ABSTRACT
Two and a half days in the American West in the fall of 2011 speak volumes about money and power in the United States, the self-declared homeland and headquarters of democracy. For US president Barack Obama, Tuesday, October 25, 2011, started in Los Angeles with an interview with television talk show host Jay Leno, broadcast later that night on The Tonight Show. After taping at NBC’s studios, Obama and his entourage flew on Air Force One to San Francisco for a $1 million luncheon fundraiser with a gathering of millionaires at the posh W Hotel. Singer Jack Johnson performed at the event, in keeping with the Obama reelection campaign’s tactic of “turning on star power for top donors.” The president had spoken at two fundraisers in Los Angeles on Monday evening, including a Latino-oriented event at the Hollywood mansion of actors Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith.
