Obama was speaking directly to all of us who worked and fought for his historic campaign:
"When this campaign began, Washington didn't give us much of a chance. But because you came out in the bitter cold, and knocked on doors, and enlisted your friends and neighbors in this cause; because you stood up to the cynics, and the doubters, and the nay-sayers when we were up and when we were down; because you still believe that this is our moment, and our time, for change - tonight we stand less than two hundred delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.
Don't just count on lawn signs. Think of your parked car as a billboard for Barack.
I have rally signs 12" x 17" printed on cardstock which I give out to friends who are supporting Barack.
Every time we get out of our cars and park, at the grocery store, the library, or at work, we put the rally sign in the inside of the front or rear window in our cars, and prop it in place with a book.
Just think about it...lots of people are seeing it. Much better than a bumper sticker and for this small effort for the next 10 days, you can get thousands of folks seeing your Obama support. They don't have to know you, they just get the subliminal message that Obama is the one to vote for.
It works for everyone who has a car, just think of all the busy places your car parks during the day. So, even if you live on a quiet street or can't put a lawn sign up in your condo, everyone qualifies for a rally sign.
Added bonus: park your car on the street at night and it's still visible to passing cars.
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This is the home stretch. Please take time off work, put in time on the phones, NOW IS THE TIME !! Your action on behalf of Barack Obama can truly make the difference.
Please go to the campaign office at 3892 El camino Real in Palo Alto, any day you can. On Sat. Jan. 26th there will be a major phone bank effort, Please help.
Go Obama, Change, Hope, Peace
After a 6:00 AM departure from the Bay Area with my cohorts April Vargas and Bonny O’Daniel and an arrival at Reno HQ at 11:00, we witnessed what is making this campaign run, about 60 people either working or awaiting a briefing by the superb staff of Obama Reno. After a few hellos and a check-in with the powers that be, we were dispatched about three miles away to a briefing for experienced California volunteers at the University of Nevada. There were probably 100 people there.
After thorough instructions on what was expected of us and an explanation of the regions of Northern Nevada and what is expected of us with the Saturday caucus, the three of us were seemingly the only ones not given a packet with our individual assignments. Heather Hargreaves, the incredibly talented field training director of the Reno HQ, asked us if we’d be willing to head out to Fallon, about an hour and a half east of Reno, and being rural agricultural territory and a Republican stronghold, a challenge to say the least.
Once given directions and a bit of encouragement, off we went. The three of us stopped for lunch in Fernley, one hour east of Reno and site of the recent levy breach and flood, and of course started our canvassing with the waitress, who hadn’t planned to attend the caucus. A couple of moments with us and she was a committed Obama supporter and promised to drag her boyfriend, whom she was certain would caucus for Obama, as well.
Our work done there, we headed on to Fallon. The Churchill County Obama HQ is in the home of Nyla and Keith Howell, who have opened their home to the Barack Obama campaign and are not only the nicest people I’ve ever met, they are politically savvy, well connected in their community and about as selfless as people can be. Living in their home until yesterday were Nick Buis and Ally Coll, wonderful Obama staffers from the East Coast who have been working tirelessly in Fallon to direct volunteers to make the heavily Republican region Obama country.
After sitting in the lovely home and receiving a briefing on Fallon, Churchill County and what to expect, the three of us headed out, with Bonny partnering with a gentleman from Fallon and April and I venturing out on our own. It turns out that the neighborhoods that we were assigned were in precinct 5, and ironically, that was the precinct that became mine on caucus day. I would actually end up seeing several of the people whose doors I had knocked on over the previous two days.
April and I split up, and with temperatures hovering just below freezing, we walked the houses and apartments of what I would label a middle class area of Fallon. Knocking on doors in Democratic dominated San Mateo County is tough enough, but trying to speak to potential voters in rural Nevada is a real challenge. I will say that listening on Reno radio to misleading and disingenuous Hillary Clinton ads didn’t help with the ambience as we struggled to convince residents to get out and caucus for Obama.
