Cary resident Sara Reese is the first of ten donors to be selected to join Barack backstage tonight at the Election Night event in Chicago. Sara and her husband Kerry have been struggling to make ends meet with rising medical costs and gas prices-- it all began after September 11th when Kerry lost his job and was out of work for a year.
Sara made the first step when she stopped in to the Campaign for Change field office in Cary to register voters and make phone calls to supporters across the state. Here's what she told us about her volunteering experience:
It's a great feeling--you feel special and connected with people. Everyone has concerns and there is one common thread--and thats the economy--we are all wondering how we are going to get our bills paid.
Sara and her son, Cameron
It was then that she made a promise to herself to make a donation to the campaign every month and would allot space in her family budget for it.
I wanted to be a part of this campaign. We need change and I knew Barack Obama would be the one to bring it.
I'm so amazed. This a story I'll be able to tell my son and my grandchildren--it's absolutely priceless, a priceless gift. Barack's successes have motivated us to be better parents. We are turning off our t.v. and working to help our son achieve.
Sara has made her voice heard, make yours heard. Vote for Barack today. Find your polling location and cast your ballot today!
Weather reports are predicting rain across much of North Carolina today. We can't let the rain get in our way or hold us back -- we need you to volunteer. You've got to help us make sure folks vote. We need you to knock on doors and help us Get Out the Vote. Reach out to your friends and family-- give them a ride to the polls, wait in line with them, and bring extra umbrellas or rain gear for others.
This one day will determine the next four years. One final push today and we can say "Yes We Did" together.
Visit http://nc.barackobama.com/ncgotv and volunteer today!
Election is TOMORROW! Here are a few important details that should make your Election Day go smoothly:
If you or anyone you know is looking for a ride to the polls, call 1-877-NC-4Change and someone will be happy to help you.
Here's a look at what we've accomplished and how far we've come together--but we're down to the final hours-- just today and tomorrow.
Everything we've done – everything we've built – all comes down to what happens every moment between now and when the polls close tomorrow night. Watch this video once again from our State Director, Marc Farinella, on our bold plan to bring it home in the final stretch.
We need YOU--help us Get Out the Vote--volunteer today or tomorrow and LET'S DO THIS TOGETHER!
Barack will be in Charlotte TOMORROW to talk about his vision for creating the kind of change we need.
Every volunteer who joins us for a get out the vote (GOTV) canvass tomorrow morning will get a special ticket with an up-close view of the event that afternoon.
Just come to one of our selected offices at 9:45 a.m. on tomorrow, join a GOTV canvass, and receive your preferred viewing ticket.
Find a canvass location near you, invite a friend to come along, and canvass and rally with Barack on the same day Ticket quantities will be limited. Make sure to arrive promptly at 9:45 a.m. to canvass and secure your ticket.
See you tomorrow!
Thanks to all of you, Early Voting was a success and has put victory within reach. But it's not over. We need your help most of all in these final 3 days.Barack is only going to win here in North Carolina if we make sure all of our supporters get to the polls. Face to face voter contact is the best way to remind your friends and neighbors to vote for Barack. If you take off ONE day now, you can change the next 4 years. Please "give a day" to Barack -- take a day off work or school. Ask your boss and/or professors now and help us Get Out the Vote in North Carolina.To sign up for a day of volunteering near you, just go to http://www.NC.barackobama.com/ncGOTV You'll have more fun and double the impact if you volunteer with friends. So check out this video we made about the importance of taking the day off and and pass it along to your friends. Ask them to join you, share the experience and make a huge difference together in this election:
Today, I stopped by the polls to chat with a few supporters who were excited to cast their ballots on the last day of One-Stop Early Voting. They shared their reasons for supporting Senator Obama, their volunteering efforts and early voting experiences.Raleigh resident, Bob Gilbert brought his wife Marie to the polls to cast her ballot. Bob distributed "I voted early for Barack Obama" stickers and talked about his volunteer experiences. "I first volunteered at several events and then I really got involved during the Early Voting period--I started making phone calls from home but being in a campaign office and volunteering is something else, there's a certain energy and excitement that comes along with it."
