So today 17 new Obama offices opened accross Michigan. While the a2 office was already up and running, they held an open house/ voter registration drive. 200 excited volunteers showed up to go around town and make sure Michigan stays blue this november!
We were also told that the office in Jackson, the birthplace of the replublican party, had 80 people show up, and the office in Grand Rapids over 350!!
Michigan WILL be blue this fall!
***fun fact, Obama will have more than 20 offices open in Michigan to McCains ONE....yes ONE.
So yesterday I hosted my second voter registration drive at Necto Nightclub in Ann Arbor, MI. Here were the results:
10 New registered voters (that makes 27 total now)
23 Obama Volunteers (making 41 new volunteers)
7 new washtenaw county volunteers (bringing our new members to 23)
Plus we handed out stickers and got to talk to people and get them fired up about our candidate. Surprisingly there were a few log cabin (gay) republicans there, who were very open to speaking with us...and I'm pretty sure we got at least 2 of them to change their votes! Overall, another successfull night)
Obama visits the holocaust memorial in Israel today
In signing the guestbook, he wrote, "May we remember those who perished, not only as victims but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us, and who have become symbols of the human spirit."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080723/ap_on_el_pr/obama_mideast
It's nice to have someone who actually inspires me to want to be a better person and help the world
I want to tell everyone about the interesting night I had friday. The evening started by be setting up a voter registration table at the Necto nightclub in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We had dozens of signs, voter registration forms, volunteer sign up, and free Obama Pride stickers. The whole premise of the drive was to get the LGBT community more politically involved and Fired Up about the upcoming election. The doors of the club opened at 9:30 and people started to pour in. It was very exciting to see how happy people were to see us there and how many were already registered. By the end of the night we got 15 new voters and over 35 volunteers!!!!
The most exciting part of the night occurred when everyone was leaving the bar and we were handing out stickers. Two celebrities happened to be in the club that night and came over to our table on their way out. Who were these celebs? None other than Drew Barrymore and rapper Eve!!! They were very excited to see us and Eve even wanted some sticker to pass out to her friends. When we asked her if she wanted a sticker she said, "Hell yes, give me like 5, i love obama, it's time for a change"!!
Overall it was a great evening and we plan to go back and host more registration drives at the club.
I was home yesterday for my mom's 50th birthday and she told me something that really shocked me; she told me she was a registered republican! I had to take a minute to take this in, as she has always been very anti most republican leaders and very liberal thinking. I asked her why she is registered as such and she said, "When my grandmother was dying back in the 70s she made all of her grandkids promise her to vote republican, and so I did and have been ever since"
She did tell me she has only voted for one republican (Reagan) and has tended to vote independent or democratic in most elections. I was so surprised because she is very prOBAMA. So, I will get her to reregister this week and we will have one more Obamacan with us!
One of my fraternity brothers just sent me a e-mail that was very interesting. While the original intent of the e-mail was to say how he randomly met another brother in Tanzania and how crazy it was to bump into someone in our fraternity, but I couldn't help but look at the picture he sent with it. It was a picture with him and this brother on top of the highest point in Africa, standing in front of a sign on the top of Uhuru peak. When I first saw the picture I noticed the two men, then I saw what was behind and almost flipped.
Right there on the sign what a Barack Obama for president sticker....it really showed me that we are everywhere and that Obama is loved around the world
I am happy to annouce that I have been names the youth organizer for the Washtenaw County LGBT Democrats. I will be working my best to get the LGBT community involved and voting in the upcoming election, as well as hosting events and voter registration drives.
If you would like to join the group, please join the link below. We are look for members of the LGBT community or Allies...anyone interested in getting involved
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18057276167
The LGBT Interest Group of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party located in Washtenaw County Michigan is committed to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families. The Interest Group seeks to improve the lives of LGBT individuals both in Washtenaw County and throughout this great State of Michigan through educational programming, social activities, public service, get out the vote 2008, and outreach
So this past weekend I traveled from Michigan to Nashville to attend my Fraternity's national Leadership Institute. While I was saddened that I would be forced to missed the "Unite for Change" events, I was excited to get the chance to interact with brothers from all over the nation and discuss Barack whenever people seemed interested.
The trip started off with a 9 hour drive south through the lovely state of Ohio (sense the sarcasm...and go blue!) and into Kentucky and then Tennessee. We could tell we were getting to the bible belt as we passed signs stating "hell exists" and ones with the ten commandments, as well as driving past a huge statue of Jesus rising out of a lake. None of this really surprised me, as I expected to encounter the more religious crowd, but I was intrigued with finding any McCain paraphernalia (as I had seen none so far in Michigan). We passed through Ohio with nothing, but almost as soon as we entered Kentucky I saw my first McCain bumper sticker. I laughed aloud because next to the McCain sticker was a WWE sign and a "Hulk Hogan for President" bumper sticker. We continued driving, saw one more McCain sticker, and surprisingly saw 3 Obama stickers before reaching Nashville.
I made sure over the course of the weekend to wear something Obama at all times. I also carried around buttons and stickers to pass out to those interested or willing to talk openly. Over the course of 4 days I met over 130 new brothers from all areas of the US (from cali, to florida, from Kentucky to delaware). I suspected that as a music fraternity most of the guys their would be fairly open minded and would be open for political discussion, and boy was I right. At least twice every day I got into 5-60 minute conversations with people about the upcoming elections. Speaking with democrats, independents, and republicans alike I got a great idea of what peoples concerns are from other areas of our country, as well as their thoughts on the candidates. I met Hillary supporters...a few weary McCain supports, and many many Barack Supporters, and was even able to change a few repubs minds and got them to pledge to vote Obama in November...all and all it was a fantastic weekend and a eye opener for me.
The main things we as supporters need to do on a daily basis is to NOT be afraid to talk openly about our candidate. Even if we encounter awkward situation or may be the odd one out in the room it is importants to stand firm; because if you don't, who will? We are the ground force behind this campaign and must push others to think beyong stereotypes and what they hear of tv...we, the people, will win this election!
