In between fundraisers during Western campaign swing, President participates in social media town hall...Continuing his exploration of social media networks as a campaign tool, President Obama will today participate in an event with LinkedIn. At 11:00 AM, the Mountain View, California company will host “Putting America Back to Work: LinkedIn Presents a Town Hall with President Obama." And yes, the President has a LinkedIn account; that's his profile, above. Check out his "specialties" at www.linkedin.com/in/barackobama.
The President has participated in a Twitter town hall and a Facebook town hall; today is his first event with LinkedIn. He will "answer questions about job creation and the economy from a live audience made up of LinkedIn members and employees, as well as questions that have been submitted from LinkedIn members across the country," according to the White House. LinkedIn says it has 120 million users.
The event is squeezed into a three-day Western campaign swing that began in Seattle, Washington on Sunday, and continues today in Southern California, with three fundraisers this afternoon and evening. The highlight of President Obama's four Sunday fundraisers was pop superstar Lady Gaga showing up as a paying guest at a donors' dinner in Silicon Valley. The Mother Monster paid for her dinner: $35,800, the maximum legal limit.
After his town hall this morning, Mr. Obama attends a 3:00 luncheon event at the La Jolla home of philanthropists Mason and Elizabeth Phelps, before completely destroying traffic in Los Angeles with a 6:20 event at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson of "Modern Family" will emcee, with performances from B.o.B., Adam 12 and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles. The sold-out concert had tickets ranging from $250 to $10,000. The President will then attend a private fundraiser at Fig & Olive restaurant on Melrose Avenue, also in West Hollywood, with a pricetag of $17, 900 per person. The President will spend the night in Los Angeles.
The President is expected to raise $7 million during the California leg of the trip; he visits Colorado on Tuesday before returning to the White House. After missing a number of fundraising events in the summer due to the debt ceiling battle--Obama for America is scrambling to reach a goal of raising $55 million in its third quarter, which ends Sept. 30. The Dinner with Barack contest is being heavily promoted as an enticement. President Obama raised $86 million in the second quarter of his fundraising.