Demonstrators turn out for President’s visit to Bellevue | Photos
Published 3:54 pm Friday, February 17, 2012
President Barack Obama’s visit to Bellevue drew a diverse group of protesters to the Westin Bellevue on Friday afternoon.
Many of the approximately 100 people were there to protest the big-ticket fundraisers, saying the presidency should not be for sale to big companies and wealthy individuals. There also were partisan participants, with a number of Rick Santorum signs in view.
Obama swept through the state Friday on a fundraising tour, and to deliver a speech at the Boeing plant in Everett. His next stop came in Medina, where he held a private fundraiser lunch with 65 supporters, who paid $17,900 a plate to attend. He then moved on to the Westin Bellevue, where supporters paid $1,000 for admission, lunch and entertainment from Seattle band, the Head and the Heart.
These expensive gatherings disappointed many of the protesters who hoped Obama would be able to change the culture in Washington, D.C.
“It’s really tragic that both parties have to hold these events to blast the airwaves with false ads,” said Ben Sibelman, who helped organize the gathering.
Demonstrators packed the sidewalks on Northeast Sixth Street, with others drifting out to the corner of Northeast Fourth Street.
Sibelman and others hosted a Picnic for the 99 Percent and spent much of the afternoon chatting with passersby about the current political system. They displayed a nearly 10-foot-tall banner of the opening lines of the U.S. Constitution, with a sheet at the bottom for people to sign.
The protest was organized by the “Get the Money Out of Politics” working group of Occupy Seattle, though it was not an official Occupy Seattle protest.
Photos by Nat Levy, Bellevue Reporter