The message that I want to leave you with is that you can make a difference. We can all make a difference. In a county with just 12,000 people, 1,000 people showed up at the Fallon County Fairgrounds to the Democratic caucus, and in precinct 5, Obama won 24 to 19 over Clinton. A tremendous victory for sure, but the larger victory and more amazing achievement is that Obama won in Churchill County.
On Friday, the day before the caucus, April and I heard on the local Right Wing radio station a reminder for Republicans to show up at their location at 9:00 AM sharp, which was correct, but when the announcer reminded Democrats that their caucus location was the fairgrounds, he erroneously told them to show up at 11:30, one half hour later than the actual time. Such is life in rural Nevada and a Republican controlled media.
We can make a tremendous difference in this presidential race. We can and must combat the dishonest Hillary advertisements and overcome the misinformation being put out by the Clintons and their surrogates. We must set the record straight on who Obama is, what he stands for, how he’ll change this country and yes, what incorrect propaganda is being put out about him as well.
I can’t speak loudly and strongly enough that we all must work very hard and we can make a difference. Don’t get discouraged; get busy. When April, Bonny and I were heading back to the Bay Area to rejoin our families, we learned that although Barack had lost the popular vote in Nevada, he had actually received one more delegate because he won in more counties and completely controlled the smaller outlying areas of Nevada. This is truly a triumph and something we can build on.
So if you have fifteen minutes, make some calls. If you have an hour, get down to your local headquarters and find out what you can do. If you have half a day, you can walk your neighborhood. The difference in Obama winning and coming in a close second is very slim. The power to put him over the top is within all of us. Let’s not allow an inferior candidate with a sub-par message mixed in with winning no matter what nefarious means she needs to use to beat the best chance we’ve had in years to truly change this country and change the feeling and direction of this world.
I am incredibly fired up and really ready to go. April and Bonny, thank you so much for being my partners in Nevada. CD 12 and everyone in the South San Francisco office, thank you for your encouragement and support. It was truly felt by all of us.
Let’s get going, and we can win this thing!
About 20% of the Democratic delegates (950) are going to be unpledged. These delegates would be sent by the state and the national party and are expected to be largely made up of party insiders. There is a good chance that these party insiders are going to favor Hillary (the party insider/ the establishment candidate) against Obama if it comes to a close delegate face-off between Obama and Clinton.
It appears that after an all time high of about 85% pledged delegates in the last presidential primary election, the party is trying to increase its influence in who is going to be elected as the party candidate. I for one am disappointed by the Democratic party - which once led the change towards instituing primaries through McGovern-Frazier reforms - and its efforts to rescind its commitment to a more 'democratic' candidate election process.
Given that the super-delegates are likely to favor Hillary disproprortionately, I urge you to contact your state democratic party headquarters to send a message that delegates vote in proportion to the state ballot counts.
If we look back only eight years, when President Clinton was completing maybe the biggest turnaround of our economy in the history of the US, I don’t think many of us looked to the future with the trepidation that we do now. In the past eight years, we have become much more aware of our horrendous national debt, the crumbling global climate, our position or lack thereof in world affairs and the growing threat of terrorism and the role that we have played in creating the hostilities that now exist in the Middle East and Eastern Asia.
On this last day before the Iowa caucus, Obama must speak directly to the young people in Iowa to realize what their future will look like if they sit out another election. There are issues that are too numerous to mention that will affect their lives as they grow into adulthood and have families of their own. Just look at what a lack of youth vote brought us for the last eight years.
I implore you, Barack, to speak candidly and sensitively to Iowa’s younger people and let them know exactly what their lack of attendance at their local caucus spot will cost them. Detail the long list of issues that they’ll face in the next five, ten, twenty years if they overlook their importance in the future of this country. You are the man, Barack, that has the appropriate credentials and the right personality to reach out and grab any disenfranchised or disillusioned young man or woman who doesn’t plan to attend a caucus because they think their vote doesn’t matter.
