Biden raises campaign cash in the Bay Area as GOP hopefuls gather in Simi Valley

As Republican presidential candidates flocked to Southern California for a debate and the state GOP convention this week, President Biden was busy in the San Francisco Bay Area collecting campaign checks and painting the election as a choice between MAGA chaos and functioning government. During three fundraising events in some of the swankiest neighborhoods of Silicon Valley and San Francisco on Tuesday and Wednesday, Biden touted his administration's accomplishments on climate and infrastructure, the United States' support for Ukraine and opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his appointment of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. As Wednesday's GOP presidential debate at the Reagan library made clear, the Republican Party has moved a long way from Reaganism. Despite that progress for the Democratic Party, Biden said he was running for reelection because "democracy is still at stake" in next year's election, a likely rematch with former President Trump, who has surged ahead in Republican primary polls. "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy this democracy," Biden said during a private fundraising event Tuesday evening at the Atherton mansion of Democratic donors and philanthropists Liz Simons and Mark Heising in San Francisco.