Organizing for America | MsMaeven's Blog

Community Blogs

MsMaeven's Blog

View Full Profile »

About The Author...

IA for Obama ☮ (USA)

« Hide Full Profile

User Profile

User:

Name:

Page 1 of 4 | Next | Last

The results

By IA for Obama ☮ - Nov 6th, 2008 at 12:49 pm EST

I've checked the final results of my 3 precincts, and I wanted to share them with you. If you ever doubted if you were making a difference, check out these numbers.

We had 6 "turfs" in Precinct 67; we sent out each turf twice on Tuesday alone (meaning my volunteers canvassed each turf two separate times between 10 am and 5 pm on election day), in addition to the canvassing and calling we did on Saturday - Monday and the weeks leading up. We won that precinct, 75% to 25%. Over 1000 people voted for Barack; in 2004 less than 500 voted for Kerry, and only about 750 voted in the entire precinct.

In 2004, John Kerry won my own, relatively Republican, precinct (74) by 4 votes. In 2008, Barack won by over 300. We won our precinct 63% to 36%. Also, we have about 1300 registered voters in our precinct. 1260 voted on or before Tuesday. That's about 95% turnout. That's amazing.

We also worked Precinct 69. Barack won 73% of that precinct's votes. Over 800 people voted for Barack. In 2004, fewer than 750 voted in the entire precinct.

Probably each one of you will see results similar to these in your own precincts. WE did this. Be proud. And know that our country is deeply grateful.

This is only the beginning. Keep being the change!

2008

67
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT   Barack Obama   1008   Democrat (11/8 now 1012)
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT   John McCain   328   Republican (11/8 now 329)

69
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT   Barack Obama   819   Democrat (11/8 now 847)
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT   John McCain   295   Republican (11/8 now 301)

74
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT   Barack Obama   789   Democrat (11/8 now 794)
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT   John McCain   450   Republican (11/8 no change)

2004

67
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT POLK COUNTY   JOHN F. KERRY   498   Democrat
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT POLK COUNTY   GEORGE W. BUSH   255   Republican

69
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT POLK COUNTY   JOHN F. KERRY   489   Democrat
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT POLK COUNTY   GEORGE W. BUSH   246   Republican

74
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT POLK COUNTY   JOHN F. KERRY   427   Democrat
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT POLK COUNTY   GEORGE W. BUSH   423   Republican

http://www.gis.co.polk.ia.us/election/Election_PrecinctDetail.asp?Election_Date=20081104&Precinct_Number=67

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (2) | Report Objectionable Content

Thank you

By IA for Obama ☮ - Nov 5th, 2008 at 1:01 am EST

My bones are weary but my heart is soaring this night, when we achieved the beginning of our dreams. It has been a long, hard road, and the one before us won’t be any easier. But I know change is coming to America. I have seen it, in each one of you, and in each one of my phenomenal volunteers who helped make sure Iowa had Barack’s back. And we will continue to have his back as we go forward. Because this election isn’t about him, it’s about us, and what we want for this country. And today we declared it with a resounding roar.

I’m too exhausted, too exhilarated, and still in a bit too much of a daze to be very coherent. But I wanted to give some special shout outs. A year ago, I came to this blog, already a precinct captain, but still a novice in the beauty that the blog could bring. Maryt, you were my first inspiration on this blog. Dan, Leila, and meta, you built that inspiration even more. Nancy, Tamsin, EM, and Joy, you have been my rocks. And then came Christine, and the blog was even better than before. Rick, Sharon, Marcus, Strong Heart, Jedi Master Matt, you lifted me up from even before the caucuses, and you truly have been gifts that keep on giving.

Curious, thanks for representing the best of Hillary supporters who were Barack curious. Lace and Lulu, your energies are unmatched—except maybe by Joe Ruwe. Diana, Val, Cee, Tracy and your whole family in Ct plus your super twin in DC, Kevin Winterfield—each day of this journey I have been stronger because of you. I have been more informed, more engaged, and more entertained. And Sarah, deep, deep thanks for the cookies. They gave incredible delight to my canvassers today, as well as to my boys. And Carey, your efforts in KY have inspired me beyond what you will ever know. In 2012, we will see it a beautiful Barack blue.

