
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4th, 1961, President Obama marks his 50th birthday today. He has no public events scheduled, and will celebrate his milestone privately at the White House with family and friends, after spending Wednesday night in Chicago at a huge campaign fundraiser/birthday bash. The President's private party is reportedly going to take place in the Rose Garden, and Jazz great Herbie Hancock and his ensemble will perform, Obama Foodorama has learned. The group performed at the fundraiser, too. Daughter Malia will return from summer camp for the celebration, President Obama said last night. (Above: President Obama lights birthday candles with Oval Office valet Raymond Rogers; inset as a child with his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham)Hancock
and company are now apparently the White House "house band"--A pianist and composer, Hancock tickled the ivories at President Obama's reception following the State Dinner in honor of Chinese President Hu Jintao, in January of this year. The Obama daughters' godmother, Eleanor "Mama Kaye" Wilson, accompanied the President back to Washington aboard Air Force One last night, as did his mother-in-law, Mrs. Marian Robinson, so they're likely guests at the party, of course, but no guest list has been released. The President's staff will throw him a smaller party today, too. (Above: Hancock and the President on Wednesday night)"It’s true that I turn 50 tomorrow--which means that by the time I wake up, I’ll have an email from AARP-- asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare," Mr. Obama joked to the donors at his fundraiser. He was serenaded by superstar Jennifer Hudson in addition to Hancock and Chicago band OK GO. Former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel introduced the President, who gave two different speeches, as well as spoke to supporters during a video teleconference that was beamed across the US to Obama Birthday House Parties.
Presidential birthday wishes already came true...
In July, the President said he hoped for two birthday gifts: A debt deal and "a good hamburger."
"You know, maybe I'll have a good hamburger on my birthday," President Obama told NPR, after noting that the best present of all would be a debt ceiling deal with Congress.
"That's kind of sad, I know," the President admitted.
Mission accomplished on both fronts: The President signed the debt deal into law on Tuesday, and on Wednesday treated his White House economic team to burgers at DC's Good Stuff Eatery.
Presidential birthdays past...The President's previous White House birthday celebrations have been private, too. Last year, he celebrated with family and friends at the White House during a belated birthday BBQ on August 8th, because First Lady Obama and daughter Sasha were on vacation in Spain on August 4th. The stag President had a small birthday dinner at graham elliot restaurant on August 4th in Chicago, joined by a group of friends that included Oprah Winfrey. (Above: The President hugs Sasha at his birthday BBQ; she had arrived with her mother just as it began)
The BBQ was notable because it kicked off a months-long White House campaign to encourage America to eat Gulf seafood, after the fishing industry was devastated by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst environmental disaster in US history. Gulf shrimp was the lone menu item the White House announced for the President's birthday BBQ.
In 2009, the President had a small birthday celebration at the White House, which featured five kinds of pie, courtesy of executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses, aka "The Crustmaster." The celebration pies: Huckleberry, Apple, Coconut Creme, Key Lime, and Peach. (Above: Mrs. Obama and Malia look on as the President reads a card from Sasha. The White House chefs, including Yosses, are in the background; then-Social Secretary Desiree Rogers is at right)*Photos by Pete Souza/White House; in top photo President Obama was presenting NSC Chief of Staff Denis McDonough with the cake, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Dec. 2, 2009. Hudson photo by AP.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
President/Candidate Obama Celebrates 50th Birthday With Fundraisers In Chicago
Concert, teleconference, donors' dinner at Aragon Entertainment Center; video...President Obama got a rousing homecoming welcome on Wednesday night in Chicago as he attended two campaign fundraisers on the eve of his 50th birthday. It was the first time he has been back in his hometown in months, and the first time he's been away from the White House since June 3oth, thanks to the protracted debt deal drama. The President was greeted with wild enthusiasm by a crowd of more than 2,400 supporters baking inside the under-air conditioned Aragon Entertainment Center in Uptown, many wearing birthday party hats adorned with the campaign logo and the number 50. Musical entertainment was provided by Windy City natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO, who stood to the side as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced his former boss. (Above: The President with Hudson and Emanuel)
Before he spoke to the crowd in the ballroom, the President spoke via video teleconference to supporters attending more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties being simultaneously held across the US. The First Lady did not accompany the President to Chicago, nor did his daughters, but the President was overheard saying that Malia will return to the White House tomorrow from camp, for his private White House birthday celebration.Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Chief of Staff Bill Daley and Press Secretary Jay Carney all accompanied the President to Chicago (but Daley spent the evening at a Sox game with his brother). Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Jan Murkowski (D-IL) were also on hand at the Aragon.
As he introduced the President, Emanuel gave a rousing defense of the Administration's record, pointing in particular to the bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler. (Above: Hudson serenades the president as Emanuel and members of OK GO look on)"I can tell you that when it comes to doing what's right for the country, he never takes the easy road. If he thinks it's right, he'll pay any political price to do it -- I can tell you that because I first came to tell him to take the easy road," Emanuel said, to laughter.
"He was willing to put all the political capital to put this country first," Emanuel said. "He was willing to do what was right for our kids and our future."
Hudson led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to President Obama as he strode onto the stage. The President shook hands all around and then turned to the crowd and praised Emanuel, who was inaugurated as Mayor in May.
"It looks to me like Rahm is doing a pretty good job," he said. "And as far as I can tell, he hasn’t cursed in public yet." (Above: The President during his remarks)The crowd cheered and applauded.
"I could not have a better early birthday present than spending tonight with all of you," President Obama said. "And it’s true that I turn 50 tomorrow--which means that by the time I wake up, I’ll have an email from AARP-- asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare."
