President Barack Obama is wrapping up a third fundraiser in the Southland today. President Obama arrived at LAX late yesterday and was the main attraction at two campaign events in Beverly Hills last night — attended by Hollywood players, celebs, as well as activists in the LGBT community and their supporters. Gay rights appeared to be a key element of this campaign swing, which included a stop in San Francisco earlier in the day for the president.
At a $50,000 a couple dinner affair at the home of Ryan Murphy, creator of the hit TV series “Glee,” President Obama made these comments:
“I just came from a wonderful event over at the Wilshire or the Hilton — I’m not sure which. (Laughter.) Here’s what happens — because you go through the kitchens — (laughter) — of all these places and so you never are quite sure where you are. (Laughter.) But I was telling folks — many of you got involved in the campaign back in 2008, and you did so not because you thought electing Barack Obama was a sure thing. Generally people named Barack Hussein Obama are not sure things in presidential races. (Laughter.) The reason some of you got involved is because I think you understood that there are a set of values that make this country extraordinary, that make this country exceptional.
It’s not just our military might or the size of our economy. It has to do with a set of ideas, a creed, that started more than 200 years ago, when a band of colonists decided that they had a different idea about self-governance and they had an idea that said everybody is created equal, and everybody can participate, and each of us, if we’re willing to work hard and take responsibility, can take our lives as far as our dreams will take us.
And those documents that they issued were not perfect and the society in which they lived wasn’t perfect. But they created this space where, through successive generations, we could continually broaden the scope of opportunity to more and more people, and include more and more people as citizens, and recognize each other as part of this American story.”
The complete text of President Obama’s comments at the Murphy dinner on Whitehouse.gov. Also, the Los Angeles Times website has a nice article on the president’s Beverly Hills campaign stops and more.
