rise and shine

Washington Post: President Obama raised $53 million last month for his reelection, a substantial increase from the month before.

In February, Obama raised $45 million from 348,000 donors. This month he upped his total by $8 million, and increased his donor pool to 567,000.

…. Ninety-seven percent of donations to Obama’s re-election effort were for $250 or less, the Obama campaign said. The average contribution was $50.78.

As of mid-March the president’s campaign had close to $85 million in cash on hand, according to FEC filings.

More here

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President Obama arrives at the White House from a summit with leaders from the Americas in Colombia, early Monday, April 16

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Buzzfeed: Former Governor Mitt Romney is already offering top donors access to a special “Presidential Inaugural retreat,” planned on the assumption that he will be elected president this November.

The offer, in a fundraising email circulated by a top Georgia supporter to fellow Republicans and obtained by BuzzFeed, is one of several goodies offered to those who contribute more than $50,000 to the joint fundraising committee known as “Romney Victory”….

Those donors will be named “Founding Members” of Romney Victory and invited to a California retreat with Romney and offered “yet to be determined access at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.”

They will also “have preferred status at the first Presidential Inaugural retreat,” the email says.

More here

🙄

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A visitor pretends to talk on a phone alongside a wax figure of US President Barack Obama on the opening day of the new Madame Tussauds exhibition in Sydney on April 16

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 ET: The rivalry continues! First Lady Michelle Obama and Ellen DeGeneres continued their playful trash talking after their highly publicized push-up contest.

….. Their lighthearted back-and-forth took place via satellite, as the First Lady sat in an audience of 600 military families and their daughters in Jacksonville, Florida while Ellen reached them from her studio in Burbank, California.

…. You can see their entire exchange on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Monday, April 16. Check your local listings.

More here

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Morning everyone 😉

colombia

Colombian children look at President Obama during a land titling event for Afro-Colombian communities in Cartagena

…. gesturing to Colombian singer Shakira, as Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos looks on, during a land titling event for Afro-Colombian communities in Cartagena

…. greeting Sebastian Salgado, of the Afro-Colombian San Basilio de Palenque community, during a land titling event at the San Pedro Claver square in Cartagena

Catholic Priest Alvaro Gutierrez leads President Obama and President Santos on a tour of the Spanish colonial Cathedral San Pedro Claver in Cartagena

…. greeting people during a land titling event for Afro-Colombian communities in Cartagena

…. at a multilateral meeting with Caribbean Leaders. Front row from left to right, Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Kenny Davis Anthony, Grenada’s Prime Minister Tillman Joseph Thomas Barbados’ Prime Minister Freundel Jerome Stuart, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, President Barack Obama, Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Belize’s Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega, Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. Back row, from left, unidentified, Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Winston Baldwin, Bahamas’ Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette, Dominican Republic’s President Leonel Fernandez, Saint Kitts and Nevis’s Prime Minister Denzil Llewellyn Douglas and Suriname’s President Desire Delano Bouterse.

From left to right, clockwise: Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Winston Baldwin, Bahamas’ Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette and Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Departing on Air Force One from Rafael Nunez International Airport in Cartagena, April 15

Denver Post

More photos in the posts below

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gracias

….. greeting school children and teachers after speaking at Plaza de San Pedro in Cartagena

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Catholic priest Alvaro Gutierrez leads President Obama and President Santos on a tour of San Pedro church in Cartagena

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….. greeting Colombian singer Shakira during an event to hand over titles to representatives of the Afro-Colombian community during an event at the Plaza de San Pedro in Cartagena. The land restitution is an attempt by Colombia to recognized marginalized communities who were forced from their land by armed groups.

Sebastian Salgado, leader of the San Basilio de Palenque community of descendants of former slaves, receives a land title from President Obama during the ceremony

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…. at a joint press conference with Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos

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…. departing on Air Force One from Rafael Nunez International Airport in Cartagena en route to Washington DC

heads up: pbo press conference in colombia

White House live

The above link is audio only, if you have any other links please leave them in the comments – thank you!

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pic of the americas

President Barack Obama gestures during the official photo at the sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. Obama is flanked by Presidents Sebastian Pinera of Chile, front left, and Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala, front right. Pictured behind the three leaders are Presidents Porfirio Lobo of Honduras, middle row, left, Felipe Calderon of Mexico, middle row, second from left, Ricardo Martinelli of Panama, middle row, right, and Trinidad and Tobago

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President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during a bilateral meeting at the Americas Summit in Cartagena. April 14

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From yesterday:

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Meanwhile….

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Back later, chat away 😉

rise and shine

Own up, which one of you wrote this for El Universal?

Eh, with thanks to Google Translate……

Obama, The Man of the Summit

El Universal: If those in the Gethsemane audience could vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, President Barack Obama would surely get plenty of votes….

… thunderous applause greeted the president when he made his entrance to the auditorium … which hosted the opening ceremony of the Sixth Summit of the Americas.

Obama has shown in Cartagena what we already knew: that he is a very charismatic person…. elegant…

…. walking down the red carpet to the Convention Center … Barack Obama, the “man of the Summit”, wore a white shirt, trousers and brown shoes and black jacket. In the lapel of his jacket he wore a pin with the flag of his country and the gray in his hair shone in the Cartagena sun….

This style and his permanent real smile make him a very charismatic man and even … attractive.

😎

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Morning everyone 😉 I’ll be back later today – chat away.

coming up

Tomorrow (Eastern Time):

10:20 AM PBO participates in an Official Leaders’ Photo

10:30 Participates in a Leaders’ Retreat

1:50 PM Holds a multi-lateral meeting with Caribbean Leaders

3:10 Attends a bilateral meeting with President Santos of Colombia

3:40 Holds a bilateral working lunch with President Santos

4:35 Holds a joint press conference with President Santos

6:10 Tours San Pedro Claver Church

6:20 Participates in a cultural event with President Santos

7:10 Departs Colombia en route Washington, DC

11:35 Arrives Joint Base Andrews

11:50 Arrives the White House

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Next week:

Monday: Attends meetings at the White House.

Tuesday: Welcomes Tony Stewart and the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to the White House to honor Stewart’s Sprint Cup Series Championship.

Wednesday: Travels to the Cleveland, Ohio area to deliver remarks at an event on the economy. Later, he will travel to Michigan to attend campaign events. The President will return to Washington in the evening.

Thursday: Welcomes the BCS National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide to the White House to honor their 14th championship.

Friday: Welcomes the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride to the White House.

arrival ceremony

Colombian attorney Silvio Carrasquilla and his friends walk with his baby donkey Demo, which he dressed as the mascot of the U.S. Democratic Party, as they try to approach President Barack Obama and give Demo to him as a present, in Cartagena

😕

…. Carrasquilla holds up his baby donkey Demo as the motorcade carrying President Obama passes by

…. Carrasquilla holds a leaflet with instructions for President Obama for the care of Demo

Oh no…..

…… Carrasquilla is stopped from approaching the convention center

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President Obama arrives at the Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala Convention Center in Cartagena

…. with Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez

…. Shakira sings the Colombian national anthem

…. with Grenada’s Prime Minister Joseph Thomas

…. with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff

…. with Dominican President Nicholas Liverpool

…. with Guatemalan President Otto Perez

take that, tweety

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Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaks alongside her counterparts from the US Barack Obama and Colombia Juan Manuel Santos during the CEO Summit on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, April 14. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was the moderator for the discussion.

Full discussion:

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From yesterday:

Thanks CollegeKay

heads up: pbo at the summit of the americas

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