Elsewhere: Adulation, protest to greet Obama in S.F. SFGate
President Barack Obama will arrive in San Francisco today to attend a Democratic fundraiser this evening at the Westin St. Francis hotel.
Several activist groups will be among those to greet the president this evening in San Francisco’s Union Square, across from the hotel.
The groups are rallying for causes that range from health care reform to ending the war in Afghanistan and reforming international trade agreements.
The group Code Pink says it will ask the president to commit to an exit strategy from Afghanistan. The group plans an outdoor banner display in Union Square, while a Code Pink member will try to deliver petitions to the president inside the fundraiser.
The group Single Payer Now plans to have doctors, nurses and health care reform activists across the street from the hotel demanding national single-payer health care.
A third group, the Stop NAFTA/CAFTA Coalition will also rally in the square, calling on the president to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which the group says have increased poverty and inequality.
But the president is guaranteed to see at least one welcome message; the restaurant Lefty O’Doul’s, located across from the St. Francis, plans to fly a 30-foot banner welcoming “the 8th lefty president of the United States.”
All left-handed presidents are welcome to eat for free today at the restaurant, owner Nick Bovis said.
The president is scheduled to arrive at San Francisco International Airport late this afternoon and leave Friday morning, according to the White House. Tonight’s fundraiser is for the Democratic National Committee.
