WASHINGTON - Stepping away from Washington's contentious fiscal debates, President Barack Obama is making a West Coast trip aimed at building support for his deficit-reduction plans and raising money for his re-election campaign.
In town hall meetings in California and Nevada, including one hosted Wednesday by Facebook, Obama will pitch his prescription for reducing the deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases for the rich. The president's three-day trip is his most extensive travel since he announced his 2012 bid earlier this month.
That campaign could set new fundraising records as Obama courts high-dollar donors, as well as young people, many of whom were among the small donors who buoyed his 2008 campaign.
Returning to that campaign's playbook, Obama will seek to connect with those younger voters through social networking sites like Facebook. The president's official Facebook page has more than 19 million fans, and he'll become the first U.S. president to visit the massively popular company's Palo Alto headquarters when he conducts the town hall there.
Obama was expected to answer questions submitted via Facebook and read to him by a moderator, as well as some questions from a small in-person audience. Video of the event was to be streamed on the White House Facebook page.
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