ATHERTON, Calif. (AP) — President Barack Obama
charged Sunday that the GOP vision of government would "fundamentally
cripple America," as he tried out his newly combative message on the
liberal West Coast.
Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists
who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal
attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the
faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.
"From the moment I took office what we've seen
is a constant ideological pushback against any kind of sensible reforms that
would make our economy work better and give people more opportunity," the
president said at an intimate brunch fundraiser at the Medina, Wash., home of
former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley, where about 65 guests were paying
$35,800 per couple to listen to Obama.
Similar messages followed at an event in Seattle
and two more in California's Silicon Valley Sunday evening, as Obama pushed
through a seven-stop fundraising swing that was taking him from Seattle to
Hollywood to San Diego through Monday. The three-day West Coast swing, ending
Tuesday in Denver, offered him the chance to re-engage with some of his most
liberal and deep-pocketed supporters.
The trip comes as Obama has shifted from focusing
on compromise with Republicans on Capitol Hill to calling out House Speaker
John Boehner and others by name. The president has criticized them as
obstructionists while demanding their help in passing his $447 billion jobs
bill.
The revamped approach is a relief to Democratic
activists fed up by what they viewed as the president's ceding of ground to the
GOP on tax cuts and other issues while the economy has stalled and unemployment
is stuck above 9 percent.
Obama said 2012 would be an especially tough
election because people are discouraged and disillusioned with government, but
he also said he was determined because so much is at stake.
The GOP alternative, Obama said, is "an
approach to government that will fundamentally cripple America in meeting the
challenges of the 21st century."
At an event in Woodside, Calif., Obama took a
direct shot at one of his potential GOP opponents, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Without mentioning him by name Obama mocked Perry as "a governor whose
state is on fire, denying climate change."
Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan responded, "It's
outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1,500 homes, the worst
fires in state history, as a political attack."
Obama also criticized the audience reactions at
recent GOP presidential debates, including people booing a gay service member.
Said the president, "That's not reflective of who we are."
Obama got a friendly welcome from invited guests.
But he was also met by scattered demonstrations from liberal activists.
"We want to see Obama stand up as strongly as
he can to fight for the people of this country who are working out there to
make ends meet," said Kathy Cummings, communications director for the
Washington State Labor Council. The council helped organize a demonstration
outside Seattle's Paramount Theatre, the site of an Obama fundraiser with about
1,800 guests. An activist's sign urged Obama, "Tax the rich."
Obama and the Republican presidential candidates
are working overtime to raise campaign cash ahead of an important Sept. 30
reporting deadline that will give a snapshot of their financial strength.
Obama's West Coast fundraisers brought in the
Silicon Valley and Hollywood elite. The last event of the night Sunday was at
the Atherton, Calif., home of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg,
and pop singer Lady Gaga was among the guests.
The expected haul from all seven events: $4 million
or more.
In addition to the fundraising, Obama scheduled a
town hall-style event Monday in Silicon Valley, hosted by social networking
company LinkedIn. The trip ends Tuesday with a speech to supporters in Denver.
Obama was pushing throughout for his job proposal,
which combines tax cuts, unemployment benefits and public works spending. The
bill faces a hostile reception on Capitol Hill, particularly because Obama
wants to pay for it with tax increases opposed by Republicans.If he can't
persuade Congress to pass the bill, Obama has said he wants to make sure the
public knows who's standing in the way.
Jobs are a major concern in California, where
unemployment stands at 12.1 percent, highest of any state except Nevada.
Mark DiCamillo, director of California's Field
Poll, said that's contributed to a softening of support for Obama among
Democratic and independent voters. Obama's job approval rating dropped to 46
percent among Californians in a Field Poll this month. Among Democrats it was
69 percent, but that was down 10 percentage points from June.
"Californians voted for him by 24 points in
2008 and the Democrats and nonpartisans were the backbone of his support and
he's losing some of that now," DiCamillo said. "They're looking for
Obama to do something."
The summer's nasty debate over raising the
government's borrowing limit turned off voters. Many liberals bemoaned the deal
that cleared the way for a higher debt ceiling, with Obama agreeing to
Republican demands for steep budget cuts without new taxes.
But Democratic supporters are heartened by the jobs
plan and Obama's insistence that Congress must raise taxes to pay for it. Now
they're hoping that the confrontational Obama they're seeing now is the same
one they'll see through the 2012 campaign.
"We wish that his fighting spirit had been
there a few months ago, but it's here now," said Rick Jacobs, head of the
Courage Campaign, a progressive online organizing network in California.
Associated Press writer Phuong Le in Seattle
contributed to this report.
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
