 President Barack Obama's re-election headquarters in Chicago, Illinois on May 12, 2010. The campaign released a 17-minute long-form campaign ad today directed by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim.
March 15th, 2012
08:53 PM ET
Obama Campaign Releases 17-Minute Ad: "The Road We've Traveled" Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama's reelection campaign unveiled Thursday a 17-minute long video painting a glowing portrait of the President's first three years in office. The theme: President Obama inherited one of the worst financial meltdowns in history and, despite the odds, improved the economic picture while racking up accomplishments that should make key Democratic constituencies happy. The video, narrated by Tom Hanks, features interviews with former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, former Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod and former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, among others. Academy Award winner David Guggenheim directed the spot. Watch the video here. The ad's overarching theme is that the President made tough decisions based not on political expedience but instead for enduring change, but that he has more work to do. The message seems geared more toward base voters who are already inclined to support him, not toward swaying the undecided. The video, called "The Road We've Traveled," begins with dire descriptions of the state of the U.S. economy immediately following President Obama's election. Axelrod describes a post-election briefing this way: "There was a screen set up for slides, but we might as well have been showing a horror movie because what was described in that meeting was an economic crisis beyond what anybody had imagined." FULL POST
March 15th, 2012
08:09 PM ET
David Axelrod Previews New Long-Form Campaign Ad on CNN's Out FrontCheck out Erin Burnett's interview with Obama campaign senior strategist David Axelrod, and see a sneak preview of the campaign's long-form campaign ad called "The Road We've Traveled."  Actor George Clooney met with President Obama on Thursday to discuss the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, where residents are taking refuge in the Nuba Mountains because of aerial bombardments. After his meeting with the President, Clooney spoke to reporters outside of the White House. John Prendergast, (pictured to the left) co-founder of the Enough Project also accompanied Clooney.
March 15th, 2012
06:21 PM ET
George Clooney Meets With Obama on South SudanMovie star George Clooney took his message about the ongoing crisis in South Sudan to the Oval Office on Thursday, sharing his concerns during a private meeting with President Obama. As part of his effort, Clooney testified before Congress on Wednesday and was invited to sit next to First Lady Michelle Obama at the State Dinner for Prime Minister David Cameron. Speaking to reporters outside the White House following his meeting with the president, Clooney and co-founder of the Enough Project John Prendergast praised the president for his “sustained commitment” on a “very high level,” and said the moment is right for a renewed focus on South Sudan. “There is a great interest in working with China, not in any adversarial relationship, but actually working together for their own economic interests since China is losing a considerable amount of money in oil revenue right now,” Clooney said. “So there seem to be a unique moment and a unique time to be able to act on some of that.” Asked about the popularity of a recent video about the humanitarian crisis in Uganda and the warlord Joseph Kony, both Prendergast and Clooney said that an increased awareness of problems in Africa can help their cause. FULL POST  Movie producer and Obama bundler Harvey Weinstein and fashion designer Georgina Chapman (R) arrive for a State Dinner in honor of British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on March 14, 2012. Weinstein has raised more than $500,000 for the president's campaign.
March 15th, 2012
04:30 PM ET
47 Obama Fundraisers Attend State DinnerAlongside notable figures from Hollywood to Washington at the State Dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday night, there were also 47 so-called bundlers, or mega-fundraisers, for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign that made the exclusive guest list. A bundler is a fundraiser who bundles donations from others on behalf of the campaign. Combined, this group of fundraisers has raised at least $10 million for the president – and likely much, much more. The Obama campaign provides a list of these “volunteer fundraisers” on its website, but rather than reveal exactly how much they have raised, they simply place the donors into tiers. Thirteen of the dinner attendees raised more than a half a million dollars for the president, 24 raised between $200,000 and $500,000, eight raised between $100,000 and $200,000 and three between $50,000 and $100,000. Here’s a full list of the bundlers who attended and how much they’ve raised: FULL POST
March 15th, 2012
03:32 PM ET
First on CNN: Biden's campaign plan (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden will continue his campaign tour at senior centers in Florida next week, where he will promote the White House's stance on Medicare and hit a Republican budget plan, a senior Democratic official said Thursday. The information comes the same day Biden hit the campaign trail in Ohio, where for the first time this year he hit Republican presidential candidates by name, saying Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum would "bankrupt the middle class." The Democratic official said Biden would campaign in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire and Virginia, and would continue to make stops in Pennsylvania. All six states are considered battlegrounds in the race for the White House. Aside from lauding the administration's handling of Medicare, Biden will hit the tax plan offered by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee. Ryan is the architect of a Republican budget proposal that has stoked controversy because of the way it would change Medicare by replacing the traditional insurance benefits the program currently provides with a vouchers recipients could use to purchase health care insurance in the private marketplace. In his other upcoming campaign speeches the vice president will also tout Obama's handling of the manufacturing sector and his position on taxes, as well as continuing to promote the president's decision to bail out the American auto industry, a move his Republican rivals have criticized. Democratic officials said the campaign planned this rollout in March because they thought there would be a GOP nominee at this point in the nomination process. The officials said they didn't want to wait until May or June to begin responding to the GOP's attacks and drawing contrasts with GOP positions. 
March 15th, 2012
01:48 PM ET
Biden speech leads campaign fight for Obama(CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday harshly attacked the economic policies of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, calling them a threat to the American middle class. "If you give any one of these guys the keys to the White House, they will bankrupt the middle class once again," Biden told autoworkers in Ohio, a key battleground state for Obama's re-election bid in November. The speech by Biden at a United Auto Workers hall in Toledo was the first of four planned in coming weeks as Obama's top campaign surrogate, and he went after the Republican candidates by name - something the president has not done. Read the complete story at CNN.com 
March 15th, 2012
01:45 PM ET
Big day for camp Obama: VP Biden, documentary(CNN) – In his remarks Thursday at the United Auto Workers Local 12 Hall in Toledo, Ohio, Vice President Joe Biden will mention the Republican candidates by name, per a senior Democratic official. This is a departure for Team Obama. To date, they have stayed away from outright combat by routinely declining to name the GOP candidates. Now the president's closest surrogate is dropping the fig leaf. Read the full story on CNN's Political Ticker. 
March 15th, 2012
08:00 AM ET
POTUS's schedule for Thursday, March 15 It's the day after the grand affairs of the official visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron and things are much less hectic around the White House than yesterday. The president has only one public event on his schedule- some remarks about energy at a DC-area community college. Clearly, gas prices are one of the things at the top of his agenda and we'll hear more about the Obama administration's plan to combat rising prices. The other interesting things in camp Obama are happening away from the White House. His re-election campaign will release their 17-minute long documentary about Obama's first term in office this evening. And Vice President Biden hits the road to campaign for the pair's re-election. We expect him to go on the offensive today against Republican candidates during his remarks in Toledo, Ohio. His remarks are actually scheduled for the same time as the president's speech on energy. Today's White House briefing is at 12:30p. Oh, and we also hear that George Clooney will be back at the White House today, following being at last night's state dinner, to meet with the president. So we'll be keeping our eyes open for him as well. For the full White House schedule, click below. FULL POST |
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