Pres. Obama Leaves Southern California For Showdown Over Economy

President Barack Obama left the Southland today, bound for Washington, D.C., after an approximately 18 1/2-hour visit during which he spoke at three political fundraisers benefiting his re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

Obama left Los Angeles International Airport aboard Air Force One around 9:30 a.m.

In his sixth visit to the Los Angeles area since being elected president, Obama spoke at a pair of dinners Thursday — with tickets costing $35,800 each — sandwiched around a rally on a sound stage at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City attended by about 2,500 people, who paid $250 for general admission, $100 if they were under 40 and $2,500 for VIP seating.

The first event was a dinner at the Sony Pictures Studios commissary, with about 50 people, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, philanthropist Eli Broad, actor Dennis Haysbert and Motown founder Berry Gordy.

At the rally, Obama told supporters that he needs their help to protect the changes he has begun by propelling him to another term.

Obama told the crowd of about 2,500 people that he has shared their frustration at the pace of changes he promised to make during his 2008 campaign, but he rattled off what he believed were his successes and his belief that the country is moving in the right direction.

“We knew that on a journey like this there were going to be setbacks, there were gonna be detours,” he said. “There were gonna be times where we stumbled and we had to get up and dust ourselves off and then keep going. Because we knew that at each and every juncture in our history, when the future was on the line, when we were at the crossroads like we are now, the country somehow came together.

“The country somehow found a way to make ourselves more prosperous and deal with the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy and then to an information economy. We figured out how to absorb new immigrants and finally deal with the stain of slavery, make sure that women were full participants in our democracy.

“At every juncture, we’ve been able to make the changes that we need. So when you hear people say our problems are too big or we can’t bring about the changes that we seek, I want you to think about all the progress we’ve already made and I want you to think about all the unfinished business that lies ahead. I want you to be excited about the next 18 months and then the next four years after that, and I want you to remind everybody else those simple words that summed up our campaign in 2008 and still sum up our spirit — yes we can.”

Obama told the crowd that his campaign headquarters would be in Chicago instead of Washington, D.C., because he wanted his campaign to have a renewed perspective.

“I don’t want our campaign to be hearing only from pundits and power brokers and lobbyists,” he said. “I want our campaign to be hearing from the folks that got me into the Oval Office. I want them hearing from you. … I want to make sure we are putting the campaign in your hands.”

Obama rallied the crowd by touching on some of the cornerstones of his campaign, including reducing the nation’s reliance on foreign oil, cutting taxes and ending tax breaks for oil companies and richest 2 percent of Americans.

“I want everybody to understand it’s not that I want to punish success,” he said. “I want everybody here to be rich. … I don’t mean just going out and buying lottery tickets. I want your small business to be successful. I want you to succeed in your careers. I want everybody to be successful.

“We don’t want to punish success, but what we do want is a society where if we’re going to ask everybody to sacrifice a little bit, we don’t just tell millionaires and billionaires, `Oh you don’t have to do anything, you just go ahead and relax. Count your money.’ “

Obama insisted that his administration has helped lead a rebound of the auto industry and cracked down on abuses in the banking industry. Touching on a topic close to the wallets of Southland residents, he pointed to hefty investments in alternative energy in an effort to combat rising gas prices.

However, Obama pointed to goals he still wanted to achieve, such as cutting waste in government spending, adopting sweeping changes in immigration policy and developing a more comprehensive energy policy.

“We’ve got to keep moving forward,” he said. “We have to keep working for the America that we believe in, the America we want to leave to our children. And that is the debate that we’re having in Washington right now. That’s what this budget debate is all about. … This debate is really about the kind of future that we want.”

Obama concluded his day by speaking at a star-studded fundraiser at the Tavern restaurant in Brentwood, where tickets also cost $35,800. The approximately 60 donors in attendance included actors George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Will Ferrell, director Steven Spielberg and Gov. Jerry Brown.

All proceeds from the events will go to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account of the Democratic National Committee and Obama for America, his campaign committee.

For the $35,800 ticket, the campaign gets the first $5,000 — the maximum $2,500 contribution for the primary season and another $2,500 for the general election campaign. The $30,800 is the maximum an individual can give to a campaign committee in a year.