This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 28, 2011 - Gen44, the young-voter arm of the Democratic National Committee, is offering tickets at 75 percent off for President Barack Obama's reception at 5 p.m. next Tuesday at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.
The president's event has a ticket price of $1,000 and $2,500 (includes a "meet and greet'' with the president.) But according to a Gen44 email blitz earlier today, the group is offering a limited number of tickets on the president's campaign website for $250.
The cut-rate price to attract young attendees appears tied to the broader effort of Obama's campaign to rekindle some of that excitement that made then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the "rock star'' among presidential candidates in both parties. That huge youth wave helped sweep Obama into the White House in the 2008 election.
Now, Democrats nationally and regionally are concerned that the young-generation wave may have crested. Among other things, young adults have been particularly hurt by the economic downturn that began before the 2008 election and has marked much of the Obama presidency since then.
Tuesday's visit will be the president's first stop in the St. Louis region in 18 months. During that last visit, he stopped in St. Charles to deliver an education address and headlined a fundraising event for U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
The White House has yet to disclose if Obama will make any official stops during next Tuesday's stop, where the president will raise money for his own 2012 campaign. McCaskill has said she hopes to be in town for at least part of his visit, but she can't guarantee it -- since she has a fundraising event Tuesday night in Washington. And the timing of Tuesday's fundraising events would appear to make it less likely that the senator will show up.
After the reception at the Renaissance, Obama will head out to attend a private, bigger-ticket fundraising event -- the minimum price is $25,000 -- at the home of Tom Carnahan, younger brother of U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.
Tom Carnahan is the co-owner of a wind farm in central Missouri that has attracted lots of public and political attention -- good and bad -- over the past three years.
Carnahan's Wind Capital Group obtained $107 million in a 2009 stimulus grant to encourage development of alternative energy. Vice President Joe Biden visited the complex in 2009, and now-Sen. Roy Blunt ran a devastating TV ad last year that accused Russ and Robin Carnahan of playing a role in the grant. Both denied it.
The attention to Tom Carnahan's role as cohost for next Tuesday's event has overshadowed the fact that the other cohosts -- Bob Clark and Joyce Aboussie -- are more politically prominent and powerful.
Clark is chief executive of the construction giant Clayco and also is among Obama's top donors nationally. Clark has attracted national attention for his unwavering support of the president, and has been invited to state dinners (the true test of presidential ties).
Aboussie was long the national political director for former U.S. Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, D-St. Louis, and founded a political marketing and polling firm, Telephone Contact. Aboussie also is a prominent fund-raising expert and often has been tapped by various Democrats.
Aboussie was a big supporter of Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid and remains close to her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton -- arguably the Democratic Party's current "rock star." (The former president recently headlined a private event at Aboussie's Ladue home.)
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Tea Party is among the groups planning to hold a protest in Forest Park, just west of the History Museum and close to Carnahan's residence.
