At a campaign fundraising brunch at Hawaii’s plush Ko Olina Aulani Disney Resort, President Obama touted his signature health care overhaul as an example of the type of change he has brought to Washington and cited his late grandmother’s story to back up his argument.
“Everything that we fought for in the last election is now at stake in this election,” said Mr. Obama, who traveled to his native state to host the trans-Pacific APEC summit that ended Sunday.
Mr. Obama recalled his decision late in the 2008 campaign to return to Hawaii to visit his dying grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, and see her “fade away.” It was Mr. Obama’s last visit to the woman who had helped raise him, and during her final days he said she was comforted by the knowledge that Medicare was there and she could rely on it.
“She had had a successful career at the Bank of Hawaii,” Mr. Obama said. “She had the kind of retirement that a lot of people don’t have these days, but knowing that Medicare was there for her made all the difference in the world.”
“This is not abstraction,” he continued. “Everybody here has a family member who knows how important that is.”
The comments were likely intended as a not-so-subtle shot to the congressional deficit supercommittee, which is struggling to meet its Nov. 23 deadline to cut the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Republicans on the panel want to gradually move Medicare eligibility to age 67 to generate cost savings, while Mr. Obama and most Democrats support raising taxes on millionaires as a way to balance the books.
According to a Democratic official, approximately 250 people paid at least $1,000 to attend the fundraising brunch, which benefits the Obama Victory Fund, the joint committee for the Democratic National Committee and the campaign.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.