Read the President's full remarks here. A video of Hudson's serenade and the President's remarks:
Donors' Dinner: After he wowed the larger group of supporters, President Obama went upstairs to greet about 100 donors who had paid the top ticket price of $35,800 for the event, which included dinner. Standing in front of two US flags with his jacket off, the President started off with a joke at the expense of Emanuel, saying: "I still have the pothole in front of my house."
"Obviously we've just gone through an extraordinary week in Washington, an extraordinary two weeks in Washington," President Obama said. "It's not the kind of extraordinary the American people are looking for."The President covered much of the same ground he had in his first set of remarks, and defended the debt package, saying it was "responsible" in paying down debt but "not going to dismantle our social safety net." (Above: Supporters wearing party hats)
He added: "I give the other side credit. They are single-minded in their focus in wanting to cut programs and shrink government."
Details on ticket prices for the events are here. The President returned to Washington on Wednesday night after his fundraisers. (Above: The President greets the crowd)*AP photos; NBC Chicago video
Transcript: Remarks By President Obama At 50th Birthday Fundraiser In Chicago
"When I said 'change we can believe in,' I didn’t say 'change we can believe in tomorrow....'"
P
resident Obama attended two campaign fundraisers in Chicago on Wednesday night, on the eve of his 50th birthday. The big party was held at the Aragon Entertainment Center on the Northside, with dinner and performances by Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO. The event was the first time the President had been greeted by his former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on his home turf, in his new role as Mayor of Chicago. The President spoke via video teleconference to supporters attending more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties being held across the US, and then made remarks to guests at the Aragon. (Above: The President during his remarks)
Ticket prices ranged from $50 per person for standing on the floor of the ballroom for the concert to $35,800 per couple for a dinner for 100 top-level donors. More fundraiser details are here. The Aragon was hot and sticky as the President spoke, according to pool, but the crowd was "fired up." Many wore blue birthday party hats adorned with the Obama campaign symbol and the number 50. The President returned to Washington after the events, arriving at the White House shortly after midnight.
The transcript:
Aragon Entertainment Center
Chicago, Illinois
7:22 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Chicago! (Applause.) Oh, it is good to be with some good friends! (Applause.) This is a warm welcome right here. (Applause.)
Let me first of all say thank you to the extraordinary, extraordinary talent that's on stage. First of all, one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, Herbie Hancock. (Applause.) OK Go Band -- give it up. (Applause.) DJ Greg Corner -- give it up. (Applause.) The lovely and talented Jennifer Hudson from Chicago. (Applause.) The not as lovely or talented -- (laughter) -- but my very determined, very brilliant, very loyal, very tough mayor of the city of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. (Applause.)
I don't know -- you know, I’m watching from Washington, but it looks to me like Rahm is doing a pretty good job. (Applause.) And as far as I can tell, he hasn’t cursed in public yet. (Laughter.) He’s come close, he says. (Laughter.) But what he has done is provided extraordinary energy and extraordinary vision to a job that he has wanted for a long time. And I don't know too many people who love the city of Chicago more than your mayor, and I couldn’t be more proud of him, so -- (applause.)
Now, we’ve got a few more dignitaries in the house. We’ve got the governor of the great state of Illinois, Patrick Quinn, in the house. (Applause.) We’ve got one of the finest senators in the United States of America, Dick Durbin, in the house. (Applause.) We’ve got one of the greatest members of Congress in the country in Jan Murkowski in the house. (Applause.) We’ve got the ageless Jesse White, the Secretary of State, in the house. (Applause.) A great friend of mine, somebody who I wouldn’t have been elected to the United States Senate without him, the former senator of the Illinois State Senate, Emil Jones is here. (Applause.) And I know we’ve got a lot of other important people like you in the house.
Now, it’s warm and it’s hot and you just listened to some good music, and you don’t want to have a long political speech. (Applause.) But I just want to first of all say I could not have a better early birthday present than spending tonight with all of you --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!
THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.)
And it’s true that I turn 50 tomorrow -- (applause) -- which means that by the time I wake up, I’ll have an email from AARP -- (laughter) -- asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare. (Laughter and applause.)
When I look out at this crowd, I think back to that incredible night in November. I’m still trying to figure out how the weather was over 60 degrees in November, in Grant Park, back in 2008. (Applause.) And it was the culmination of this incredible journey, this long journey that we took together; a campaign that drew on the hard work and support of all of you and people all across the country -- men and women who believed that change was possible. In the face of long odds, in the face of frustrations, in the face of setbacks you said, we don’t have to accept politics as usual, and we can once again have a country that is living up to our finest ideals and our highest aspirations.
And that was a lovely night. But do you remember what I told you that night? I said, “Yes, we can,” but I said this would not be easy. I said, that wasn’t the end of the journey; that was just the beginning. The economy was already hammering families. Decisions that had been deferred for too long in Washington were finally catching up with us. All these problems were gathering all at once. And we knew the road ahead was going to be difficult, that the climb was going to be steep.
I have to admit, I didn’t know how steep the climb was going to be. (Laughter.)
Because we didn’t realize -- we just found out a week ago that the economy that last few months in 2008 was even worse than we had realized. I mean, the economy had contracted by 8 percent. It was the worst economy we had ever seen. The next quarter before any of our economic policies had a chance to go into place, same kind of thing. We lost 8 million jobs like that. Hadn’t seen anything like it in most of our lifetimes.
But here’s what I -- here’s what I knew. You did not elect me President to duck the tough issues. (Applause.) You elected me President to do the tough things, to do the big things, even if it took time. (Applause.)
You elected me to make sure that the economy was working not just for those at the very top, but that we had a broad-based, shared prosperity, from the machinist on the line to the CEO in the boardroom.
