President Obama to Arrive in LA Wednesday

President Barack Obama will be back in the Southland Wednesday for a pair of high-dollar re-election fundraisers at private homes in Holmby Hills and the Newport Beach community of Corona del Mar.

The president is expected to arrive in Los Angeles late Wednesday afternoon and then attend a star-studded dinner at the home of Bradley Bell, co-creator and executive producer of the daytime soap "The Bold and the Beautiful," and his wife, Colleen.

Comedian/actor Will Ferrell and his wife, Viveca, are expected to serve as co-hosts of the event, which costs up to $38,500 per person.

Among the entertainment expected at the event is a performance by the alternative-rock band Foo Fighters, which won five Grammy Awards Sunday night.

It's part of the Obama Campaign's fundraising efforts that are expected to break all previous records.

"The buzz is that Barack Obama will have the first billion dollar campaign expenditure," says NBC4 political analyst, Sherry Bebitch-Jeffe.

On Thursday, the president is scheduled to attend a 7 a.m. breakfast at the Corona del Mar home of Jeff and Nancy Stack. According to the Obama campaign's website, tickets for the exclusive event range from $10,000 for a photo reception and breakfast to $35,800 for breakfast and a meet-and-greet.

But with the president, comes traffic problems and street closures, which have caused major backups in the past.

"People stay home," says businessman Don Berchtold, "because they don't want to get trapped in the traffic jams, so what it does, it hurts the business."

The trip will be Obama's ninth to the Los Angeles area since being elected president. He has spoken at political fundraisers during all but his first visit.

In October, Obama attended a pair of fundraisers in the Hancock Park area. The first was held at the home of movie producer James Lassiter and his wife, Mia, with actor Will Smith and former Laker Magic Johnson among those in the crowd.

The second was at the nearby home of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, an event organized by the Futuro Fund, a group of Latino Obama supporters from across the nation.

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Copyright City News Service / NBC Los Angeles

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