I've created a webpage with some of my favorite campaign quotes and videos to inspire and inform. Please share these links with friends:
Be a Barack Star! http://squidoo.com/barackstar08
Obama Ohana at CafePress http://cafepress.com/obamaohana
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/military_georgia_absenteevoters_112008w/
For our neighbors, friends and family on base and overseas, here's a link to information regarding Absentee Voting for the Georgia run-off election coming up. Please pass the info on to anyone who may need it. There is also a request for phonebanking to Georgia available on your MyBO page. Mahalo!
I did a bit of sign waving with another dozen volunteers, made reminder calls in the afternoon, but others had done such a great job with GOTV efforts, just about everyone we reached tonight had already voted. Someone brought champagne for all, but we dare not jinx the outcome by celebrating victory prematurely, so a toast was said in gratitude and memory of Barack's Tutu (grandmother).
On to the watch party and celebration, which was packed full of supporters. A heartfelt letter from Barack's sister, Maya (who has been caring for their grandmother in these last few days) was read. I think the longest line this Election Day was the buffet, but it was ono (real good)!
99% of the Hawai`i count is in now, and we've made our staff's goal to bring in the largest percentage of Obama/Biden votes... 72%!
My favorite personal experiences of the campaign... on a Sunday afternoon of sign waving, seeing a car come around the median in a U-turn (heading to McDonald's) full of tutus (grandmas) all vigorously waving back at us after seeing our Obama-Biden signs. Registering a student to vote who was turning 18 on Election Day... and shaking hands with both our State Senators for the first time tonight!
Mahalo (thank you) to all campaign staff and supporters for making my HOPE a REALITY!
IMUA (go forward)!
We had a small, but mighty force out on Meheula Sunday afternoon. Received plenty shakas, honks, plus a brief Mililani rainshower blessing on our team of sign wavers, just in time to cool us off from the afternoon heat!
We will continue sign waving from 3pm to 6pm Monday, 11/3.
Login to my.barackobama.com, sign-up and bring family & friends. The person who registers for the event AND brings the largest number of sign-wavers to this event, wins one of my Obama Ohana T-shirts (up to $29.99 value, plus shipping)! www.cafepress.com/obamaohana HINT: We had a family of four out on Sunday, so you gotta beat that turnout for a chance to win!
For Election Day Tuesday, 11/4, let's concentrate on GOTV calls from home or come down to headquarters (Ward Warehouse, 2nd floor, above Nohea Gallery) to make calls and stay for the celebration in the evening. See you there!
I've just posted a new Group, "Mililani for Obama GOTV" and a Sign Waving Event for residents in Mililani, HI. For those who have friends and relatives in Mililani, please encourage them to sign-up for Sign Waving. Mahalo!
Login to my.barackobama.com, sign-up and bring family & friends. The person who registers for the event AND brings the largest number of sign-wavers to this event, wins one of my Obama Ohana T-shirts (up to $29.99 value, plus shipping)! www.cafepress.com/obamaohana
This is my latest design available on CafePress, for all those who have done their Absentee/Early voting: http://www.cafepress.com/obamaohana.240248992 Sizes S-2XL, also available in Jr. Miss sizes. Hope you like it! I voted HOPE, did you?!?
This is a timely, thought-filled conversation with Martin Sheen, actor, devout Catholic and Obama supporter. Please share the link and bookmark the page:
"Can you be pro-life and support Senator Obama?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IczsKEe6es0
Over the weeks and months of this campaign, I've collected my favorite quotes, pics and videos on a "Squidoo" page to share here in the blogs, on my profile and in emails to friends and family. Between Get Out the Vote calls and canvassing, this is a great way to spread the word to your "ohana" (family) too.
Besides this campaign being priority one for many of us, I know we all have other facets to our lives, and this is where networking across those lines can come into play. A few of my other passions have their own Squidoo pages, and by linking them to each other, my campaign page gets more circulation, hits to the page, which brings it up in the site rankings and moves up through the search engines. The more positive, fact-filled pages in the search engines, the more chance of overriding the effects of negative campaigning online.
