Obama Campaign Increasingly Focusing Its Fundraising Efforts on California

image
Wes MessamoreWes Messamore
Published: 09 Jun, 2012
1 min read

Along with other Democrats and some Republicans cashing in on a modern day, electoral California "gold rush," President Barack Obama has increasingly focused his fundraising efforts on California, where this past week the president attended five fundraisers during his third visit to the Golden State in just one month, The Hill reports.

President Obama's visit this past Wednesday was the latest of sixteen total visits to California since the president assumed office. Amie Parnes' analysis at The Hill focuses mostly on how California voters, animated by social issues like legalizing gay marriage-- which President Obama recently became the first US president to fully endorse-- are providing the Obama campaign with a needed windfall as big finance donors on the East Coast cool to the president's anti-Wall Street rhetoric as he heads into a general election against finance titan, Mitt Romney. Hollywood and Silicon Valley are where the Obama campaign is really striking gold with donors.

But another important aspect of this story is the irony of federal politicians making stops in California for campaign cash while California remains the nation's biggest federal "donor state" --which is to say that more money is taken from California in federal taxes than it gets back in federal programs, projects, and subsidies. So the question for California voters to ask is: if California is so important to federal politicians for fundraising purposes, why doesn't it get a better deal from its relationship with the federal government? If California voters continue to donate to federal candidates like President Obama, what's going to be in it for California?

You Might Also Like

Ethan Penner
Could This Well-Funded Independent Upend the CA Governor’s Race?
Ethan Penner, a Calabasas businessman, author, and educator with a storied career in real estate finance, has officially announced his intention to run for California governor in 2026 as an independent. On his campaign website, Penner says he is running to “disrupt the failing two-party system.” ...
12 Sep, 2025
-
5 min read
Supreme Court of the United States
Forward Party Joins Petition to SCOTUS Against State of Florida
Right now, the divide between the Republican and Democratic Parties appears beyond repair. The political rhetoric is toxic, the nation’s leadership puts party gain before lasting solutions, and few voters actually feel heard by the people elected to represent them. At a time when it seems things will only get worse from here, the Independent Voter Project filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court along with Open Primaries and the Forward Party in support of a lawsuit that targets one of the biggest culprits behind all of this....
16 Sep, 2025
-
3 min read
congress flag
Poll: 82% of Americans Want Redistricting Done by Independent Commission, Not Politicians
There may be no greater indication that voters are not being listened to in the escalating redistricting war between the Republican and Democratic Parties than a new poll from NBC News that shows 8-in-10 Americans want the parties to stop....
10 Sep, 2025
-
3 min read