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Yes We (Still) Can: President Obama Speaks at a Fundraiser at Sony Pictures Studios
President Obama made a stop in Los Angeles yesterday for three fundraising events to kickstart his 2012 Presidential Re-Election Campaign. The trip,the second he has made to Los Angeles in less than six months, included two private dinner fundraisers with high powered Hollywood money and one that was open to the public for a campaign donation.
President Obama's message was clear; the work that was started with his election in 2008 was just the beginning. He reminded voters: "I said our climb would be steep, we would have a tough road ahead, we might not get there in one year, we might now even get there in one term.... Let's face it, the climb was a little steeper than we anticipated."
The goal of the Obama campaign team is simple, to once again energize the base that was so passionate in '08. However, many have become disenchanted with the President, some feeling that he has not lived up to his campaign promises. "And I know there are times where some of you felt frustrated because we haven’t gotten everything we wanted to get done right away. I know who you all are. I know the conversations you’ve been having. "Oh, I don’t know, I don’t like that compromise with the Republicans. I don’t know, that health care thing, why did it take so long?" Obama said regarding this even taking a jab at himself, "I don’t know -- "Obama, he’s older now. He used to look so fresh and exciting and -- I still got that poster, but I don’t know."
He also highlighted some of the achievements, healthcare reform, equal pay for women, ending combat missions in Iraq and repealing "Dont Ask, Don't Tell", but was quick to warn, "That progress shouldn’t make us complacent, but it should remind us of what is possible and it should inspire us to try to finish what we started in 2008."
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Speaking for just over a half hour the President closed with a call for his supporters: "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!"
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