So please let me encourage you to share your passion(s)... whether it's with Squidoo, your own blog, social networking or bookmarking sites... link up, use your keywords, and spread the good word!
http://squidoo.com/barackstar08
We have had a wonderful response from greatful new voters for making it convenient for them to register. I'm on Oahu, and we still need volunteers who have time to work with our Deputized Registrars at college campuses and community events. Details are on our Hawaii Events page on this website: LinkIf you know of a venue where we could hold a Voter Registration and have a willing contact person to work with (property manager, business owner, administrator, etc.,) please message me, and I will forward the information to our Coordinator. If you have unregistered family and friends in Hawai`i, please remind them of the October 6th deadline, and encourage them to register.
Wherever you are, please check your Events list and volunteer, even if you can only spare an hour, to give another volunteer a break in a long day. The more, the merrier! Mahalo (thank you)!
Community organizing has never been about partisan politics, it is always about people first. It doesn't surprise me that Sarah Palin or any of the other top Republicans don't have a clue about what this "real" job entails. Before Barack Obama came on the national scene, organizers were invisible, and we liked it that way. When I came home to tell my parents what I was doing, I had to rent the film "Norma Rae" to point out the guy with the skinny tie, and say, "That's what I'm doing." The groundwork developing a viable organization with several mentors and leaders took a few years before small victories were newsworthy and concrete enough for my parents to grasp the concept of my career choice. For others I tried to clarify that I didn't sort out closets or garages, but more often didn't bother to elaborate. "I work with churches and temples..." was the easiest way out of those conversations, there was just no spare time to waste, and more than enough real work to be done.
Community organizers know the real work is all about people, anger and action. Yes, anger... and fire and passion. Last night was a good night for organizers--who will put people first, and channel our anger to organize and make the changes we want to see and become.
Please let this motivate you to sign-up (special plea for Hawai`i volunteers, but wherever this note finds you) to register voters, door knock, phone bank, become a precinct captain... whatever you can contribute to the effort. With your help, we community organizers will have the last laugh, come November!
It is the morning after the opening remarks of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and my eyes still burn from the tears shed last night. Speeches and presentations rich with history, and making history, before our eyes were such a moving sight. I could see that even some of the usual stoic news anchors and commentators developed flushed noses and tear-rimmed eyes as the stage makeup faded and the minutes passed. It isn't the first time I've cried during this campaign, and I know it won't be the last. In fact, it was a reminder to pull out my "crying towel" for our Convention Watch Party this coming Thursday evening.
My green towel with the character "Eeyore" embroidered on one side, was given to me as a Christmas gift from a direct "disciple" of Saul Alinsky (credited as a pioneer of grassroots community organizing today) after my third year as a community organizer. Up until the presentation of this gift, I had not known that five years prior, my pastor had pointed me out to my future mentors at a church service where I happened to tearfully ask for prayers for a friend's mother. At the time, he and his spouse (also a seasoned organizer) said, "You must be joking, she's such a cry-baby!" Even worse, there was doubt all the way around that I could handle such demands of time with a preteen, preschooler, spouse and fulltime job. Still, they kept enough of an open mind to "talk-story" with me and challenge me to take a mix of baby-steps, with a few leaps and bounds, into their world... tears, fears and all.
This is not only a story of what is possible, but another illustration of what a family can do when they support each other to reach their goals with little more than a bit of faith in things not yet seen. My tears of joy this week are for the Obama Ohana (family) who share this faith in each and every one of us!
I don't know how to thank those who have bought my T-shirt designs on CafePress (I don't get access to contact information), since I started offering them through my Profile, blog, Flickr photo gallery and at events. Each item has a mark-up over cost ($1 for buttons and up to $10) that I am sending to the campaign at the end of each month. Sales have picked up since the announcement of Obama-Biden, and there are even a few pups sporting my "I bark for Barack" doggie T's! I love how easy it is to setup a shop and ease in which people are receiving their merchandise. So to all of you who have supported my fundraising efforts, a BIG mahalo to you!
http://cafepress.com/obamaohana
Here's a nationwide Event we want everyone to participate in:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpgyjf
I received a note from my sister-in-law today. Here's what she said, "Now even my Dad is saying Obama has more and better ideas and should be our President."
