President Obama raises $2.3M at West Hollywood events

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- President Barack Obama departed to Colorado Tuesday morning from LAX, after a night of busy fundraising in West Hollywood.

Obama left the Beverly Wilshire Hotel around 9:30 a.m. and headed to LAX for his flight to Denver.

Streets are now back to normal after several road closures that began on Monday.

The president was in town to raise money for re-election. More than 800 supporters paid $250 each to hear Obama speak at the House of Blues on Monday.

Obama touted healthcare reform and the recent repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. He also made his pitch for the American Jobs Act.

He also took a shot at the GOP, saying that the wealthiest Americans need to pay their share of taxes.

"Republicans are going around talking about that's class warfare," said Obama. "Well you know what? If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a plumber is class warfare, then sign me up."

A heckler tried to steal the show moments after the president took the stage, but was booed and drowned out by the crowd. He was escorted away by security.

The president said he wants to restore the nation's status as a land of opportunity.

"I never promised easy," said Obama. "If you wanted easy you wouldn't have campaigned for Barack Hussein Obama. What I promised was that there was a vision of America out there that we believed in."

Afterward, the president took a motorcade to the restaurant Fig & Olive in West Hollywood for a private fundraiser with Hollywood's elite. The cost to attend was nearly $18,000 a person.

It was a star studded event including actors Danny DeVito and Jack Black, director Judd Apatow, and Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.

His trip to Southern California is part of a two-day fundraising trip to the West Coast. Monday night's two events raised over $2.3 million.

The president's chief political advisor, David Axelrod, was in New Hampshire on Tuesday talking to political leaders. He said that he believes the road to Obama's second term in the White House is going to be "a Titanic struggle." But he says he thinks that he will win reelection.

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president barack obama, west hollywood, los angeles news, melissa macbride

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