So do it today, tonight. If you get the youth vote out in Iowa tomorrow, you will sweep through the caucus and move on with an amazing momentum to New Hampshire and beyond. Best of luck to you, Barack! To all of us.
Imagine canvassing in the worst and best neighborhoods all in the same weekend. That was my privilege this weekend in Reno, Nevada, where I joined about sixty people for some real-life canvassing and campaigning. I witnessed things I’m not usually exposed to, and believe me when I say that what happened there was about as rewarding as it gets.
The Reno Obama HQ is a vibrant, hustle-bustle and energized group of people who tirelessly apply their talents to supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy in Nevada and making sure that Northern Nevada Democrats and Independents get to their caucus venue to cast their ballot for Obama.
I took it as a compliment and personal challenge to be assigned to precinct 2008, described to me before we left the office as the most difficult and most transient precinct in the City of Reno. I was partnered with Mike Stuart, veteran canvasser in Reno and pizza deliveryman when not working for Barack.
Mike knew this neighborhood from delivering pizza, and he immediately warned me that this was not like anything I’d ever seen before. That was an understatement. As we walked into the makeshift trailer park toward our first street, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness and shock. It was as if old trailers were driven into this area, parked haphazardly and then somehow the post office coming by in the middle of the night and slapping numbers on them.
The cold air and snow and ice hugging the oddly placed properties added an aura that seemed to add to the unwelcome feeling I was receiving. The first woman we had contact with told us with a very hoarse voice that she was a convicted felon. That was an auspicious start, but as we walked the numerous blocks of this forgotten section of Reno, we came across what I thought of as people that society had forgotten. What I slowly came to realize is that these people have also forgotten society.
And yet in the squalor and extreme poverty were people who were still engaged, still planning to go to the Nevada caucus and also quite curious at our presence in their neighborhood of lost dreams and a life of struggle. One woman of about 65 came out of her trailer to speak with us and thanked us profusely for braving the elements to enter her neighborhood and coming to her sliding door. This woman was disenfranchised, but not disengaged. She identified herself as an undecided voter, and after Mike and I spoke with her for about ten minutes, we slowly converted her to an Obama supporter, and she even asked for a bumper sticker, which I went back and delivered to her a little later.
Another woman, who was easily the most well off of the people we came across, identified herself as a hairdresser who still hadn’t decided whom to vote for. She also spoke as if no one from any other candidate’s office would be expected at her trailer’s door, and as we engaged her in political banter and enjoyed sharing war stories, she also expressed a great admiration for Barack.
It’s easy to walk through the upscale neighborhood in the hills of Reno’s outskirts. These people of privilege take for granted their access to the news, to their computers and to their easy mobility in and out of their area. For a canvasser like myself, I found myself appreciative of the people I spoke with in the Hidden Hills area who are engaged, knowledgeable and prepared to cast their ballot, but for the people of the poverty stricken and drug-filled trailer park neighborhood, the number of people who will make it to the polls are far fewer, but those who do plan to make the effort are our country’s heroes.
One elderly woman slid open her sliding glass door and told us that she’d love to vote, but had no transportation to the caucus. Her face lit up when we told her that we’d make sure she had a ride. And yet another younger woman stands out because she told me that she will never vote again before of the treatment Al Gore received in the 2000 election.
My experiences this weekend in Reno will be indelibly etched into my mind. I made many friends at the Reno Obama HQ, and my admiration for the hours and hours of effort being put in by the entire gang there is immeasurable. The collection of people joining the canvassing this particular weekend run the gamut from teenagers to I’d say people in their 60s or older, and a nicer group of people I have yet to meet. Their enthusiasm and generosity of their time is unparalleled.