The backstory to this statement is that Dad is 92 years young. His formative years were during the Great Depression. He was a business graduate on scholarship from UCLA a couple years before WWII broke out. Working in the kitchen of a hospital chopping vegetables, he went to the administrator to protest the spoiled produce they were using to prepare the meals. He was immediately removed from his job and taken to join the rest of his family. Like most Japanese Americans on the Westcoast, his entire family was interned for the duration of WWII in a "camp." (defined: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment ) Unable to enlist like most other young men at that time for health reasons, and as the camps were closed, he focused on "pulling himself up by the bootstraps" and making it on his own. He worked lugging crates at the wholesale produce market, assisted his parents in their small business and worked nights at the Post Office. In his late 30's he received his teaching credentials from USC in a special program to get more teachers into the public school system. He retired as an elementary school principal many years later.
This life experience led to a fierce belief in the individual and an ever-watchful eye on economics. His grandkids reminisced at his 90th birthday, that the things they most recall have been his lectures on the price of gold and the coming hyper-inflation, "where a loaf of bread will be over two dollars, can you imagine that?!?" Needless to say, he would align himself as a Republican for all these decades.
It takes a very strong, proud man to overcome the obstacles he faced, and even stronger to speak the truth when it isn't popular. I believe Dad and Barack have this in common and this is what Dad sees in him, too.
Here's the rest of the note: "And we are all looking forward to seeing how the interviews with Rick Warren, the minister of Saddleback Church, go this Saturday. Saddleback Church has a huge congregation of over 20,000, predominantly conservative/Republican. A Democratic contingency is trying to show up in force Saturday for just that reason to show support for Obama."
Dad won't be able to attend the forum, so if you are in Southern California, I hope you will make it down for this event!
I am not one to be speaking for this campaign, our candidate, a particular organization or religion, but this is my story of how action based on faith has played out in my life.
I did not grow up in a "religious" household, but was exposed to rituals of friends and classmates in a predominately Catholic neighborhood. My grandparents were Buddhists when it came to weddings and funerals. I recall my mother saying at one point in her life she attended a church in Chicago that was "like the Holy Rollers" which was well out of my scope of understanding at the time. It was a surprise, because I had no idea she had ever been in a Christian church at all except for her own wedding and those of friends and relatives. I never attended a Sunday School class until I was invited by a friend in high school. From that point forward I've been challenged by the teachings, teachers and mentors I've encountered along my personal faith journey. It hasn't been smooth and easy, I've been seen as the "Prodigal Daughter" as I've moved in and out of the structured church system on more than one occasion. Yet, this exposure to organized religion has been my grounding and calling for a large portion of my lifetime to work with youth and young adults, taking employment at Head Start, doing volunteer work, and accepting the challenge of becoming a faith-based community organizer.
I had the honor of training with some of the most seasoned veterans in the organizing world. We worked with priests, ministers and lay people of many, many faith traditions... INCLUDING atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, people from all political affiliations, in all the "colors" of the globe. We shared our stories to build community, mutual understanding and strengthen the organization. We identified and worked together on social issues, and "agreed to disagree" on those that might divide us. We praised, prayed, meditated, danced, or sang whatever a volunteer leader offered to share with the gathering to reflect on our discussions, heal our disappointments and (often) heated disagreements, lift up and celebrate our accomplishments. We also wrestled mightily with issues of balance and fairness and inclusiveness with this amazing "toss salad" of humanity. It is all part of the dynamic process of an ever-evolving community.
I've since moved on from the organization I helped to build. Now, I'm pleased to run into some of the people I've worked side-by-side with, right here on My.BarackObama and at campaign meetings and events. How can we not be here?!? I am thoroughly enjoying this front-row seat in seeing community organizing unfold on the national stage, and feel blessed that I can do my small part in it all.
I hope those who bristle at the term "faith-based" will seek to learn more and reconsider their stance on this issue. I also encourage those who have been involved in faith-based organizations or initiatives, whether on the implementation or receiving ends, to take some time to share their thoughts and stories also.
****
“There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Last night in the "Late Night Thread" on the campaign's mainpage blog, Robby from Louisiana suggested we each post our 3 words to describe Barack Obama. Robby showed us how this very simple exercise can be the jump-off point to answer the questions of "Why Obama?" we will be getting from people for the next several months. I messaged Robby to tell him I wish I had this in my mind when a local station asked me this question on camera. With deft editing they managed to get a decent soundbite from me, but oh what a difference these 3 words would have made! Now I am ready when someone sees my button or T-shirt and asks "Why Obama?" This exercise would also make a good warm-up mixer for campaign events like house parties and training sessions.