Apologies to those I haven’t mentioned; each one of you has been crucial to our success, and I am profoundly grateful for it.

Today we shouted to history and the world, Yes we can. Yes we did. And yes we will.

Thank you for making this possible. See you on January 20.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (13) | Report Objectionable Content

My meeting with Barack 10/31/08

By IA for Obama ☮ - Nov 1st, 2008 at 1:24 am EDT

I had the great fortune of being able to meet with Barack this morning before the rally in Des Moines. I could wax lyrical about the rally (the first one to actually bring me to tears—partially from exhaustion, but mainly from this awesome achievement that is finally within our grasp) but I want instead to share an observation that particularly struck me today.

I was also fortunate to meet Barack before he was well known. I met him at a small house party in 2003, when his Senate race was just beginning. Though I lived in IL the whole time he was a state senator, I don't know that I'd ever heard of him before then (though my husband had, as they had worked together on judicial issues). But I knew of the good he'd done, even if I didn't know his name. I knew of his capital reform work, I knew of his work passing health care for children, I knew of Project Vote! and the good it had done, etc. I may even have marched with him against the war (don't know if he was there at marches and rallies I participated in or not). And that is the mark of an extraordinary leader: someone you know by the good he does, even when you do not know his name.

When I met him in 2003, his common sense, compassion, commitment to justice and sense of the power of our own possibility struck a chord deep within me. He spoke with an authenticity and integrity that few people possess, least of all our politicians. His wisdom was simple without being simplistic, and he offered a concrete course of action to translate high ideals into a better reality. He spoke of the profound connections between members of a community, how each one suffers when another cannot get adequate education or health care, how all are diminished when any endure injustice. He spoke many of the same words that you’ve heard him repeat throughout this campaign. And before that night was through, I knew I had found my President, even though he was just running for Senator.

But though I was profoundly inspired by Barack that night, I didn’t for a moment see him as a superstar. I saw him as an extremely grounded, self-aware, brilliant man, a man who honors his words with actions to accomplish great things, but a man who is also just a regular guy. Not a “celebrity,” not a “savior,” not any of the hype that gets thrown at him, or that all the fanfare helps to cultivate.

Today, as I waited to meet with Barack, we were first greeted by an array of politicians. A governor, a senator, a congressman, and various others of that type. Some do quite a bit of good, some not so much. But they were each consummate politicians—trying to schmooze you, trying to win you over, trying to get you to vote for them primarily for them, not for you, and not necessarily for our country or state.

The difference with Barack could not have been more striking. I have been so fortunate as to shake Barack’s hand and exchange a few words with Barack on several occasions throughout the past year—this is Iowa, after all. And this observation didn’t strike me as much on those occasions. But this time, in a quieter setting, with a roaring crowd of 25,000 outside the door, with the presidency almost within his reach, and with a host of big name politicians and performers coming just before him, I realized it quite clearly: Barack is still a regular guy.

When you meet with him, he isn’t trying to win you over. He thanks you for all you’ve done, he asks you to do more because more needs to be done, and he listens and responds to whatever you have to say. He relates to you, personally, authentically, just like he’s the guy down the street who cares about your thoughts, your concerns, your hopes, and wants to help figure out a way to improve upon our neighborhood, our city, our state, our country, our world. He wants this not for him, but for us, for all of our futures.

It surprised me to realize that, despite everything that has happened in Barack’s life in the past 5 years, despite the fact that he is now one of the most famous people in the world and that most of the world is clamoring for him to be our leader, he is every bit the regular guy that he was back in the fall of 2003, and no doubt long before that. Before the 2004 convention speech. Before the Iowa caucuses. Before he became the Democratic nominee. Before he was just four days away from becoming the next President of the United States—if we all work as hard as we need to, because our futures do depend upon it.

