President Obama Lands In Bay Area

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - President Barack Obama arrived Wednesday evening to the Bay Area, where he will attend Democratic fundraiser events before his scheduled departure this afternoon.

Air Force One touched down at 7:09 p.m. at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View.

The president was greeted by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, Mountain View Mayor Pat Showalter, Maj. Gen. Nick Tooliatos in charge of the 63rd regional support command of the U.S. Army and Col. Greg Jones, commander of the 129th Rescue Wing of the California Air National Guard.

Liccardo described the president as a cordial, easygoing person who’s pleasant to be around.

“It was obvious that he was happy to get off the plane and very happy to be in the warm weather of California,” Liccardo said of Obama.

Liccardo said he and the president briefly spoke about projects between the city and White House to get more people into the work force. “It’s critical that our commander in chief sees what’s going on here in Silicon Valley,” Liccardo said.

Obama was dressed in a black suit and blue tie as he stepped off the plane about 10 minutes after landing.

He is in the Bay Area for the first time this year and was to spend the night in the San Jose area. He departed Moffett Field in a black car that was part of a 21-vehicle motorcade, which included the California Highway Patrol and an ambulance.

Today he will attend a Democratic National Committee event at the home of former state Controller Steve Westly and Anita Yu in Atherton and will also attend a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event.

General admission tickets for the event in Atherton have sold out. The public could still purchase special guest, photo line guest and premium seating tickets, which ran between $1,000 and $25,000 each, but they, too, appear to be sold out.

His roughly 19-hour visit will end this afternoon when he’s estimated to leave from Moffett Field for Los Angeles, where he will tape an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and attend DNC events.

Obama’s last visit to the Bay Area was in October when he attended a fundraising concert at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco featuring rapper Kanye West.

• Also see: Obama Asks Congress For $125 Million For Caltrain Electrification

--Bay City News/File photo by Renee Schiavone