As the Obama campaign unfolds and expands, please consider giving a little time to canvassing. It is an experience that you won’t forget, and the face-to-face contact that you’ll have with the voters will have a significant impact on them. They will remember you and will most likely become Obama supporters and Obama fans.
I like the Obama campaign strategy, but at this point, it seems to be easier than I would have thought. While most of Obama’s rival candidates on both sides are unraveling or digging bigger holes for themselves than they can possibly climb out of, Barack Obama stays right on course and consistently gets his message out.
Although I am very excited and energized, I am definitely not cocky. There is still a large mountain for Obama to hike. I wish that people in this country would actually pay attention and see what I see, but unfortunately, they keep resurrecting candidates that are seemingly down and out. In a lot of ways, I can’t wait for the election to get here.
I can’t believe that Republicans spend most of their time trying to decide between candidates who are struggling to be more Christian than their competition. And the ones who are actually more truthful about their religious affiliation are spending more time defending their indiscretions and misdeeds in past public service assignments.
On the Democratic side, it seems that we have defined the top tier candidates, and although I like the fringe candidates, they are not gaining any traction, and I’d love to see them graciously step out and pick a candidate to support that has a chance to win. For my purposes, they should select Barack, but I won’t hold my breath. I actually feel a little bad for candidates like Dodd. Biden and Richardson, who have very distinguished careers but just don’t excite enough people.
Having Oprah on your side and drawing huge crowds hasn’t hurt Obama’s notoriety, but no star can speak for the candidate, and Obama has done a beautiful job speaking on his own behalf. Barbra Streisand, Mike Norris and Sean Penn, who are speaking on behalf of other candidates, are not anywhere near as effective at drawing crowds for their candidate of choice. As a matter of fact, these stars have as many detractors as they do fans. Pretty sad!
Barack, keep up the good work, my friend. I had the good fortune to meet you when you were in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you may not remember me. Maybe you’ll remember my words, so listen to these words: Keep going down this path…it’s a winning strategy!
What: Volunteer Field Office Opening / Phone-a-Thon When: Sunday, December 16, 2007, 1:00-4:00 pmWhere: 3892 El Camino Real, Palo Alto CA 94306
What to bring: your cell phone and laptop (if available).
Parking: Please park across the street along Ventura Court or along El Camino Real. There is a laundromat and a Hawaiian BBQ place that depends on the parking lot area for customers, so please be considerate to their business needs. We will ask you to move your car if you're parked in the lot and/or inform you that the area is a 15-minute tow-away zone.
The perfect human being, Mitt Romney, immediately criticized Obama as setting a very bad example for kids, pointing out that kids will learn that if a president of the United States can make mistakes in their younger days, that that behavior can be imitated. This criticism is just ludicrous.
Even Rudy Giuliani applauded Barack for his honesty. This bit of honesty from Giuliani is quite ironic, because Giuliani is in the process of running from his own demons, but his are from a much more recent time, when he was an adult.
This country is ready for an honest, truthful presidential candidate, and is much more likely to vote that person into the presidency. We’ve moved beyond a day when a presidential candidate will tell us that yes, he smoked marijuana, but he didn’t inhale. We are too jaded and sophisticated to accept a candidate that pretends that he has been pure as the driven snow or simply won’t talk about it like it didn’t happen.
Critics of Obama point out that he came out with this information to avoid the information coming out sometime in the near future, but I point out that it’s referenced in his own book. I frankly don’t care why information of this kind comes out. When a candidate is sitting in front of a group of teenagers who have a different focus than an older crowd and ask that candidate about his prior history, it is absolutely incumbent upon the candidate to come forth with the truth.
Our current president, who has had a long history with cocaine use and is an admitted alcoholic, has never been forthcoming with the truth about his history. Even his drunk driving arrest many years ago was covered up for years. Had he been forthright and honest with this information from the beginning, he would have engendered empathy and understanding from the American public, instead of the suspicion and ridicule that he lives with to this day on the subject.