My theory as to why: he is the most grounded and self-possessed person I have ever had the good fortune to spend time with. Clearly, he’s got to have a fairly large ego, or he wouldn’t be running to be leader of the free world. But that ego is so tempered with self-awareness and appreciation of others’ great gifts as well that it is balanced with a genuine humility.

When Barack says this election isn’t just about him, he means it. While few of us may be as brilliant or as grounded as Barack, we are all capable of greatness. And together we will achieve it. Even if the world doesn’t know our names, it will know us by the good that we do.

In the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

America, our moment is now.

Let’s go change the world!

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (16) | Report Objectionable Content

Barack's consistency

By IA for Obama ☮ - Oct 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 am EDT

Al Giordano has a good piece on how Barack's campaign is coming full circle, with his closing argument to be essentially the same as the opening argument he made at the 2004 National Convention (http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/ ). Al's absolutely right that Obama's message has been consistent since he first came on the national stage 4 years ago, but his consistency long predates that. I met him in 2003, when he spoke of how we are all our brothers' and sisters' keeper, how we all are invested in each other, how we all are diminished when any of us suffer injustice. I have heard him say the same things, even using the same examples, throughout the past 20 months. Some criticized him for being repetitive; I appreciated his consistency and his adherence to the same core principles and values.

When Michelle relates a talk he gave to a community group 19 years ago (as she did at the convention), we hear more than an echo of the message Barack still gives today: "He talked about 'The world as it is' and 'The world as it should be.' And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is - even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves - to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be." (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/08/25/remarks_of_michelle_obama_and_1.php )

Watching Countdown the other night, I heard another blast from Barack's past that demonstrated his consistency. Turns out Keith O's history teacher invited Barack to speak at Keith's old high school back in 1991. According to the student newspaper's 1991 account, Barack emphasized how "change is possible" and that we need to take action to be that change (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUgiveUdXXw).

That's a strange coincidence, but even more impressive is the extreme consistency of his message. He has been honoring his words--often the same exact words--with action for over 20 years. And, as Al says, that consistency clearly demonstrates "what kind of person he is and what kind of president he would be." The kind of President we can believe in.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

My thoughts on the first debate

By IA for Obama ☮ - Sep 27th, 2008 at 12:32 am EDT

Barack did an outstanding job. He demonstrated clear mastery of the material, great depth of understanding of the complexity of international relations and our economy, and an ability to genuinely relate to what most Americans are going through and what our top priorities and concerns are.

McCain did a better job than I expected, I'll admit, but he also showed a cavalier disregard for the truth, blatantly lying again and again, and demonstrated his erratic nature which makes so many Americans uneasy. His answer to how this bailout will affect his budget alarmed me--cut all spending except defense?! That's never going to happen, first of all, and if it did what does that say about our priorities? All other aspects of our government--health care, education, agriculture, etc--should be totally neglected so we can have war and further enrich Wall Street? In what world is that a helpful solution? Furthermore, McCain's condescension--stating 7 times that Barack "doesn't understand" xy or z, and that he doesn't have the knowledge or experience to be President--coupled with his refusal to look at Barack and speak directly to him, played very poorly for McCain.

I was surprised, though, that Barack did not make some of the more obvious points that would have strengthened his performance even further. First, with respect to the surge: Barack has consistently said that he fully expected our military to perform brilliantly, and that if you add more of our highly trained troops the violence levels would go down; that, however, was not the purpose of the surge, which was to enable the Iraqi government to make political progress. That has not happened, which is why the surge was a failure, with even the Bush administration acknowledging that the vast majority of the benchmarks had not been adequately met. Secondly, McCain's mischaracterization of Barack's withdrawal plan as some random date circled on a calendar could have been more forcefully rebutted, especially by pointing out how even the Iraqi government and now the Bush administration have acknowledged that a timetable for withdrawal is necessary--nobody but John McCain wants us in Iraq for 100 years or more. Thirdly, Barack could have pointed out how interested he was to McCain's response to the situation in Georgia, which was belligerent and ill-informed, demonstrating his Cold War mentality and his shoot first, aim later approach to diplomacy. And lastly, I know Barack is a gentleman, and I admire him for it, but he could have hit him much harder on his own specific role in our crumbling economy. Barack doesn't have to bring up Keating 5, but it is a valid part of the record for voters to consider (and of which most are ignorant).