And I ran because I believed that our success is defined not by stock prices or corporate profits alone, but by whether ordinary people can find a good job that supports a family; whether they can send their kids to college; whether they can retire with dignity and respect. (Applause.) Maybe have a little left over for a ballgame or a vacation. Not be bankrupt when they get sick.
So what we did was we took a series of emergency measures that first year to save the economy from collapse. And I promise you not all of them were popular. But we did what we needed to do to start getting the economy growing again, and it has been growing -- not as fast as we want, but we got the economy growing instead of contracting because we wanted to help families get back on their feet. (Applause.)
We went in and we said -- I didn't sign up to be a CEO of an auto company, but I said I’m not going to let a million jobs, especially here in the Midwest, go away, so we’re going to intervene, and we’re going to ask in return that the auto companies restructure themselves. And we’ve now seen for the first time in a very long time all the Big Three automakers making a profit. (Applause.) And making a profit selling small cars and compact cars and doing stuff that a lot of Americans thought couldn’t be done any more.
And we said, even as we’re saving the economy, there’s still some issues out there that haven’t been dealt with in a very long time, so we’re going to make sure that we’ve got equal pay for equal work -- (applause) -- because I don’t want Malia and Sasha getting paid less than anybody for doing a good job. (Applause.)
And we’re going to make sure that in this country that we love, that nobody is discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. We’re going to make sure they can serve in our military and protect the country that they love. (Applause.)
And we’re going to invest in clean energy, because we’re tired of being dependent on foreign oil. (Applause.) So we want wind turbines and electric cars made right here in the United States of America. (Applause.)
And we’re going to increase our investment in basic research to find cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s.
And we’re going to revamp our education system, so it starts working for every child and not just some children. (Applause.)
And, yes, we are going to go ahead and make sure that every family in America can find affordable health care and that they are not losing their home or going bankrupt because they get sick. (Applause.) And it was hard, but because of you we kept on driving and we got it done. (Applause.)
So it’s been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. (Laughter.) But the thing that we all have to remember is, is that as much good as we’ve done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we were inheriting so many challenges, that we’re not even halfway there yet.
When I said, “change we can believe in,” I didn’t say “change we can believe in tomorrow.” (Laughter.) Not “change we can believe in next week.” We knew this was going to take time, because we’ve got this big, messy, tough democracy. And that’s the great thing about America is, is that there are all these contentious ideas that are out there, and we’ve got to make our case. And we knew that these challenges weren’t made overnight and they weren’t going to be solved overnight.
And so, as we look forward, we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do on the economy. Now, I hope we can avoid another self-inflicted wound like we just saw over the last couple of weeks -- (applause) -- because we don’t have time to play these partisan games. (Applause.) We’ve got too much work to do. (Applause.)
Over the next several months, I hope Congress is focused on what the American people are focused on, making sure that the economy is growing, making sure that businesses are getting financing, making sure that young people are getting trained for the jobs of the future; making sure that we’re getting all those construction workers, that got laid off after the housing boom went bust, and putting them to work, rebuilding our roads and our bridges, rebuilding Chicago -- (applause) -- rebuilding Detroit, rebuilding rural communities all across the country, putting people back to work.
I want to make sure that America is not just an importer; I want us to export. I want to build electric cars in America, and I want to ship them all around the world, because we’ve got the best technologies. (Applause.) I want us to focus on how we can revamp old buildings and old facilities so they’re energy efficient. And we can start cutting down on our electricity bills, and we can start cutting down on our carbon emissions. And we can stop being so dependent on foreign oil, and you don’t have to pay as much at the pump. That’s what the American people are looking for. That’s what we’ve got to focus on. (Applause.)
We’ve got more work to do to make sure that we’ve got an immigration system in this country that makes some sense. (Applause.) We are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants. And we want to welcome extraordinary talent to our shores and have a legal immigration system that works for everybody. (Applause.) We’ve got to make that happen.
We’ve got to -- and a lot of the stuff that we’ve already done we’ve got to make sure it gets implemented effectively. We finally put some common-sense rules so that banks aren’t taking the kinds of risk that almost led to an economic meltdown, and that consumers are protected when you get credit cards or mortgages.
And, frankly, there are some folks in Congress who are trying to block us from making that progress, and that’s why your voice has to be heard, where we stand up and we say: We want a financial system that is fair for everybody. There’s nothing wrong with that. (Applause.)
And on the foreign policy front, you elected me in part based on a promise that we would end the war in Iraq, and we have ended combat operations there. And by the end of this year we will have our troops out of Iraq, as I promised and as I committed. (Applause.) And in Afghanistan, we’ve got al Qaeda on the run and we are going to begin transitioning to give Afghans more responsibility, but also to start bringing our troops home, because we’ve got a lot of work to do here at home to rebuild America. (Applause.)
But our foreign policy can’t just be about war; it’s also got to be about peace. (Applause.) It’s also got to be about helping countries feed the hungry. It’s got to be about helping countries transition to democracy. It’s got to be about respecting human rights all around the world and making sure that America continues to be a beacon of hope. That’s part of why you elected me. That’s part of the unfinished business of this administration. (Applause.)
And as we think about this world, we understand that it’s shrunk, and it’s going to be more competitive. And if we’re going to leave the kind of America behind to our children and our grandchildren, then we’ve still got some work to do. Yes, we’ve got to get our fiscal house in order. And all the progressives out there, I want you to understand that we can’t just ignore this debt and deficit, we’ve got to do something about it. But economic growth, making ourselves more competitive isn’t just about cutting programs. It’s also about making investments in our people. (Applause.)
It’s also about making sure we’ve got the best education system in the world; that we’ve got the best scientists and engineers and mathematicians in the world; making sure that we prize our diversity; making sure that we’ve got a social safety net for the aged and the infirm and our children. That's part of what makes us a great nation. (Applause.)