I want my president to be a real person, to be an honest person, to be a mensch. We all want and deserve a presidential candidate and ultimate president-elect that tells it like it is, that gives us the facts, that levels with us. We can take it.
Just think for a moment if we were all Republicans and had that motley group of candidates from which to choose. I frankly can’t even imagine that, but the entire group seems to have nasty skeletons in their closets, held one position before and then completely switched in order to run for president, or cavorted or aligned themselves with less than savory people in the past or still do.
With Giuliani, for example, it has basically become a scandal per week, maybe two. How can he survive for the next year? I can only presume that his fellow candidates on the Republican side will keep making him look viable while exposing their own negatives. Even Hillary Clinton has had to respond to negative publicity from her own little scandals.
Let’s strongly place our support behind a candidate who tells the truth. The youth of this country can see through lies, pandering and dishonesty, and that’s why Obama is so appealing to them. He is a real person, a human being. I have been very proud of my support for him since I got involved in this presidential election cycle, and with this latest story from Manchester, I couldn’t really be more proud of him.
I applaud Dodd for being a man of his word, and I’m extremely gratified that Obama has stepped up to do the right thing. We have lived through almost the complete erosion of habeas corpus and really the entire US Constitution at the hands of this current administration. It’s completely ironic, because the FISA law that was enacted not that long ago allows for legal wiretapping and surveillance, even allowing the notification to the FISA court after the fact in an emergency situation.
It is also par for the course that Senator Clinton has reluctantly agreed to back Dodd’s and Obama’s decision to block this bill, but with conditions. This is typical Clinton, unfortunately. She continues to be a disappointment to me.
One other reminder that the Bush/Cheney regime has got to be stopped right now is that is has recently been revealed that they were spying on citizens with wiretapping and NSA surveillance without FISA compliance even before 9/11, even before the supposed threats that they so blatantly seemed to ignore before the attacks on our soil.
If there’s anyone out there who thinks that Bush/Cheney are out there to protect us from the “terrorists” so they don’t attack us on our land, please let me know. But I don’t think I’m going to hear from too many people.
Barack, let this be a foundation and platform that allows you to stand up for all of our rights that are being threatened or have already been trampled on. You are my hero!
The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPwbozpIzM, or just search for Obama Portrait on YouTube.com and you’ll find it.
If you’d like to let me know what you think, I’d appreciate it. And if you like it, tell your friends and team members. It will be a wonderful addition to a house party coming to a city near you.
As a little bonus, if you want a link to Barack’s amazing and now famous 2004 convention speech, go to these two email addresses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNCLomrqIN8 for part one and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56-m8wx1mwo for part two.
Best of luck!
I was very impressed with the large size of the crowd today, and I presume that the sponsors and volunteers didn’t expect such a huge turnout. They were frantically setting up more chairs as the crowd filtered in. This fact alone was very encouraging to anyone who wants to make certain that we’re not fighting this battle alone.
Booths and tables were set up representing every Democratic candidate, and there was also a large table for the San Mateo Democratic Committee, as well. Attendees were decked out in t-shirts, buttons and hats holding signs and banners. and many Obama supporters were holding paper plates that someone had painted with their candidate’s attractive logo.
The afternoon’s festivities were very ably handled by the Democratic Committee’s chair, who began the event by introducing local hero and long-time Democratic stalwart Congressman Tom Lantos, who did a superb job welcoming the crowd and running down the attributes of each of the Democratic candidates. He had the benefit of having the ability to have either worked with or personally known each of the candidates, and he spoke respectfully of each candidate and reminded the crowd that each one would make a terrific president of the US.
The first speaker representing the long list of Democratic candidates was none other than Congressman Dennis Kucinich himself, who rallied the crowd with a lively and energetic speech, and I have to say that I was impressed with the size of the crowd present with Kucinich signs and paraphernalia. I also have the feeling that the majority of the electorate who support Kucinich was present at this event. They were a vocal and spirited group.