All in all, Barack did a terrific job, especially considering that this was supposed to be McCain's strongest subject. But, just in case this "Barack was wrong about the surge and won't admit it" spin sticks, please remind people of the intent of the surge, Barack's consistent position on it, how Barack has also been consistently right, and how even the Bush administration has had to acknowledge it.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Useful links for general

By IA for Obama ☮ - Sep 21st, 2008 at 12:59 pm EDT

Verify your voter registration, and what you need to do in order to vote (no matter the state)
https://www.voteforchange.com/
http://www.canivote.org/
voter information for Iowa, with link to absentee ballot request
http://www.sos.state.ia.us/elections/index.html
voting rights information from the ABA
http://www.abanet.org/vote/2008/home.shtml

Blueprint for Change and Barack’s plans, proposals and record on various issues, including Civil Rights, Defense, Disabilities, Economy/Taxes, Education, Energy/Environment, Ethics, Faith, Family, Foreign Policy, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Immigration, Iraq, Poverty, Service, Seniors & Social Security, Technology, Veterans, Women
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
http://www.scribd.com/barackobama

Correcting misinformation

http://factcheck.barackobama.com/
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_obama.html
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp

Taxes

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/presidential_candidates.cfm
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/would_obama_tax_my_profits_if_i.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121867201724238901.html
US Senate Record

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d109&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Sen+Obama++Barack))+01763))
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/02/dear-chris-matt.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633
http://www.statesurge.com/members/923-barack-obama-federal
http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/01/14/obamas_strong_record_of_accomp.php
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/21/164117/783
http://mediamatters.org/items/200612200003

IL Senate Record

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802262_pf.html
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/07/30/in_illinois_obama_proved_pragm.php
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/30/obama_hits_chicago_during_coun.php
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303303.html

Pro-Choice
http://www.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/01/08/fact_check_obamas_strong_proch.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVuMYKs8iJs
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html?pagewanted=2

Present votes in IL
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/mikva-021608/index.html

Frank Schaeffer, Pro-Life and Pro-Obama
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/frank-as-a-former-pro-lif_b_119435.html

Will Samson, Pro-Life and Pro-Obama
http://willzhead.typepad.com/willzhead/2008/09/pro-life-and-pr.html

Kari Lundgren, My Catholic Faith Pushes Me to Obama
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-lundgren/my-catholic-faith-pushes_b_125023.html

Wick Allison, Former Goldwater Republican, A Conservative for Obama
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Former_conservative_writer_and_editor_shifts_to_Obama

Republicans for Obama
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/gophome

Veterans and Military Families for Obama
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/vetshome

Barack’s bio
http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet_barack.php

Joe Biden’s bio
http://www.barackobama.com/learn/meet_joe.php

Barack’s speeches
http://www.barackobama.com/speeches/index.php

Volunteer for the campaign
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/actioncenter

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

taxing employer-provided health care benefits

By IA for Obama ☮ - Sep 20th, 2008 at 3:45 pm EDT

This doesn't get enough attention:

From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/us/politics/01mccain.html :

Though Senator John McCain has promised to not raise taxes, his campaign acknowledged Wednesday that the health plan he outlined this week would have the effect of increasing tax payments for some workers, primarily those with high incomes and expensive health plans.

The campaign cannot yet project how many taxpayers might see their taxes go up, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mr. McCain’s top domestic policy adviser. But Mr. Holtz-Eakin said in an interview that for some, Mr. McCain’s health care tax credits would not be large enough to compensate for his proposal to eliminate the tax breaks afforded to workers with employer-provided health benefits.

On stops in Florida and Pennsylvania this week, Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has emphasized a free-market approach that he said would lower health care costs and make insurance affordable.