So, Chicago, we’ve got more work to do. We’ve got more work to do. And look, let me just say this, it is going to continue to be challenging every single step of the way.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: But we can do it!
THE PRESIDENT: But we can do it. (Applause.) You know, I’m always -- I’m always amused when the pundits in Washington say, boy, you know, Obama hasn’t gotten this passed yet or some of his supporters are disappointed about this, and the -- the campaign, it was so smooth. And I’m thinking what campaign were they watching. (Laughter.) I mean, there -- at least once a month, folks would say, he can’t win. At least once a month, people would say, oh, that was a terrible debate for him; or, oh, he’s lost support in this or that group; or, oh, that state is going to go red on him.
What they didn't understand was is that for all the mistakes I’ll make, for all the boneheaded moves I made -- might make –
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you! We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: For all the frustrations and the challenges and resistance we have to bringing about change, when I’ve got you guys behind me -- (applause) -- when I’ve got the American people, when I listen to them -- (applause) -- and I’m reminded of your decency and those core values that say I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper, and what makes us a great nation is not just the height of our skyscrapers or the size of our GDP, or the power of our military, but the fact that we look after one another, and we take responsibility for ourselves, but also for our neighbors; when we’re working together and we’re joining hands, black and white and Hispanic and Asian and Native American and gay and straight; when the American people join together, we cannot be stopped.
We say to ourselves, “Yes, we can.” It doesn’t matter how tough a week I have in Washington, because I know you’ve got me -- you’ve got my back. When I come to Chicago, when I travel across the country, I know we can’t be stopped. (Applause.) I know America is the greatest nation on Earth. And I know we will bring about the change that all of us believe in.
God bless you all. (Applause.) Thank you, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END 7:44 P.M. CDT
##
read more "Transcript: Remarks By President Obama At 50th Birthday Fundraiser In Chicago"
P
resident Obama attended two campaign fundraisers in Chicago on Wednesday night, on the eve of his 50th birthday. The big party was held at the Aragon Entertainment Center on the Northside, with dinner and performances by Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO. The event was the first time the President had been greeted by his former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on his home turf, in his new role as Mayor of Chicago. The President spoke via video teleconference to supporters attending more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties being held across the US, and then made remarks to guests at the Aragon. (Above: The President during his remarks)Ticket prices ranged from $50 per person for standing on the floor of the ballroom for the concert to $35,800 per couple for a dinner for 100 top-level donors. More fundraiser details are here. The Aragon was hot and sticky as the President spoke, according to pool, but the crowd was "fired up." Many wore blue birthday party hats adorned with the Obama campaign symbol and the number 50. The President returned to Washington after the events, arriving at the White House shortly after midnight.
The transcript:
THE WHITE HOUSE
For Immediate Release
August 3, 2011
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT DNC EVENT
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________
For Immediate Release
August 3, 2011
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT DNC EVENT
Aragon Entertainment Center
Chicago, Illinois
7:22 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Chicago! (Applause.) Oh, it is good to be with some good friends! (Applause.) This is a warm welcome right here. (Applause.)
Let me first of all say thank you to the extraordinary, extraordinary talent that's on stage. First of all, one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, Herbie Hancock. (Applause.) OK Go Band -- give it up. (Applause.) DJ Greg Corner -- give it up. (Applause.) The lovely and talented Jennifer Hudson from Chicago. (Applause.) The not as lovely or talented -- (laughter) -- but my very determined, very brilliant, very loyal, very tough mayor of the city of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. (Applause.)
I don't know -- you know, I’m watching from Washington, but it looks to me like Rahm is doing a pretty good job. (Applause.) And as far as I can tell, he hasn’t cursed in public yet. (Laughter.) He’s come close, he says. (Laughter.) But what he has done is provided extraordinary energy and extraordinary vision to a job that he has wanted for a long time. And I don't know too many people who love the city of Chicago more than your mayor, and I couldn’t be more proud of him, so -- (applause.)
Now, we’ve got a few more dignitaries in the house. We’ve got the governor of the great state of Illinois, Patrick Quinn, in the house. (Applause.) We’ve got one of the finest senators in the United States of America, Dick Durbin, in the house. (Applause.) We’ve got one of the greatest members of Congress in the country in Jan Murkowski in the house. (Applause.) We’ve got the ageless Jesse White, the Secretary of State, in the house. (Applause.) A great friend of mine, somebody who I wouldn’t have been elected to the United States Senate without him, the former senator of the Illinois State Senate, Emil Jones is here. (Applause.) And I know we’ve got a lot of other important people like you in the house.
Now, it’s warm and it’s hot and you just listened to some good music, and you don’t want to have a long political speech. (Applause.) But I just want to first of all say I could not have a better early birthday present than spending tonight with all of you --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!
THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.)
And it’s true that I turn 50 tomorrow -- (applause) -- which means that by the time I wake up, I’ll have an email from AARP -- (laughter) -- asking me to call President Obama and tell him to protect Medicare. (Laughter and applause.)
When I look out at this crowd, I think back to that incredible night in November. I’m still trying to figure out how the weather was over 60 degrees in November, in Grant Park, back in 2008. (Applause.) And it was the culmination of this incredible journey, this long journey that we took together; a campaign that drew on the hard work and support of all of you and people all across the country -- men and women who believed that change was possible. In the face of long odds, in the face of frustrations, in the face of setbacks you said, we don’t have to accept politics as usual, and we can once again have a country that is living up to our finest ideals and our highest aspirations.
