Obama's day in California is underway

POTUS left the Fairmont hotel in downtown San Jose at 10:33 a.m. Pacific Standard Time en route to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., where he was scheduled to participate in a town hall-style event titled “Putting America Back to Work: LinkedIn Presents a Town Hall with President Obama.” About 50 onlookers, many taking pictures, watched the president’s motorcade depart the bowels of the hotel. The partnership with LinkedIn, a social networking platform for business professionals, represents Obama’s attempt to leverage his administration’s influence in social media. LinkedIn’s Web site states that it has 120 million users, who post their resumes and connect with one another through business connections. The White House said Obama 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.” “No one expects everyone to understand the depth of policy questions,” Macon Phillips, the director of the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy, said in a conference call last Friday. “We fully expect people to have valid concerns about how to move the country forward. The event Monday will address those questions.” LinkedIn Chief Executive Jeff Weiner said in the conference call: “The social fabric of our platform is the key,” Weiner said. “When a job is posted, you can see who you know up to three degrees [removed]. . . . It helps get your foot in the door of opportunity.”

The town hall event comes in the middle of seven fundraising events over two days for Obama, who attended four Sunday and has three more Monday in San Diego, Calif., and Los Angeles.

Here is some background from a Democratic official on the San Diego event:

On Monday, September 26th, President Obama will attend a fundraising lunch at the home of Elizabeth and Mason Phelps in La Jolla, CA. The event begins at 12:30 PM PST and 150 people are expected to attend. Tickets start at $5,000. The event is print pool only.

Notable guests expected include:

Rep. Jared Polis (CO)
Owner and Principal, Christine Forester, Catalyst, Community and Arts Activist
Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Qualcomm, Inc.
J. Craig Venter (decoded the human genome)
Joe Kiani, CEO, Masimo, Corp.

And here is some background from a Democratic official on the Los Angeles fundraisers:

On Monday, September 26th, President Obama will attend two fundraising events in Los Angeles. The first event is at the House of Blues in West Hollywood with Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) as emcee. Performances will include B.O.B. and Weho Gay Men’s Chorus. 1,000 people are expected to attend. Ticket prices start at $250 (Gen44) and the event will begin at 4:30 PM PST. The event is open to credentialed reporters and still photographers.

The second event the President will attend is a dinner at Fig and Olive in Los Angeles. The event starts at 6PM PST. Approximately 120 people are expected to attend and tickets are $17,900 a person. The dinner is print pool only.

All fundraisers benefit the Obama Victory Fund.

NOTE: The Obama Victory Fund is a joint account of the DNC and OFA. The campaign gets the first $5,000 of an individual contribution. A 5K contribution would account for both a primary and general contribution and be the max an individual could give the campaign for the cycle. $30,800 is the maximum an individual can give to a campaign committee per year.

David Nakamura