Bob and Marie
Marie shared her reasons for supporting Barack and how the current economic conditions are affecting her directly:
I'm a social worker for a large non profit organization and most of my clients are folks that are struggling. Our organization is struggling to fulfill our mission --our funds are being cut by the state and federal government and we are unable to distribute funds to those who need them. So when my clients come to me asking for assistance and see how strict we have to be with the food banks and how much we can give them, I say "get out and vote." I encourage them to be an agent of change thorough voting.Marie L.Raleigh, NC
Michele came down to the polls with her daughter to volunteer and educate voters on the ballot. Here's what she had to say:
I support Obama because he is the solution to our economic problems. He knows what's going to work and is willing to listen to different points of view in order to make the right decision. For the first time in eight years, I will be proud to be an American--we'll get that respect back from all over the world. I'm going to continue to work at the polls and give rides to those who need them. I voted early in Wake Forest on the first day--I felt thrilled and refused to take the backing off my sticker because I want to frame it--I want to remember this emotional experience forever.Michele S.Wake Forest, NC
Audrey shared her voting experience with her sister and brother-in-law. She shared her reasons for supporting Barack Obama:
Our father was a republican and so was his father. We were raised in a republican household but I identified myself as a democrat. We always cancelled each others votes out--but now my entire family is involved in this election. I think his level of intelligence and his appeal to the masses has generated an enormous response--you can believe what he has to say and that's why we all need to exercise our right to vote.Audrey B.Raleigh NC
There are just three days left--we can't do this without you. Volunteer today and help Get Out the Vote!
If you vote early … that means if you get sick, if the weather’s bad, if something comes up, you can’t say, ‘Well, I didn’t make it.' You can’t not make it this time...And after you’ve voted early, we need you to educate other people. You need to take it upon yourself to find five, ten other people in your own lives, particularly those who are not registered. Find them. Walk them through the process. Hold their hands. You remember what Barack says? We are one another’s brothers and sisters, keepers.
The Elizabeth Pumpkin Wall returns to Charlotte at the original site, 537 Lamar Avenue. Each year people from the community get together, carve pumpkins, place them in the wall and add a phrase or word on the wall. This year the organizers decided to do an "Obama" pumpkin wall.
Join us at the Barack-O-Ween Cookout for Change at from 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM today. Marion Diehl Recreation Center2219 Tyvola RdCharlotte, NC 28210For other events going on in your area, click HERE. Don't forget, there is only 1 day left to vote early! Find your polling location and vote today.
Melanie -- We have 5 days left to make sure as many people as possible cast their votes for change. But you'd be surprised at how many of your friends and family don't know where to vote -- or that they can vote as early as today in North Carolina, a crucial battleground state. Take a minute to look up your own early vote location on our voting website, VoteForChange.com, then please forward this email to your friends, family, and neighbors so they can look up theirs, too. On VoteForChange.com you can find where to vote and get crucial early voting information. Voting early is easy, convenient, and lets you avoid possible long lines on Election Day. And if you vote early, you know you'll be free on Election Day to volunteer in our historic get out the vote effort. This race is too close for you -- or anyone you know -- not to vote. Can you forward this email to at least five friends, family members, or coworkers and tell them to look up their early vote location? Supporters like you can transform this country, and I'm counting on your help to make sure every Obama supporter in North Carolina knows they don't have to wait another day to cast their votes for change. Thank you for your help, Jon Jon CarsonNational Field DirectorObama for America
Melanie --
We have 5 days left to make sure as many people as possible cast their votes for change.
But you'd be surprised at how many of your friends and family don't know where to vote -- or that they can vote as early as today in North Carolina, a crucial battleground state.
Take a minute to look up your own early vote location on our voting website, VoteForChange.com, then please forward this email to your friends, family, and neighbors so they can look up theirs, too.
On VoteForChange.com you can find where to vote and get crucial early voting information.
Voting early is easy, convenient, and lets you avoid possible long lines on Election Day. And if you vote early, you know you'll be free on Election Day to volunteer in our historic get out the vote effort. This race is too close for you -- or anyone you know -- not to vote.
Can you forward this email to at least five friends, family members, or coworkers and tell them to look up their early vote location?
Supporters like you can transform this country, and I'm counting on your help to make sure every Obama supporter in North Carolina knows they don't have to wait another day to cast their votes for change.
Thank you for your help,
Jon
Jon CarsonNational Field DirectorObama for America
Tonight, the campaign aired a special 30 minute program in which Barack addressed the nation about his plan for the country and the issues that are at stake in this election. In case you missed it or want to watch it again, you can watch the full program below:
With only 6 days left in this election--we need your help. Look up your polling location and volunteer today!
**UPDATE: EVENT BEGINS AT 3:45PM**
Five-time Grammy winner, Usher and actor Hill Harper will be in Charlotte tomorrow to raise awareness about early voting in North Carolina. They will address a crowd of Barack Obama’s supporters at the Grady Cole Center to discuss the success of early voting across the state and to remind supporters to register and vote at One-Stop Early Voting locations before sites close Saturday, November 1st.