And that was a lovely night. But do you remember what I told you that night? I said, “Yes, we can,” but I said this would not be easy. I said, that wasn’t the end of the journey; that was just the beginning. The economy was already hammering families. Decisions that had been deferred for too long in Washington were finally catching up with us. All these problems were gathering all at once. And we knew the road ahead was going to be difficult, that the climb was going to be steep.
I have to admit, I didn’t know how steep the climb was going to be. (Laughter.)
Because we didn’t realize -- we just found out a week ago that the economy that last few months in 2008 was even worse than we had realized. I mean, the economy had contracted by 8 percent. It was the worst economy we had ever seen. The next quarter before any of our economic policies had a chance to go into place, same kind of thing. We lost 8 million jobs like that. Hadn’t seen anything like it in most of our lifetimes.
But here’s what I -- here’s what I knew. You did not elect me President to duck the tough issues. (Applause.) You elected me President to do the tough things, to do the big things, even if it took time. (Applause.)
You elected me to make sure that the economy was working not just for those at the very top, but that we had a broad-based, shared prosperity, from the machinist on the line to the CEO in the boardroom.
And I ran because I believed that our success is defined not by stock prices or corporate profits alone, but by whether ordinary people can find a good job that supports a family; whether they can send their kids to college; whether they can retire with dignity and respect. (Applause.) Maybe have a little left over for a ballgame or a vacation. Not be bankrupt when they get sick.
So what we did was we took a series of emergency measures that first year to save the economy from collapse. And I promise you not all of them were popular. But we did what we needed to do to start getting the economy growing again, and it has been growing -- not as fast as we want, but we got the economy growing instead of contracting because we wanted to help families get back on their feet. (Applause.)
We went in and we said -- I didn't sign up to be a CEO of an auto company, but I said I’m not going to let a million jobs, especially here in the Midwest, go away, so we’re going to intervene, and we’re going to ask in return that the auto companies restructure themselves. And we’ve now seen for the first time in a very long time all the Big Three automakers making a profit. (Applause.) And making a profit selling small cars and compact cars and doing stuff that a lot of Americans thought couldn’t be done any more.
And we said, even as we’re saving the economy, there’s still some issues out there that haven’t been dealt with in a very long time, so we’re going to make sure that we’ve got equal pay for equal work -- (applause) -- because I don’t want Malia and Sasha getting paid less than anybody for doing a good job. (Applause.)
And we’re going to make sure that in this country that we love, that nobody is discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. We’re going to make sure they can serve in our military and protect the country that they love. (Applause.)
And we’re going to invest in clean energy, because we’re tired of being dependent on foreign oil. (Applause.) So we want wind turbines and electric cars made right here in the United States of America. (Applause.)
And we’re going to increase our investment in basic research to find cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s.
And we’re going to revamp our education system, so it starts working for every child and not just some children. (Applause.)
And, yes, we are going to go ahead and make sure that every family in America can find affordable health care and that they are not losing their home or going bankrupt because they get sick. (Applause.) And it was hard, but because of you we kept on driving and we got it done. (Applause.)
So it’s been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. (Laughter.) But the thing that we all have to remember is, is that as much good as we’ve done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we were inheriting so many challenges, that we’re not even halfway there yet.
When I said, “change we can believe in,” I didn’t say “change we can believe in tomorrow.” (Laughter.) Not “change we can believe in next week.” We knew this was going to take time, because we’ve got this big, messy, tough democracy. And that’s the great thing about America is, is that there are all these contentious ideas that are out there, and we’ve got to make our case. And we knew that these challenges weren’t made overnight and they weren’t going to be solved overnight.
And so, as we look forward, we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do on the economy. Now, I hope we can avoid another self-inflicted wound like we just saw over the last couple of weeks -- (applause) -- because we don’t have time to play these partisan games. (Applause.) We’ve got too much work to do. (Applause.)
Over the next several months, I hope Congress is focused on what the American people are focused on, making sure that the economy is growing, making sure that businesses are getting financing, making sure that young people are getting trained for the jobs of the future; making sure that we’re getting all those construction workers, that got laid off after the housing boom went bust, and putting them to work, rebuilding our roads and our bridges, rebuilding Chicago -- (applause) -- rebuilding Detroit, rebuilding rural communities all across the country, putting people back to work.
I want to make sure that America is not just an importer; I want us to export. I want to build electric cars in America, and I want to ship them all around the world, because we’ve got the best technologies. (Applause.) I want us to focus on how we can revamp old buildings and old facilities so they’re energy efficient. And we can start cutting down on our electricity bills, and we can start cutting down on our carbon emissions. And we can stop being so dependent on foreign oil, and you don’t have to pay as much at the pump. That’s what the American people are looking for. That’s what we’ve got to focus on. (Applause.)
We’ve got more work to do to make sure that we’ve got an immigration system in this country that makes some sense. (Applause.) We are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants. And we want to welcome extraordinary talent to our shores and have a legal immigration system that works for everybody. (Applause.) We’ve got to make that happen.
We’ve got to -- and a lot of the stuff that we’ve already done we’ve got to make sure it gets implemented effectively. We finally put some common-sense rules so that banks aren’t taking the kinds of risk that almost led to an economic meltdown, and that consumers are protected when you get credit cards or mortgages.
And, frankly, there are some folks in Congress who are trying to block us from making that progress, and that’s why your voice has to be heard, where we stand up and we say: We want a financial system that is fair for everybody. There’s nothing wrong with that. (Applause.)
And on the foreign policy front, you elected me in part based on a promise that we would end the war in Iraq, and we have ended combat operations there. And by the end of this year we will have our troops out of Iraq, as I promised and as I committed. (Applause.) And in Afghanistan, we’ve got al Qaeda on the run and we are going to begin transitioning to give Afghans more responsibility, but also to start bringing our troops home, because we’ve got a lot of work to do here at home to rebuild America. (Applause.)
