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President Obama headlines Houston fundraisers

President Barack Obama arrived in the Bayou City Friday evening for two fundraising events.
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HOUSTON President Barack Obama arrived in the Bayou City Friday evening for two fundraising events.

He was supposed to land around 4:40 p.m., but Air Force One was delayed by the weather. He arrived at Ellington Field around 5:30 p.m.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and Rep. Al Green greeted the president at the airport.

The first event was at Union Station at Minute Maid Park and tickets cost $500 each.

Yes we can. We can do it, he said to a crowd of several hundred at Minute Maid Park.

Bill McWhorter paid $10,000 to get a picture with the President Obama.

I am going to put it up there on the wall in my office and be very proud of it, he said.

David Siverling also paid for a moment with the President.

I might ask for knuckles instead of a handshake. Who knows, he said.

A fundraising dinner was planned for Friday night at the home of a River Oaks couple.The fee for that event was $38,500, 60 of them sold out.

Security is always tight at a Presidential event even the sidewalks were closed in River Oaks where several blocks were secured hours in advance around the home of Tony Chase. Chase is the chair of the Greater Houston Partnership and a Harvard law school friend of the President.

Reach for that vision you have in your hearts. Change will come. If you are willing to work as hard in this election as you did in the last election, Change will come. We ll finish what we started in 2008, Obama told the attendees.

KHOU 11 News Legal Analyst Bob Stein said only in maybe Texas or California can someone come in, in this case President Obama, and spend about four or five hours at two different fundraisers and leave with about a half-million dollars.

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