Joe Biden is back in North Carolina today and we'll be livestreaming from an Early Vote for Change Rallies in Greenvlle and Greensboro. Watch it here at 10:00 a.m. 2:15 p.m.
Vote today! Find out more information and then share your Early Vote story!
Do you have friends outside of North Carolina that will come to a battleground state and help get out the vote?
Ask them to make the Drive for Change--putting their energy and volunteering efforts into a crucial state that can decide the outcome of this race. Check out this video and pass it along--with only 11 days left in this election--we're going to need all the help we can get.
Joe Biden will be back in North Carolina today to hold Change We Need Rallies in Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Raleigh. We'll be livestreaming all the events today, so stay tuned!
After watching the events, take a few minutes to write a letter to the editor about why you support an Obama-Biden administration - click HERE and our website will guide you through the process.
James Taylor wants YOU to get involved--knock on doors, make phone calls and talk to your friends and neighbors. Check out this video and join James in making a difference right here at home:
This morning, four-star general Wesley Clark, met with veterans and supporters of Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change for coffee at Java Express in Sanford. The former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO hosted a discussion on national security and why Obama’s plan to improve the quality of care for veterans who have returned from service overseas is helping to grow his support among men and women of the armed forces.
Gen. Wesley Clark raising the arm of Lee County Field Organizer, Henry Wellington, telling a crowded coffee shop to contact him "to knock on doors and make phone calls over the next 13 days to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States."
General Clark also visited the Braswell Memorial Library in Rocky Mount to address volunteers and veterans. He thanked tireless volunteers and encouraged new supporters to make regular visits to their local Campaign for Change headquarters.
General Clark joined Marine Corps Captain Jonathan Kuniholm of Chapel Hill in a discussion about the change that Barack Obama would bring to improve veteran care and support. Kuniholm is the Chapel Hill veteran who addressed thousands at Denver’s Invesco Field prior to Barack Obama’s address at the Democratic National Convention.
Wesley Clark gave his time--give yours by volunteering today!
I just received this email from our State Director:
Dear Melanie,I'm writing you because I urgently need your help.As I write, the McCain campaign and the RNC are flooding North Carolina with thousands of dishonest pre-recorded phone calls. Across the state, voters are picking up their phones only to hear smears and outright lies about Barack Obama that question his patriotism and his character. We have to respond, and fast.Our plan is simple: fight lies with truth. For every smear call they buy, we need two real calls from volunteers like you. For every voter they deceive, we need to knock on two doors to set the record straight.Please sign up right now to volunteer, help us reach our big 100,000 volunteer hours goal, and fight back with the truth in your community:http://nc.barackobama.com/NC100kHoursNorth Carolina is one of the closest battlegrounds in the country and could very well decide the entire election. In their desperation to win, the McCain campaign even hired the exact same company to make these calls that George Bush hired to smear McCain in 2000. It's simply shameful. What we do or don't do in the next 15 days could make the difference, and it's going to take all of us working together to win North Carolina for Barack.We've come too far together to let this race end with tricks and lies. So please, sign up right away to reach out to voters in your area. Together, we can end the era of politics as usual and get to work addressing the real issues North Carolina families are facing every day.Thank you,MarcMarc FarinellaNorth Carolina State DirectorObama for America
Dear Melanie,
I'm writing you because I urgently need your help.
As I write, the McCain campaign and the RNC are flooding North Carolina with thousands of dishonest pre-recorded phone calls. Across the state, voters are picking up their phones only to hear smears and outright lies about Barack Obama that question his patriotism and his character. We have to respond, and fast.
Our plan is simple: fight lies with truth. For every smear call they buy, we need two real calls from volunteers like you. For every voter they deceive, we need to knock on two doors to set the record straight.
Please sign up right now to volunteer, help us reach our big 100,000 volunteer hours goal, and fight back with the truth in your community:
http://nc.barackobama.com/NC100kHours
North Carolina is one of the closest battlegrounds in the country and could very well decide the entire election. In their desperation to win, the McCain campaign even hired the exact same company to make these calls that George Bush hired to smear McCain in 2000. It's simply shameful.
What we do or don't do in the next 15 days could make the difference, and it's going to take all of us working together to win North Carolina for Barack.
We've come too far together to let this race end with tricks and lies. So please, sign up right away to reach out to voters in your area. Together, we can end the era of politics as usual and get to work addressing the real issues North Carolina families are facing every day.
Thank you,
Marc
Marc FarinellaNorth Carolina State DirectorObama for America