To do so he is proposing a major tax change that he hopes will make the insurance marketplace more competitive and less expensive in part by encouraging more people to buy health insurance on their own instead of receiving it from their employers.

The 71 percent of insured Americans who get their health coverage through their employers now enjoy a significant advantage because the money spent by employers on their health coverage is excluded from their taxable income. If employers chose to pay that share of a worker’s compensation as wages rather than benefits, the income would be taxable.

“Anyway you cut it, if you make health benefits subject to taxation, that’s a tax increase,” said Jonathan B. Oberlander, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “You can argue with lots of merit that it’s a responsible increase, that it takes away an inequitable exclusion, but it’s still a tax increase.”

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

thoughts on Barack's statement 9/15/08

By IA for Obama ☮ - Sep 15th, 2008 at 10:28 am EDT

Barack said: "Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street."

This is all too tragically right, and so obvious (though once again, the common sense, straight talk is coming from Barack, the crazy talk from the opposition). The shambles that our economy has become is evidence that when you so disproportionately favor the wealthy, as the current administration has done for the past 8 years and McC would like to do for the next 4, and when you let the lobbyists set the rules, as the current administration has done for the past 8 years and McC would like to do for the next 4, and you let them exploit the middle and working class, who are the very foundation of our economy and our country, the foundation will crack and all that is based upon it will be thrown into upheaval.

Part of why Barack "gets it" is that he focuses on doing things from the ground up. That's how you build a strong community, country, economy. When the overly favored top crushes the bottom, all will be devastated. There aren't enough golden parachutes to go around.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

responses to two questions

By IA for Obama ☮ - Sep 5th, 2008 at 11:49 am EDT

from a probable under the bridge dweller:

"Why do want higher taxes?"-- first, Barack will lower my taxes. Unless you are extremely well off (making more than $600,000), you will either pay substantially less or about the same to what you pay right now in taxes. All others go back to the Clinton rates. But I don't really care about taxes. If someone is going to spend government $ wisely, I'm happy to pay my fair share. Seems like some rich folks are the true whiners when they're asked to pay their fair share. And thanks to Barack, I'm able to keep tabs on how the govt spends my tax $, via USAspending.gov. You may have heard of this legislation, though it was among SP's lies last night that Barack hasn't passed any. It's known as the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, created by Barack and GOP Senator Coburn. And John McCain thought so much of it he became a secondary sponsor.

"Why do you want a candidate that attended an American hating sermon"--Are you folks really going there? You do know about your golden girl's own pastor problems, right? Here's a little something just to get you started: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/anti-jewish-ter.html (Palin in church when Brickner described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianit) . And then there's this: "The founder of the Alaska Independence Party -- a group that has been courted over the years by Sarah Palin, and one her husband was a member of for roughly seven years -- once professed his "hatred for the American government" and cursed the American flag as a "damn flag." ""The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government," Vogler said in the interview, in which he talked extensively about his desire for Alaskan secession, the key goal of the AIP." http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/aip_founder_professed_hatred_f.php

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

first thoughts on Palin

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 29th, 2008 at 2:38 pm EDT

McC proved with his pick just how little regard he holds for women. To him, all women are interchangeable. It doesn't matter that SP has no foreign policy experience, scant legislative experience, and is virtually unknown--and with good reason--to the American people. Apparently, all that matters to him is that she's a female conservative GOP, as he stupidly thinks that women only want a woman, any woman, in the WH.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Thank you, Michelle!

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 26th, 2008 at 12:21 am EDT

Michelle was phenomenal tonight! Here in Iowa, we got to get to know Michelle very well, over the many months she campaigned here. She hit on the same points then as she did tonight. She comes from a family that knows hardship and struggle, a family that knows the value of love, hard work, and service to others. A family that knows that in America, you can achieve your dreams, but that you need support and fairness in order to do so.