Although the other Democratic candidates could not be present, each was represented well by a person of note. In the case of the top tier candidates, Former California Senator Jackie Speier spoke on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton, current California Senator Leland Yee on behalf of John Edwards, and former California Gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly on behalf of Senator Obama. I may be a tad biased, but the speech for Obama was the most well received, and if I can judge the relative quietness of the crowd as he spoke, the most listened to speaker. He was also interrupted numerous times by Obama supporters loudly chanting Obama’s name in unison.
I am writing this before the results of the Straw Poll are publicly announced, but to me, the results don’t matter anywhere near as much as the enthusiasm of the crowd, the spirit of cooperation among the supporters of each candidate and just the overall fever pitch of the crowd. As a large group, they were into it, and if this is a sample of the involvement and affiliation of the attendees in the hall, San Mateo County once again asserts itself as a stronghold for the Democratic Party.
I would say the overall theme today is that the Democrats of San Mateo County will work very hard to see their candidate receive the Democratic nomination for president and ultimately win the presidency, and if their candidate isn’t the one, they’ll be there for whichever Democrat heads the ticket next November. This feeling overall is the most heartwarming for me. Like I said, I like to be with people who want to make a difference in this country.
Did you get a chance to see Barack on Jay Leno last night? If not, find it somewhere and watch it. He was masterful, relaxed, funny and totally engaging. If that's the Barack we see in the weeks to come, he'll do very well.
Incidentally, if you haven't done so lately, go back and watch Barack's 2004 convention speech again. You'll see why you fell in love in the first place. In fact, show it to all the undecided people you know. If thery'e still undecided after that, then just maybe they're incapable of seeing greatness.
My wife, who was laying next to me last night watching Barack on Leno, smiled during the commercial and said, He's even better than I thought!" She's right.
Breaking news from the conference call with Campaign Manager David Plouffe: A new online fundraising contest is being launched that will grant the members of the My.BarackObama.com groups that raise the most money through the end of the week the opportunity to participate in a personal conference call with Senator Barack Obama and Campaign Manager David Plouffe. Be on the lookout for more information from the My.BarackObama.com team.
State of the Campaign
Barack Obama's Schedule: On Monday, Barack Obama received the endorsement of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association. Tuesday, he’s speaking at Change to Win in Chicago. Wednesday, he can be seen live on the NBC/NECN/New Hampshire Public Radio/New Hampshire Democratic Party debate, which will be broadcast live on MSNBC at 9pm EST. Following the debate he’ll head to New York, where he’ll participate in a live interview on ABC’s The View at 11am EST on Thursday before leading a major rally in Washington Square Park. On Friday, he speaks at Howard University’s Convocation and participates in the CBC Issues Forum in Washington, DC.
The weather was wild, the setting was beautiful and the wonderful hostess displayed her Obama '08 green blanket under the fabulous festive food. . . What fun we had sharing our personal stories, learning from others and hearing more about this historic campaign.
Getting to meet folks that I have only spoken to over the phone is one of my favorite parts of this campaign. . .and connecting the many varied supporters of Barack throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas is quickly becoming a passion of mine.
Hearing why they have signed up, as I did a few months ago, and being able to tell them confidently that "Yes, we can support a local tabling effort" or that "registering voters at the community college" in their neighborhod is a simple and effective way to carry the Grassroots campaign message into their area and community, also has become part of what I can do to assist others who feel the excitement of the movement.
I am once again renewed in my energy and my enthusiam for my chosen title of HOPEMONGER---like Barack, "I am guilty. . ." of being Hopeful, acting out of my deep convictions, knowing that what we are about in supporting Senator Obama is making a difference. . .and will allow a different process in our Democracy. . . as I learned so long ago from RFK:
"It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different certers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of opression and resistance."
Being a ripple of Hope. . . joining others to build that current of change. . .
Shirley
