●a prelude to fundraising on West Coast_自考专本|专升本|高升专|高升本|在职研究生-学历教育网

[Summary]：U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday visited Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California for a live webcast session on his economy and jobs initiatives. 专科

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday visited Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California for a live webcast session on his economy and jobs initiatives.

In the town-hall styled session, named "Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity," Obama discussed his vision for bring down the country's deficit with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg and Facebook users who submit questions on-line.

The U.S. president intends to use the event to deliver his message that the partisan budget dispute should be resolved with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthy, a concept he calls "shared responsibility."

Obama said the sluggish housing market is probably the biggest drag on the U.S. economy when he answered a question about the challenges faced by those with low and moderate income in getting home loans.

The president also urges supporters of immigration "reform" to make their voices heard, in response to a question on the "DREAM Act," a legislative proposal to provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal and deportable alien students. A Senate filibuster blocked the act last December.

Obama said his biggest regret so far is how he handled health reform and described the Republican's plan to cut Medicare and Medicaid as "shortsighted." He said he expected to do better in immigration, education and new energy approaches in the reminder of term.

After the final question, Zuckerberg gave a Facebook hoodie to the president as a present.

The event is part of Facebook's fast-growing program of " Facebook Live," featuring live-streamed videos on Q&As with celebrities. Zuckerberg made his Facebook Live debut with his interview with former President George W. Bush in November.

SOCIAL MEDIA: NEW CAMPAIGN FIELD

Besides the president, more politicians in the United States have embraced the Internet, especially the social media, to reach large audience.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told reporters last week that the president's Facebook event "is an attempt to reach people who may not get their news through traditional news sources like newspapers and the network news," not necessarily aiming for the youth.

Obama announced his re-election bid with a digital video emailed to 13 million on-line supporters in 2008. Currently, more than 19 million users "like" the president's official Facebook page and nearly 7.5 million people follow him on Twitter.

Tim Pawlenty, a Minnesota politician, announced his potential run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination via Facebook, while Mitt Romney declared his presidential intentions through twitter.

"I remember when people mocked a certain former governor for using Facebook to post policy statements. Now everyone is doing it. " tweeted Rebecca Mansour last week, aide for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a potential White House contender.

FUND-RAISERS

Some political analysts have described Obama's visit to West Coast as a pure campaign stop, citing fund-raisers after the Facebook event. Obama, who has declared his re-election bid, is scheduled to have four political fund-raisers in San Francisco.

According to reports by San Francisco Chronicle, the 35,800 dollar-a-seat slots have quickly sold out for a private dinner for 60 supporters at the home of Marc Benioff, CEO of cloud computing company Salesforce.com.

On Thursday, Obama is scheduled to have breakfast at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco with 100 donors, 10 of whom will pay 35,000 dollars to get a photo opportunity with the president, and 90 will pay 5,000 dollars to attend.

Meanwhile, two events at Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco are expected to draw 2,500 donors with tickets ranging from 25 dollars to 10,000 for a VIP reception.

The newspaper estimated that the fund-raisers in San Francisco and Los Angeles may net the president and the Democratic National Committee up to 7 million dollars within 24 hours.

FACEBOOK: POLITICALLY SAVVY

The live webcast also comes as Facebook steps up its efforts to deepen its ties in Washington. The company has been hiring politicians from both parties to play executive, legal, policy and communication roles.

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