But our foreign policy can’t just be about war; it’s also got to be about peace. (Applause.) It’s also got to be about helping countries feed the hungry. It’s got to be about helping countries transition to democracy. It’s got to be about respecting human rights all around the world and making sure that America continues to be a beacon of hope. That’s part of why you elected me. That’s part of the unfinished business of this administration. (Applause.)
And as we think about this world, we understand that it’s shrunk, and it’s going to be more competitive. And if we’re going to leave the kind of America behind to our children and our grandchildren, then we’ve still got some work to do. Yes, we’ve got to get our fiscal house in order. And all the progressives out there, I want you to understand that we can’t just ignore this debt and deficit, we’ve got to do something about it. But economic growth, making ourselves more competitive isn’t just about cutting programs. It’s also about making investments in our people. (Applause.)
It’s also about making sure we’ve got the best education system in the world; that we’ve got the best scientists and engineers and mathematicians in the world; making sure that we prize our diversity; making sure that we’ve got a social safety net for the aged and the infirm and our children. That's part of what makes us a great nation. (Applause.)
So, Chicago, we’ve got more work to do. We’ve got more work to do. And look, let me just say this, it is going to continue to be challenging every single step of the way.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: But we can do it!
THE PRESIDENT: But we can do it. (Applause.) You know, I’m always -- I’m always amused when the pundits in Washington say, boy, you know, Obama hasn’t gotten this passed yet or some of his supporters are disappointed about this, and the -- the campaign, it was so smooth. And I’m thinking what campaign were they watching. (Laughter.) I mean, there -- at least once a month, folks would say, he can’t win. At least once a month, people would say, oh, that was a terrible debate for him; or, oh, he’s lost support in this or that group; or, oh, that state is going to go red on him.
What they didn't understand was is that for all the mistakes I’ll make, for all the boneheaded moves I made -- might make –
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you! We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: For all the frustrations and the challenges and resistance we have to bringing about change, when I’ve got you guys behind me -- (applause) -- when I’ve got the American people, when I listen to them -- (applause) -- and I’m reminded of your decency and those core values that say I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper, and what makes us a great nation is not just the height of our skyscrapers or the size of our GDP, or the power of our military, but the fact that we look after one another, and we take responsibility for ourselves, but also for our neighbors; when we’re working together and we’re joining hands, black and white and Hispanic and Asian and Native American and gay and straight; when the American people join together, we cannot be stopped.
We say to ourselves, “Yes, we can.” It doesn’t matter how tough a week I have in Washington, because I know you’ve got me -- you’ve got my back. When I come to Chicago, when I travel across the country, I know we can’t be stopped. (Applause.) I know America is the greatest nation on Earth. And I know we will bring about the change that all of us believe in.
God bless you all. (Applause.) Thank you, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END 7:44 P.M. CDT
##
Obama's 50th B'Day Fundraiser Teleconference
Pool report: President speaks to supporters at Birthday House Parties across US...
President Obama attended two campaign fundraisers in Chicago on Wednesday night on the eve of his 50th birthday. The big party was held at the Aragon Entertainment Center on the Northside, with dinner and performances by Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO.
At the start of the event, the President, from a back room, spoke via video teleconference to supporters attending more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties being held across the US, before making remarks to the guests at the Aragon. He told his supporters how to campaign for him in the 2012 election cycle, and was treated to renditions of "Happy Birthday" from two of the groups he spoke with. The President took three questions from supporters during his video interlude. Details on ticket prices for the events are here. (Above: President Obama during his remarks later in the eveining)
The pool report on the video conference:
President Obama said the 2012 election "in some ways may be more important than the last one" and encouraged supporters to talk about "values."
He appeared on the screen just before 7 pm. It looks like he’s in an equipment room. Behind him was a computer screen, a drum, a couple microphones, storage chests stacked up and sound equipment. (Maybe it was the web camera but he looks like he’s gotten a birthday hair cut). Mr. Obama took three questions - all from important electoral states: North Carolina, Ohio and Michigan.
"I am beaming in from Chicago. Having a little birthday celebration in my home town," Mr. Obama said. He remarked that he could hear the El train in the background, which pool could hear too.
“When we started this whole journey… this was not going to be about me… this was going to be about grassroots folks." ...
“What is true in 2008 is just as true today. We’ve obviously been in a lot of battles," he said.
“So as we gear back up to fight some tough battles," he said, remarking that they saw this past week how tough those battles are going to be, he needs them to be involved…
He asked supporters to corner their Republican uncles who aren’t persuaded yet, and to talk about him around the water cooler.
“You’re the best ambassador we can have," Mr. Obama said. "So I just want to emphasize to you how important you are."
1st question was from Alyssa in North Carolina, who had about 10 people behind her. They sang Happy Birthday to him.
POTUS smiled and bobbed his head. “Y’all have great voices,” he said after they finished.
He thanked them for their work and said he can’t wait to see them at the convention in Charlotte. And he offered some organizing advice.
“You’ve got to listen as much as you talk,” Mr. Obama said. “What are their concerns? What’s keeping them up at night?"
He encouraged them to “talk about values.”
So if somebody asks about taxes, he said, "what they want to know is our campaign stands for a fair, just approach to the tax code that says everybody has to chip in. And it’s not right if a hedge fund manager is being taxed at a lower rate than his or her secretary. That’s a values issue.”
On Iraq, he said the advice is simple: the war is ending.
Afghanistan: We think it’s time to transition to an Afghan lead.