So to start you off, my 3 words are:
Honest
Wise
Aloha
What are your 3 words?
Hope you'll post them in the Comments here so we can share them with each other. Mahalo!
"Call them Kool-Aid drinkers. Political romantics. Starry-eyed dreamers.
But as the marathon Democratic primary campaign nears an end, Barack Obama's staff is on the verge of vindicating its belief that the eloquent black freshman senator from Illinois was a unique candidate who could win the Democratic nomination in one of the biggest upsets in presidential politics.
The band of Obama loyalists who imagined that could happen have stunned even themselves with their success against Hillary Rodham Clinton, who appeared to have wrapped up the nomination last year, before any votes were cast. Now, they face a new challenge with the impending nomination and campaign against Republican John McCain..." -Associated Press on Yahoo!News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080524/ap_on_el_pr/obama_s_team&printer=1;_ylt=AgTMqEq52YazYdCzeeSKdDBh24cA
Last night I made something special for everyone's doggies, big and small. http://www.cafepress.com/obamaohana.240239687
And lastly, I want to share this link from a friend and proud grandma of a soon-to-be deployed marine: http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/
A BIG mahalo (Thank You!) to campaign staff and our troops at home and abroad!
Aloha! This is not an endorsement of our candidate by the Vogel family or their sponsors, but I wanted to share this with everyone I can, as an example of what ordinary people can do to make learning relevant and exciting--and how our social networking can be an instrument in the process!
My family has been the owner/operators of an internet center for the past five years. Through the course of business, I have been in contact with a diverse social network throughout the world. One of these persons is Nancy Vogel, a school teacher whose family has embarked on some amazing adventures on bicycles. This year, they are leveraging the latest in technology and have received non-profit funding to provide school teachers, home-schoolers and families with geography lessons, and more, all along their route--from the northern most tip of Alaska to the southern most tip of Argentina! I hope you will distribute to colleagues, pass on to classroom teachers and share with your families: http://familyonbikes.org/
As I've said in previous posts here, Education has always been my issue, so I hope this helps the cause!
Happy Mother's Day! Mahalo (thank you) to everyone who have taken a look at my Squidoo & CafePress page links over the past several months. The pennies from residuals and dollars from commissions have added up, and I was able to send a Mother's Day donation to the campaign in the amount of $50.02 today.
It's difficult to say how much has been posted on behalf of the campaign cookbook sales so far. Maria (Montana) estimates at least $1,000, but my guess is more, because many people have said they've donated in $20-$25 amounts, and there is no way to designate on the main donor page. You may still participate in the ongoing Obama Campaign Family Cookbook Event:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4rr7z
I'd also like to encourage one of you (or all) to match my $50.02 Mother's Day donation to help Michelle Obama get her family into the White House:
https://donate.barackobama.com/
Mahalo!
Some of us are n00bs, while others are geeks in this cyberspace world we've found each other in. I place myself somewhere inbetween, having grown up with dial phones, manual typewriters and 10-key adding machines, but more recently the manager of my family's internet center. I've met thousands of people... young and young at heart, technotards and web wizards, and many, many of our active military who all know me as "auntie," as well as Ms_CongenialityHI, my "gamer alias." I can pretty much tell you that at first impression, they make me out to be a school teacher (which I'm not) or someone's mom (which I am) but when I wear my work shirt with "L337" embroidered on the front, I am the coolest old person in the eyes of these young people, simply because it tells them I speak their language. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet
So tonight, I took a few minutes to create a conversation starter, a new graphic design for CafePress T-shirts. I'm donating 100% of the profits (approx. $5-$8 per item depending on the base price CafePress charges) to the campaign.
If you're a geek I know you'll enjoy it, and if you're a n00b, I guarantee it will start more than a few interesting conversations. If you're a parent and don't know what the heck I'm talking about, ask your kids if they know. If you're a gamer, I'd love to hear what you're playing and how you got involved in the campaign!
Here's one style: http://www.cafepress.com/obamaohana.262898243
Hope you like it!
P.S.~ Would make a great Mother's Day gift!
5/7/08 edit: I just received commission reports that I've got $50.02 to donate to the campaign! I'm hoping to double that by Sunday Mahalo (thank you) for your support!
A great fundraising tool to pass on to friends and family:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/mymontana1/gGCjnn/commentary
