Crowd Rallies for Presidential Visit

Dozens strained to catch a glimpse of President Barack Obama Monday morning as his motorcade drove swiftly to the for .

Although his heavily guarded arrival was fleeting, those gathered burst into cheers and applause when two limousines followed by a slew of security vehicles approached.

"We've been giddy all day," said Katie Peters, an employee for neighboring , who had gathered with others from the company to greet the president. The group took a picture with an American flag to commemorate the president's visit.

Because of the high security around the president's visit, the curious visitors who stood near the corner of North Shoreline Boulevard and Pear Avenue did not actually see Obama.

"We are happy because he is visiting Mountain View, but we would have been happier if we could see him!" said a disappointed Mountain View resident, Nagiba Abbas, who stood with her friend, Raffia Iqbal. Abbas added that she would have loved to have had coffee with him at the nearby Starbucks.

"He loves Starbucks," she said.

Carole and Steve Eittreim biked 30 minutes from their home in Palo Alto and arrived just in time to witness the president's motorcade pass through.

"I'm pleased that he came out to California," said Carole. "I'm a big supporter of President Obama."

Her husband said he felt the president will win re-election.

"I think he's had a lot of tough problems that are not of his making," he said. "The Republicans have an extremely weak program. ... Obama will be able to convince the American people that the Republican policies are causing our country's troubles—because it's true!"

Mountain View resident Tim Chervenak echoed that sentiment.

"I'm glad he's here," he said. "I wish the Congress would work with him so he could get some more things done, but ... we have an obstructive Congress."

Victor Nayyar, a businessman who owns a computer parts company near the museum, walked out to watch the procession and emphasized the role of the Silicon Valley in the national economy.

"The Silicon Valley has always been carrying on," he said. "Last time we came out of a depression [sic], it was only because of dot-coms."

Nayyar, who commutes from Foster City every day, said the traffic was "horrible," but nothing out of the ordinary. "It's like this every day," he said.

There were a few more unlikely supporters, too.

"I'm excited, although I'm a Republican," said Rolando Geronimo, a Mountain View resident who had volunteered to patrol during the president's visit. "He's my president so I have to support him."

The president had sizable following at the event, but a few took the opportunity to protest. But the protesters weren't Republicans or conservatives; rather, they were those on the left who said they felt Obama had become too "centrist" on environmental and humanitarian policies.

Environmentalist Annie Godfrey shouted her protests and interrupted the Justia group picture with a sign that referred to Obama as "President Ozone."

"The clean tech movement in the Silicon Valley will not elect Obama," she said. Godfrey added she would rather vote for Mitt Romney. "Romney could not be worse than Obama."

Karen Enger from Tar Sands Action expressed similar sentiments that Obama would not keep his campaign promise of reducing the country's dependence on fossil fuel by permitting the Keystone XL pipeline.

"He will get my vote when he denies the permit for this pipeline," she said.

Several environmental groups and news agencies have urged the president to reject the pipeline, though Obama has faced pressure to allow the pipeline, which would bring in crude oil in the form of tar sand from Canada to the U.S.

Another protestor wanted to see Obama speak up about the civil war in the Ivory Coast. She said she has lost numerous family members in the war and that the president should step in.

Some showed up just for the fun.

Gresham Moore from Oakland, an aircraft enthusiast, was most excited about seeing Air Force One. While he is a supporter of the president, he says he is not interested in politics.

"I want people to quit bickering and start working together as a whole," said Moore. "It's ugly. I turn off the TV because it's so ugly."