President Barack Obama is scheduled to stop in Seattle next week, the third time in seven months he will visit the state's largest city to raise money.
His re-election campaign hasn't released many details of the trip yet. It’s a stop with two campaign fundraisers at the end of a Western swing that includes Nevada, California and Portland, Ore., then heads for New Orleans.
But if the pattern of previous trips holds, he can expect to rake in more than $1 million . . 

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OLYMPIA — President Obama will hit the Washington state campaign ATM again next week. He's scheduled to attend two fundraisers in Seattle.

A press release this morning from the Obama campaign said Washington is on a list of stops the president will make to raise money: Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and Louisiana.

No firm details on the stops yet, although there will be two in Portland before the two in Seattle.

Obama was last in Seattle, for a pair of fundraisers, on May 10, the day after he announced he'd changed his mind and was supporting same-sex marriage. He also made campaign money stops in Seattle in February and last September.

SEATTLE — Barack Obama acknowledged he hasn't been a perfect president as he asked some , supporters to help him win another term and ask themselves a different question than the tradition standard an incument faces of “are you better off than you were four years ago?”

The question he wants to frame the election: “Will we be better off if we keep moving forward?”

In a half-hour speech regularly interrupted by the partisan audience, Obama sought to paint Republicans as the group that wants to go back to policies that didn't work in the last decade and Democrats as the party trying to move forward.

Some of the loudest cheers came whenever he mentioned something involving gay rights, and he worked that theme into many areas of the speech just a day after he said he personally supports the rights of same-sex couples to marry, although the issue should be decided by each state.

“If you're willing to work hard, you should be able to find a job…give your kids a chance to do better…no matter what your last  name is, where you come from… no matter who you love,” he said.

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McClain, left, and Brotski outside the Paramount Theater.

SEATTLE — President Obama's supporters are lining up outside the Paramount Theater and filling the blocked off street in advance of his second fund-raiser of the day in this city.

Obama arrived shortly before noon at Boeing Field, where he was greeted by Gov. Chris Gregoire, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jay Inslee and other local Democrats, a pool report said. The motorcade then took Obama to a home overlooking Lake Washington, where about 70 people were gathered for a $17,900 per ticket meet and greet.

Outside the estate, a small child had a sign that thanked Obama for “standing up for my mommies,” the pool report said.

Downtown near the Paramount were also fans of Obama's announcement Wednesday that he personally supports same-sex marriage.

Mary Beth Brotski and Teri McClain wore a pair of sandwich signs, which read on the front “Thanks for Evolving on Same Sex Marriage” and had a picture of a chimpanzee on one side and Obama on the other.

McClain, who said she tries to attend every Obama appearance in the Seattle area, said she created the signs this morning. The response was mostly positive, although one person did criticize her choice of picturing Obama and a chimp.

“I didn't have time to draw the whole evolutionary chart,” said McClain.

Neither were surprised by his announcement. “I think it was inevitable,” Brotski said.

“It's time,” McClain said. “He's all about change.

President Barack Obama is headed for Seattle today, to raise campaign money and tie up traffic.

Make that tie up traffic even worse than normal in the city.

He's due into Boeing Field about 11:45 a.m., has a high-ticket private fundraiser in the city ($17,900 per ticket) for about 70 folks at a private residence, then a “more affordable” event for the masses — $1,000 per — at the Paramount Theater downtown.

At least for $1,000, folks will get to hear Dave Matthews.

Spin Control will be there, and the campaign says there will be Wi-Fi, so if they're right, we'll be live blogging the event.

Stay tuned.

OLYMPIA — If you're coming to Seattle for the weekend and hoping to catch President Obama, who'll be there for just over three hours on Sunday, bring cash. Not much chance of seeing him in the flesh without it.

Obama has two campaign stops on this visit to the Puget Sound environs. He'll attend one fund-raiser at the Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle. Tickets start at $100, they're expecting as many as 400 people. The Robert Cray band is playing, so if Obama's a little late — good bet, considering he's coming from another gig — there will be something to keep the crowd occupied.

First on the agenda is brunch at the Medina home of Jon Shirley, a retired Microsoft board member,  where tickets go for $35,800 per couple. (Not clear if there's a discount if you go solo.) They expect 100 folks at that, so if they're all coupled up, the event would raise just under $2 million. But the campaign has to split the take with the Democratic National Committee, and actually gets the short end of the stick: Campaign rules limit an individual contribution to $5,000 per election, so the Obama campaign gets the first 5 Gs, from each person, and the DNC gets the rest,  up to $30,800, which is the maximum donation allowed to a campaign committee.

So Obama could come away from Seattle with a chunk of change for the campaign. If you go to Seattle for the something other than a campaign event — like, say, the Seahawks game — you could come away with a bit of a headache for the traffic delays. They'll briefly shut down traffic between Boeing Field and Medina, and from Medina to downtown Seattle, and then from downtown to Boeing Field, to get the motorcade through. Throw that into the mix with Seahawks traffic and the fact that some stretches of road are closed or restricted for repairs, and Seattle media are already warning people of long delays and asking anyone who doesn't have to go anywhere to stay home.

It's not quite car-mageddon. Yet.

OLYMPIA – After almost two years living in Pugetopolis, I’m still surprised by things that highlight the big differences between the East Side and the Wet Side of the state.
   Take for example, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn’s proposal last week to address the problems with rowdy patrons leaving downtown bars at the mandated 2 a.m. closing time, creating huge disturbances and a sudden rush of drunk drivers on the streets.
   This really is a problem. A few years ago my daughter lived in Belltown, an area near downtown that is home to innumerable trendy bars and restaurants. One night while visiting, we were treated to the sounds of closing as bar patrons made their way to a nearby parking lot, loudly discussing transgressions that one or the other had committed during the evening, stumbling into cars and setting off anti-theft alarms.
   “What the (bleep)”
   “Where’s my (bleeping) keys?”
  

OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire is blasting the makers of Camel cigarettes for its use of Seattle as one of 10 “cool” locations in an ad campaign.

The “Breaking Free” campaign, which will use 10 locations on which the iconic dromedary and standing in front of an artistic rendering of Pike Place Market and Mount Rainier. “Home of grunge, a coffee revolution and alternatives who’ll probably tell you they’re happy when it rains. It’s the smell of vinyl in that hidden record store, that worn t-shirt and a ticket stub with a scribbled phone number — all with the spirit of our Gold Rush ancestors who didn’t think twice before breaking free for the glowing future ahead.”  (Note to RJ Reynolds: You’d have to be smoking something much stronger to see the mountain, Pike Place and the skyline like that.)

“I am alarmed and disappointed at R.J. Reynolds’ new marketing campaign which exploits the name and image of Seattle to recruit young smokers,” Gregoire said in a prepared statement today. “Special edition cigarette packs featuring Washington landmarks, including the Pike Place Market and Mt. Rainier, are being co-opted to sell a product that is responsible for killing about 7,500 people in our state every year.”

The glowing future is “a one-way ticket to disease and addiction,” she said.

Reynolds contends it is not a program aimed at teens. The locations they picked are adult themed, such as Las Vegas, Sturgis, S.D., which is the site of an annual motorcycle gathering, and Route 66. The contest is connected to a website that is designed for adults, asking for date-of-birth information as well as name, street and e-mail address, phone number and brand preference. (None/non-smoker is not an option.)

And of course, teen-agers never lie about their age to get something they want.

Gregoire is not alone in her ire. The city of San Francisco is unhappy that one of the other break away destinations is The Haight. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has called on Reynolds to cancel the campaign.

The company has thus far refused.