This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 5, 2011 - President Barack Obama took on one of the Republican Party's favorite attack words -- "Obamacare" -- as he sought to rev up supporters and defend his record during a fundraising event tonight at the Renaissance Grand hotel.
"They call it Obamacare? I do care! You should care, too," the president said, according to the pooled press report, igniting cheers in the small ballroom.
His question to Republicans, Obama continued, was "why don't you care?"
The president cited all the promises from Republican candidates to repeal "Obamacare,'' which he said amounted to a pledge "to make sure that 30 million people don't have health insurance. What kind of inspiring message is that?"
The president then offered similar defenses to various actions his administration has taken over the last three years, including its move to preserve the auto industry and to impose more regulations on the nation's financial system.
Nobody makes it on their own. That's what this country is about," Obama said, touching off applause. "We have always been a land of opportunity and self-reliance and rugged individualism, but we've also looked after each other. We've also said we're in it together."
About 300 people were reported at the private Renaissance event, which had a minimum price of $1,000 apiece, with the money going to Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. Young attendees who signed up through a special Obama campaign group, Gen44, only had to pay $250.
Outside the hotel, about 30 environmentalists were protesting a proposed oil pipeline from Canada. At least two of them got in the ballroom, and interrupted the president to shout, "Will you stop the pipeline?"
Obama went on with his speech, while observing, "We've got a couple of people here who are concerned about the environment."
The president later attended a smaller, more expensive fundraising event at the home of Tom Carnahan, brother of U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, and Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. Tickets began at $25,000.
The president was joined for much of his visit by Gov. Jay Nixon and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, who had both greeted the president at Lambert Field, and then rode with him in his limousine from the airport to the Renaissance.
Before leaving Lambert, Obama broke with the usual practice and strode across the airstrip to a crowd of supporters and military veterans gathered in a fenced-in area nearby. The president shook hands, engaged in small talk and quipped to a man wearing a Cardinals cap, "Go, Cardinals!"
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and St. Louis Democratic Party chairman Brian Wahby were among the dignitaries to join the president, the governor and the mayor at the Renaissance.
The upshot: The president was seeing some friendly, high-profile Democrats, despite earlier indications that he might not.
Slay heartily endorsed Obama in a speech delivered at the Renaissance. "President Obama has been a direct and important part of this city's growth, revitalization, and economic recovery since he got to the White House," the mayor said in prepared remarks made available to the Beacon.
"His understanding of the challenges faced by all of America's big cities; his focus on jobs, and schools, and jobs, and infrastructure, and jobs, and jobs are the reasons I am enthusiastically endorsing and supporting his candidacy and re-election as president of the United States."
Nixon Refutes GOP No-show Narrative
Still, Nixon's unannounced presence arguably was the bigger news. It countered several days of Republican jabs, including some lobbed this afternoon by Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, who accused the governor and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., of being "noticeably absent from the president's visit today because they are 'too busy.' "
"With the president's popularity in the ditch, I would be too busy, too," Priebus said in a conference call with reporters, aimed at discrediting Obama's fundraising stop in St. Louis. Also on the call was Missouri Republican Party chairman David Cole.
McCaskill has said that she had a scheduling conflict with her own fundraising event in Washington D.C., scheduled weeks ago.
Nixon didn't offer any public comments at the airport but did voice support for the president in his Renaissance remarks. The event was closed to general press coverage.
Priebus, the national GOP chairman, took note of the president's decision to hold no public or official events during his stop and asserted that Obama is "using the Show-Me state as his personal ATM" for his campaign. The implication was that the president was making a low-key visit to raise cash, not votes, because he doesn't expect to have a chance to carry Missouri in his 2012 re-election bid.
Priebus and Cole both asserted that Obama's jobs package -- which he has been promoting at many stops -- was nothing more than "stimulus 2.0" and indicated that the president had no new ideas or leadership skills.
Priebus contended that McCaskill and other Senate Democrats have said little or nothing in favor of the president's plan calling for tax breaks for workers and small and medium-sized businesses, and for more spending on improving roads, bridges and schools.
Slay Defends Jobs Plan
Slay, in his speech at the Renaissance, strongly defended the president's proposal. "As soon as Congress passes it, 120,000 small businesses in Missouri will be able to hire more workers using savings from a lower payroll tax. That is good news for 109,000 Missourians who have not worked in a long time," the mayor said. "And its reforms to the unemployment insurance system will mean that more than 40,000 Missourians who are actively looking for work right now will not have their benefits cut off in six weeks."
Slay also tied the resistance of congressional Republicans to the opposition that St. Louis officials have faced this year in the state Senate, which has killed or curbed some initiatives -- such as local control of the police department, and money for the proposed China hub at Lambert.
"I know something about legislative gridlock. Some bills that you and I care a great about are currently stuck in the Missouri General Assembly," the mayor said. "As important as those bills are to St. Louis, this bill, the American Jobs Act, is more important to the entire state and to the entire country."
Such Democratic praise, however, was delivered in a private gathering, not in a public setting. That contrasted with the very public criticisms delivered throughout the day by Republicans and conservative groups.
Critics Go On The Air, Obama Responds
Two TV ads critical of the president are running on local stations as of today, while conservative groups organized a protest along Lindell Boulevard, near the home of Tom Carnahan. About 75 people participated.
One of the ads is by new U.S. Senate hopeful John Brunner, a Republican, while the other is by American Crossroads, one of the independent political groups overseen by former Bush advisor Karl Rove.
Crossroads says it plans to spend $50,000 to air the ad over the next three days started Monday night and will run through Wednesday in St. Louis on local network TV stations, as well as cable networks CNN and Fox News, "to provide a counterpoint before, during and after the president's visit to St. Louis as he sells his tax increase and re-election. "
The president ignored such attacks to instead focus on what he saw as the core of the nation's economic challenges -- and the middle-class people whose livelihoods were most at risk.
"Most of us come from families -- parents, grandparents -- who had this inherent faith in America, that if you did the right thing, worked hard, showed up at work, put your all into it, that you could end up living a good, comfortable life. You could be in the middle class," the president said.
"You could make sure that your kids went to college. You could have a retirement that was comfortable and secure. You could go on a vacation once in a while. Decent salary, good benefits -- that was the essence of the American Dream. And over the last decade, that faith that we've had has been shaken for a lot of people. It felt like the rules changed."
The president said that his aim, since taking office, was to restore that faith. But he acknowledged that he, and the nation, face challenges.
"I get emails, I get letters every night from people all across the country who are struggling, and their stories are heartbreaking," Obama said. "...And the question is not whether this country is going through tough times -- we are. The question is, where are we going next?"