“It’s Jeremy’s job to make sure that you guys have good talking points," he said, adding that on any issue on any given week they should be updated on where the White House stands. [Ed. Note: Jeremy Bird, field director for the campaign]
In coming weeks and months, he said he will put forward plans to improve infrastructure to put construction workers back to work; and plans to extend the payroll tax cut for employees. The issues will change week to week and people should get a sense of what the White House is doing, he said.
When organizing for him and answering people's questions, he said, "Sometimes it’s not so bad to say I don’t know." If someone asks, 'where does the president stand on Cypress?' for instance, which made the group laugh, he said to just tell them they’re not sure but will find out an answer.
2nd question was from Maureen in Shaker Heights, Ohio, who had a couple dozen people holding sign that wishing the president Happy Birthday. Her question was: If you were asking someone to volunteer what would you ask them?
It’s about being part of a community and going out there and talking to fellow members of your community about values, Mr. Obama said. He said to make sure people feel ownership of the process, make it a community event.
He said they should be asking people to get engaged because “the future is going to be determined by this election.”
"We’ve already seen over the last week just how different the two visions are in terms of which direction we should take the country," Mr. Obama said. "This is a really important moment in our history.” He said the debate over the last week made clear who’s going to look out for working people.
“I couldn’t be more appreciative of you guys," he said. And waved goodbye to the camera as Maureen and her group shouted “Happy Birthday!”
3rd question came from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Bird read it: What’s the most important thing we can do to further your campaign?
Mr. Obama said not to just give people a laundry list of things he’s already done. “This democracy works when people get involved. ... The more this is a bottom up as opposed to a top down organization," he said.
“You own this campaign. You own this country, and if you use that power that you've got then we’re going to be able to continue to get all the things done we want to get done," he said.
He acknowledged the frustration Democrats have felt. “This past week was a frustrating week," he said.
He said the 2012 election "in some ways may be more important than the last one."
In the future he said he wants to work on: immigration, economy, energy policy, tax reform, reducing the deficit and debt in “responsible” way.
##
Once the video teleconference ended, Mr. Obama moved to make his remarks at the larger event in the ballroom of the Aragon.
*Pooler was Carol E. Lee of Wall Street Journal
read more "Obama's 50th B'Day Fundraiser Teleconference"
President Obama attended two campaign fundraisers in Chicago on Wednesday night on the eve of his 50th birthday. The big party was held at the Aragon Entertainment Center on the Northside, with dinner and performances by Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO.
At the start of the event, the President, from a back room, spoke via video teleconference to supporters attending more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties being held across the US, before making remarks to the guests at the Aragon. He told his supporters how to campaign for him in the 2012 election cycle, and was treated to renditions of "Happy Birthday" from two of the groups he spoke with. The President took three questions from supporters during his video interlude. Details on ticket prices for the events are here. (Above: President Obama during his remarks later in the eveining)The pool report on the video conference:
President Obama said the 2012 election "in some ways may be more important than the last one" and encouraged supporters to talk about "values."
He appeared on the screen just before 7 pm. It looks like he’s in an equipment room. Behind him was a computer screen, a drum, a couple microphones, storage chests stacked up and sound equipment. (Maybe it was the web camera but he looks like he’s gotten a birthday hair cut). Mr. Obama took three questions - all from important electoral states: North Carolina, Ohio and Michigan.
"I am beaming in from Chicago. Having a little birthday celebration in my home town," Mr. Obama said. He remarked that he could hear the El train in the background, which pool could hear too.
“When we started this whole journey… this was not going to be about me… this was going to be about grassroots folks." ...
“What is true in 2008 is just as true today. We’ve obviously been in a lot of battles," he said.
“So as we gear back up to fight some tough battles," he said, remarking that they saw this past week how tough those battles are going to be, he needs them to be involved…
He asked supporters to corner their Republican uncles who aren’t persuaded yet, and to talk about him around the water cooler.
“You’re the best ambassador we can have," Mr. Obama said. "So I just want to emphasize to you how important you are."
1st question was from Alyssa in North Carolina, who had about 10 people behind her. They sang Happy Birthday to him.
POTUS smiled and bobbed his head. “Y’all have great voices,” he said after they finished.
He thanked them for their work and said he can’t wait to see them at the convention in Charlotte. And he offered some organizing advice.
“You’ve got to listen as much as you talk,” Mr. Obama said. “What are their concerns? What’s keeping them up at night?"
He encouraged them to “talk about values.”
So if somebody asks about taxes, he said, "what they want to know is our campaign stands for a fair, just approach to the tax code that says everybody has to chip in. And it’s not right if a hedge fund manager is being taxed at a lower rate than his or her secretary. That’s a values issue.”
On Iraq, he said the advice is simple: the war is ending.
Afghanistan: We think it’s time to transition to an Afghan lead.
“It’s Jeremy’s job to make sure that you guys have good talking points," he said, adding that on any issue on any given week they should be updated on where the White House stands. [Ed. Note: Jeremy Bird, field director for the campaign]
In coming weeks and months, he said he will put forward plans to improve infrastructure to put construction workers back to work; and plans to extend the payroll tax cut for employees. The issues will change week to week and people should get a sense of what the White House is doing, he said.
When organizing for him and answering people's questions, he said, "Sometimes it’s not so bad to say I don’t know." If someone asks, 'where does the president stand on Cypress?' for instance, which made the group laugh, he said to just tell them they’re not sure but will find out an answer.
2nd question was from Maureen in Shaker Heights, Ohio, who had a couple dozen people holding sign that wishing the president Happy Birthday. Her question was: If you were asking someone to volunteer what would you ask them?
It’s about being part of a community and going out there and talking to fellow members of your community about values, Mr. Obama said. He said to make sure people feel ownership of the process, make it a community event.
