We had a reunion at the coffee shop where we first started meeting, the week Barack Obama announced he was running for office.
It was a great night, lots of stories and laughs were exchanged. We had a reporter from a local paper there, and got a chance to talk about our current and future endevours at Rose City Obamaworks
We met in Pasadena at the home of Lonnee. About 20 people showed up (there were many events around town including the 500 event in Los Angeles about 15 miles away). Many of the people were old friends, some were new to the campaign/movement.
We introduced ourselves, watched the video, decided on 2 upcoming events.
We decided to do to service events, one for this Saturday (food banking and clothes banking) and another on January 19th (the campaign asked everyone to do service on the 19th, which is MLK day and a traditional service day). We have a few things lined up for that day including helping out a foster kid organization (that one of the people was involved in). We also discussed some long term goals like helping local schools build gardens. There were about 20 of us there, most of us worked hard on the campaign but there was at least one new person getting involved.
What was really impressive was how quick we got going, because we all knew each other, and knew our skills, etc. We had the mailing list in place, and even had someone volunteer to be secretary and take notes and summarize our action plan. We decided to rotate locations (houses and coffeshops) and rotate who will lead the meetings, and we chose a date for the next meeting, and a leader and place. And we assigned our communication officer (same guy as on the campaign) and the person who will coordinate where the meetings are, and a secretary.
And we got great food and wine and finished early (took an hour and a half). It was, by far, the best first organization meeting I’ve ever been involved with.
I was at Venice beach this week (showing a visitor around Los Angeles) and saw an AMAZING Obama table. They have shirts and stickers and info and more. Apparently they set up 6 days a week (not Monday's) and are doing a FANTASTIC job of being FIRED UP and telling folks about Obama.
The day after the Supreme Court ruled that detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo are entitled to seek habeas corpus hearings, John McCain called it "one of the worst decisions in the history of this country." Well.
Does it rank with Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), which concocted a constitutional right, unmentioned in the document, to own slaves and held that black people have no rights that white people are bound to respect? With Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which affirmed the constitutionality of legally enforced racial segregation? With Korematsu v. United States (1944), which affirmed the wartime right to sweep American citizens of Japanese ancestry into concentration camps?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/16/AR2008061602041.html
Excerpt from the story: Opponents of the bill, including Sen. McCain, have said they oppose it because the sweetened benefits package -- including an average tuition assistance of $1,700 per month -- would induce more soldiers to leave active duty for university. To back this argument, they've cited a Congressional Budget Office study estimating that the bill would reduce retention rates by 16%, from a current rate of 42% to 36%.
But there are a lot of caveats attached to the 16% figure. It's hard to predict what today's soldiers from all branches will do using numbers about their predecessors, mostly in peacetime, and only in the Army. It's balanced somewhat by an expected increase in recruitment thanks to the allure of the benefits to undecided would-be soldiers. And the CBO estimates that the military could adjust spending elsewhere, such as on re-enlistment bonuses and advertising, to even out the expected changes in retention and recruitment.
I communte in Los Angeles and typically spend at least an hour each way on the freeways. I always look for Obama bumperstickers, and catch up to the driver and honk and pass them (so they can see my Obama and Women for Obama bumperstickers).
At first (16 months ago), I never saw any, I still remember the first one I saw. Now, I can't remember the last time I drove without seeing at least one, and today I saw many. I even saw a car with two, to make sure everyone knows.
OBAMA '08
YES WE CAN!!!!!
There was a fantastic turn out to the voter registration drive (and BBQ) in Victory Park, Pasadena, California Today. Apparently the (grassroots) organizer thought there would be about 5-10 people interested, but 192 signed up for the event on Mybarackobama.com and there was quite a turn out. Everything was incredibly organized and groups of voter registers (some in fancy red shirts the organizers had made) went out to local areas and REGISTERED PEOPLE TO VOTE!!!!!
The volunteers today really reflect the wide diversity of Obama supporters, many different races, shapes, colors, ages. And many different Obama shirts!
These drives will be happening all over Pasadena (and other areas), and we are planning tabelling at all the local farmer's markets.
WE ARE STILL FIRED UP. AND READY TO GO.
(If anyone would like larger sized copies of any of these pictures, please drop me a note).
More pictures under the cut.
Our new weekly meeting in Old Town Pasadena, California happened today at the Metropolitan Cafe in Old Town (12-3). There are still several weekly meetings going on in Southern California. Our goals are to train new people in how to set up MyBo accounts, how to phonebank, organize, and whatever else.
Today we had some new people, some high school kids, a Pakastani-American man who wants to do Pakastani outreach in PA and the other primary states, and I trained a few people how to process volunteers in PA, and we all did some clickin for Obama.
We had a new organizing meeting in Old Town Pasadena, California today, with lots of new volunteers who are FIRED UP. We are going to keep meeting each week, to make phone calls and discuss tactics, and be READY TO GO. Someone walked by in an Obama shirt too, great omen. I wore my new 'Deadheads for Obama shirt' (which are sold out, sorry).
