President Barack Obama told 100 supporters at a private fundraising lunch that he believes this fall’s election is more important for the country than the one that resulted in his election in 2008,
"It’s going to be a clarifying election about who we are and what we stand for," he said. A lot is at stake in this election and we are going to have to fight for it."
Obama said that his 2008 opponent, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., understood the need for compromise on some issues and was in favor of things like immigration reform and addressing climate change. This year, Obama said, the Republican presidential field has tilted further to the right, to the detriment of most Americans,
"My confidence in the core decency of the American people is undiminished," Obama told the luncheon group. "I believe we are on the right track."
Obama was introduced to the 100 at the luncheon, who had paid between $7,500 and $10,000 to attend, by Jane Stetson of Norwich, the finance chairwoman for the Democratic National Committee.
"You’ve done what you said you would do," Stetson said of Obama as he stood next to her, hands folded and smiling. "You’ve said you know where you’re going and how to get there and it’s true."
Obama will appear later this afternoon before an estimated 4,500 people at a multi-purpose facility at the University of Vermont before flying to Portland, Me., for a second set of fundraisers. The two Vermont events are expected to raise around $750,000 for the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
By Sam Hemingway, Pool Reporter, Burlington Free Press