Obama’s Visit Energizes Peninsula City

Whether attendees paid $250 for or $1,000 for premium seating, everyone in the was bursting with excitement during . 

From the moment President Barack Obama said “Hello Redwood City,” the cheers and applause would not subside the entire night.

As part of a re-election fundraiser, the President Wednesday evening after landing in Moffett Field. He attended a fundaiser dinner in Atherton where plates cost $38,500 then ultimately to Redwood City for a rally. 

The night was a combination of the President recounting his accomplishments and mobilizing the audience to help him with his re-election campaign.

“I may not be a perfect man or a perfect president,” Obama said. “But I wake up every day thinking of you and how to make each and every one of your lives better.”

Any mention of re-election was answered with an eruption of applause and chants of “four more years.”  

The attendees, some who paid as much as $12,500, were quick to jump to their feet and to sustain their applause until the President had to continue on his with 20-minute speech.

When Obama mentioned the continuing fight to ensure a quality education for all, the audience cheered particularly raucously.

“Education is not a luxury, but a necessity,” he said. “And everyone should have that chance at higher education.”

The President made several mentions of the necessity of innovation and risk-taking, emblematic of Silicon Valley, where attaining dreams was also a reality.

“We can see it in Redwood City, where there are people from every corner of the world,” he said. “If we work hard, we can create the life we want, no matter who you are.”

He suggested that rather than funding $4 billion subsidies to oil companies that this money burgeoning start-ups, like in Silicon Valley, or renewable energy.

Obama touched on topics like the economy and the war in Afghanistan while encouraging the audience's support to help him win in the upcoming election.

This election would be harder than the last, Obama said, because this time around there is an atmosphere of "nastiness and sometimes plain foolishness."

Tickets for Wednesday night's rally started at $250, with premium seating for the event starting at $1,000 per person with some paying as much as $12,500.

This morning, the president is expected to attend an 8:30 a.m. fundraiser at the Fairmont San Jose, which cost $35,800 per person.

The president is scheduled to fly out from Moffett Field today at around 10 a.m.

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