He said they should be asking people to get engaged because “the future is going to be determined by this election.”
"We’ve already seen over the last week just how different the two visions are in terms of which direction we should take the country," Mr. Obama said. "This is a really important moment in our history.” He said the debate over the last week made clear who’s going to look out for working people.
“I couldn’t be more appreciative of you guys," he said. And waved goodbye to the camera as Maureen and her group shouted “Happy Birthday!”
3rd question came from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Bird read it: What’s the most important thing we can do to further your campaign?
Mr. Obama said not to just give people a laundry list of things he’s already done. “This democracy works when people get involved. ... The more this is a bottom up as opposed to a top down organization," he said.
“You own this campaign. You own this country, and if you use that power that you've got then we’re going to be able to continue to get all the things done we want to get done," he said.
He acknowledged the frustration Democrats have felt. “This past week was a frustrating week," he said.
He said the 2012 election "in some ways may be more important than the last one."
In the future he said he wants to work on: immigration, economy, energy policy, tax reform, reducing the deficit and debt in “responsible” way.
##
Once the video teleconference ended, Mr. Obama moved to make his remarks at the larger event in the ballroom of the Aragon.
*Pooler was Carol E. Lee of Wall Street Journal
Today: President Obama Heads To Chicago For 50th Birthday Fundraisers
Campaign support is the birthday gift the President wants most, says OFA's Jeremy Bird...Birthday House Parties scheduled across US...
Despite the protracted debt battle, the White House has had President Obama's 50th Birthday Bash campaign fundraiser on his official schedule since Friday. The President will arrive in Chicago at 6:00 PM this evening for a big party at the Aragon Entertainment Center on the Northside, with dinner and performances by Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO.
Ticket prices range from $50 per person to $35,800 per couple. At the start of the festivities, at 7:00 PM, the President will speak via video conference at more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties for supporters that are being held across the US, and deliver two more sets of remarks during the evening. The President will return to the White House tonight, and there will be a private Rose Garden birthday party on Thursday to celebrate his milestone.
No other details of the party, first reported Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, have been released.
"Wednesday also happens to be the day before the President's 50th birthday -- and our work to build this campaign through this kind of solid grassroots organizing is the sort of gift he'll appreciate most," Jeremy Bird, National Field Director for OFA, said in an email inviting supporters to attend the Birthday House Parties.
The Aragon...
At the Aragon, op donors, at $35,800 per couple, get dinner and seating in either the left or right balcony level for the concert, and a reception and private briefing at Obama Campaign HQ in the Prudential building. $10,000 gets a souvenir photo with President Obama at a reception and preferred seating at the concert. For $1,000, donors gets seated in a "premium section" with a "hosted bar." A general admission ticket, to stand on the floor, is $200.
The events are a benefit for the Obama Victory Fund 2012, a joint Obama 2012 re-election campaign/Democratic National Committee fund.
T
he President spent his 49th birthday in Chicago minus his family: First Lady Obama was on vacation in Spain with daughter Sasha, and Malia was at summer camp. He dined at graham elliot resturant with Oprah Winfrey and her pal Gayle King, as well as hometown confidantes Eric Whittaker and Marty Nesbitt. There was a private birthday BBQ at the White House on August 8th, after Mrs. Obama and Sasha returned from Spain, which featured Gulf Shrimp; the White House was beginning a big campaign to support the Gulf seafood industry, following the BP oil spill. (Above: The President waves to a cheering crowd as he leaves his birthday dinner)
*Reuters photo
read more "Today: President Obama Heads To Chicago For 50th Birthday Fundraisers"
Despite the protracted debt battle, the White House has had President Obama's 50th Birthday Bash campaign fundraiser on his official schedule since Friday. The President will arrive in Chicago at 6:00 PM this evening for a big party at the Aragon Entertainment Center on the Northside, with dinner and performances by Chicago natives Jennifer Hudson, Herbie Hancock and OK GO. Ticket prices range from $50 per person to $35,800 per couple. At the start of the festivities, at 7:00 PM, the President will speak via video conference at more than 1,000 Obama for America Birthday House Parties for supporters that are being held across the US, and deliver two more sets of remarks during the evening. The President will return to the White House tonight, and there will be a private Rose Garden birthday party on Thursday to celebrate his milestone.
No other details of the party, first reported Chicago Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet, have been released.
"Wednesday also happens to be the day before the President's 50th birthday -- and our work to build this campaign through this kind of solid grassroots organizing is the sort of gift he'll appreciate most," Jeremy Bird, National Field Director for OFA, said in an email inviting supporters to attend the Birthday House Parties.
The Aragon...
At the Aragon, op donors, at $35,800 per couple, get dinner and seating in either the left or right balcony level for the concert, and a reception and private briefing at Obama Campaign HQ in the Prudential building. $10,000 gets a souvenir photo with President Obama at a reception and preferred seating at the concert. For $1,000, donors gets seated in a "premium section" with a "hosted bar." A general admission ticket, to stand on the floor, is $200.
The events are a benefit for the Obama Victory Fund 2012, a joint Obama 2012 re-election campaign/Democratic National Committee fund.
T
he President spent his 49th birthday in Chicago minus his family: First Lady Obama was on vacation in Spain with daughter Sasha, and Malia was at summer camp. He dined at graham elliot resturant with Oprah Winfrey and her pal Gayle King, as well as hometown confidantes Eric Whittaker and Marty Nesbitt. There was a private birthday BBQ at the White House on August 8th, after Mrs. Obama and Sasha returned from Spain, which featured Gulf Shrimp; the White House was beginning a big campaign to support the Gulf seafood industry, following the BP oil spill. (Above: The President waves to a cheering crowd as he leaves his birthday dinner)*Reuters photo
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