I have had the opportunity to go to Iowa the last 2 Saturdays and walk the streets of Iowa going "door-to-door" for Barack Obama. As I get some quizzical looks from some friends/family who I have talked to when I say that I am spending my Saturday walking in Iowa. I spent sometime this past week on why I do this.
I truly believe that we are making a difference by realizing the importance of the next election and having conversations with people about issues that face our nation, our caucus/primary process and our candidate, Barack Obama, and other candidates.
We spent the morning cleaning up the western bank of the Miississippi River. Thank you for all the volunteers for spending time on a Saturday morning. Spending a day cleaning up it made me realize that I should bring the coffee mug to the coffee shop and have that filled up instead of getting the disposable cup. Also either drinking water from the tap or getting the gallon spring water instead of buying small plastic bottles. As I continue to see if all of us make small changes in our lifestyle, we can make a big impact on our world's eco system.
I talked to someone who lives near and walks this area every day and said that the area was like night and day over the past week of cleaning up the river. May we be good stewards of the great gift called earth.
Peace,Carl
Barack Obama 28.1%
John Edwards 24.6%
Other (mostly Gore) 12.4%
Dennis Kucinich 10.3%
Hillary Clinton 8.7%
Bill Richardson 7.6%
Undecided 4.9%
Joseph Biden 1.9%
Christopher Dodd 0.5%
This is Carl Holmquist from Minneapolis who just joined this group and was involved in the conference call tonight. Look forward working and supporting each other as coodinators across the country. I was part of the volunteer leadership for Howard Dean in Minnesota in 2004 and it is great to see the similarities and differences between these two grassroots experiences. We have a core group of about 10 people and about 400 volunteers organized in Minnesota right now. We have focused so far on organizing and educating volunteers on Barack Obama. My belief about "grass roots" organizing is to give vision, educate, inspire, organize, support, and then trust your volunteers and then let them follow their talents and get out of their way. Micromanaging does not work in "grass roots" organizing or always having to ask permission. Have them make it their events a reflection of Obama but also themselves. Example we had booths at last night's Democratic caucuses in St Paul (2nd largest and capital of Minnesota) gave some ideas on what it can look like but told them to go with it. Volunteers brought balloons whatever. There was energy and it differentiated us from the other presidential campaign booths. Half of our 50 volunteers had never been to a caucus before. By the way we ran a dead heat between Obama (25%) and Clinton (25%) with everyone other candiate double digits behind and behind undecided.
Below are some of the ideas of things that have worked for us 1. Monthly Meetings (ie Meetups). We currently have 3 monthly organizing meeting happening across Minnesota. With at lease 2 additional coming online this month. Primary focus is to educate, connect, & organize. Example agenda using wiki space:Link /> 2. Book Club. We have started a book club to read The Audacity of Hope. Primary focus is to educate individuals about Obama and his stances on issues. We have had one meeting and having our next tomorrow night. Very free flowing communication of ideas while respecting each others ideas. Wiki space discusstion:Link this helps and lets learn from each other's experiences.
Carl Holmquist"Obama Minnesota" & "Obama Minnesota State Organizers" Group Organizers
It has been an interesting past couple of days with my father's health problems. It makes you realize how fragile life is and sometimes how we get wrapped up in things. Thankfully my father is feeling better. I must admit in the past week with Obama and work that I forgot about my aging parents. Sometimes a wake up call is needed and Wednesday morning was that for me. I want to thank everyone for your notes and calls wondering how my father is doing. I felt community in that support and it was greatly appreciated. I am also sorry that I did not get back to some of you out there.
It also made me aware that we need to share in the work of this grassroots movement and need to create ways for this too happen. It is not about Paul, RT, Tammara, Pams, Wendi, Ross, Bill, Yolanda .... or me ... or event Barack Obama. It is about all of us supporting each other and creating a movement that changes how politics is done in this country. My hope is that we create a "big tent" movement where all are welcome that uses the talents of all volunteers while sharing a core mission around politics of inclusiveness instead of politics of divide. Where we can openly share our thoughts and disagree while having empathy and respecting someone else's opinion. For me that is what Barack is all about. That is what changing what is happening in Washington is all about.
Carl Holmquist - One of the Obama Minnesota Organizers
The first meeting of the The Audactiy of Hope Book Club like all first meetings of people you wonder who is going to show up and the awkwardness of meeting many people for the first time. Yet we have come together to learn something about this man, Barack Obama, and maybe start discussing how us as citizens can change how politics is done in this country. There was a mixture of hope and unsure if we can believe that it will really change and will Barack live up to this. We also talked about honest conversation about sensitive issues (race, politics, spirituality) and that we censure ourselves or society censures us from discussing what we really think. You can't be always afraid of offending someone else. Yet we talked about empathy (putting yourself in someone else's shoes) and how can you balance talking about what you believe yet not offend or have to be so darn politically correct. We talked a little about the politics of divide and how it pervades our society (black vs white vs brown, straight vs gay, pro life vs pro choice, pro war vs anti war, Republican vs Democrat vs Independent vs Green) and how there should be a different way. We discussed what binds or not binds us together as Americans. I think this is a topic of discussion that will continue to guide this group and we continue to need to have this discussion with our neighbor, our relatives, and all people.
It reminds me of talking with a very conservative Republican this summer when I went canoeing. He was owner and driver of the canoe rental place. I knew he was a conservative Republican because he had very anit-global warming articles about Al Gore on his board. We started talking and found out he was retired Army logistics sergeant who had recently served two duties in Iraq. My friend was oh watch out we are in for a political argument and will maybe left in the the woods without a canoe to paddle. I started out by thanking him for serving and asked him what he thought about Iraq. His first response was that "damn Rumsfeld". Common ground!!! His opinion was not enough troops and too much focus on weaponry in the military. Even though I thought that we never should have been in Iraq and after a while told him, I agreed with him about the troops issue. Ultimately I had one of my best conversations about the Iraq war in the last four years and learned a great deal about Iraq. Finding common ground and respecting each other's opinion. We did not agree on all aspects but we were able to have a respectful while not always agreeing conversation.
This is what I found about Thursday night, we talked about difficult issues and had different opinions. Yet we respected each others opinions and hopefully learned from each other. Thats what it should be all about.
Carl - Book Club Organizer