Her story is all of our story. They might not be the same in the specifics, but it is a story that resonates deeply with the American people. Countless members of my precinct were won over to Barack by Michelle's integrity, commitment, and honesty. By the fact that she knows what so many of us are going through, as we strive to find a work-life balance, to provide a solid foundation of love and compassion for our children, and to create a better world for us all. To not be limited by the world as it is, but to commit to helping create the world as it should be.

Michelle did an outstanding job, and she will make an exceptional First Lady.

Thank you, Michelle Obama!

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Earmarks

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 24th, 2008 at 10:55 pm EDT

Can anyone verify whether McCain has made his earmarks public? I know he likes to claim that he doesn't do earmarks, but that doesn't seem to be true (see for example http://www.huliq.com/65524/daily-kos-mccain-still-lying-about-his-earmarks and http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Price_of_power_McCain_action_helped_Arizona_land_developer_2 , and http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/18/politics/18earmark.html , and http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/An_Old_Earmark_of_McCain_s_Surfaces .

At least as of June 2007, Barack was the only candidate to make his earmarks public (http://www.rollcall.com/news/breakingnews/19093-1.html ), but this source also claims that McC doesn't do earmarks, which again doesn't seem to be the case, at least not throughout all of his career. And as http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803u/mccain points out, his coziness with lobbyists and willingness to do their bidding amounts to much the same thing as earmarks.

So does anyone have more insight into McC and earmarks, and whether or not he has made all his public?

Thanks.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

Thanks to all, and keep HOPE alive!

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pm EDT

As we get ready to meet our new running mate, I just wanted to thank everyone who has been here and on the ground for so long, making it happen. We got here by believing in ourselves, in our candidate, and in our country. We got here by working hard, pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, phonebanking, registering voters, writing letters, protesting the MSM and their always biased coverage. We did not get here by kvetching about others, though sometimes we could not help but vent; we did not get here by moping about this poll or that spin. We got here through faith in action. And that’s how we’ll win in November, with all of us working hard together.

Any minute now, we will know who our running mate will be. Please let’s not fight when someone comes on the blog pushing this candidate or trashing that one. The choice has been made, and we will know very, very soon. It is up to us to make sure that person is not just a running mate, but the Vice President of the United States of America.

This is an awesome responsibility, and it is each of ours to win or lose. Our country needs us to win. The rest of the world needs us to win. Our future needs us to win. So be the change and make it happen.

“Hope has been the guiding force behind the most improbable changes this country has ever made. In the face of tyranny, it’s what led a band of colonists to rise up against an Empire. In the face of slavery, it’s what fueled the resistance of the slave and the abolitionist, and what allowed a President to chart a treacherous course to ensure that the nation would not continue half slave and half free. In the face of war and Depression, it’s what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. In the face of oppression, it’s what led young men and women to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through the streets of Selma and Montgomery for freedom’s cause. That’s the power of hope – to imagine, and then work for, what had seemed impossible before." Barack Obama, Des Moines, IA, 12/27/07

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

tax lies email

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 19th, 2008 at 10:35 pm EDT

Someone just posted that tax email lie that's been making the rounds, and is so ably debunked at http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/would_obama_tax_my_profits_if_i.html . This version claimed it was sent by Robert D. Jenkins
Vice President - Investments
Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor
Wachovia Securities, LLC
314-991-7812
800-999-4448 toll-free
robert.jenkins@wachoviaseccom

So, about to send off an email to Mr Jenkins, I decided to google him first. And the only hits I got were tied directly to this email. He does not seem to exist at Wachovia. I'll try calling tomorrow, to see if I can learn more.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (2) | Report Objectionable Content

My best friend is a bigot

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 16th, 2008 at 11:31 am EDT

Make that former best friend now . . .

Shortly before the caucuses, as my mind wandered while I drove on the highway, the thought that this was sort of a test for us as a people came to my mind. We have the best candidate we've had in a generation, maybe many generations, maybe even longer, running at a time when our country is in truly dire straits. Yet his very name--first, middle and last!-ties into some of our nation's greatest sources of angst. Those who judge superficially may become overwhelmed by their fears, and even those who don't will have to resolve whatever association those connections might arouse in their own minds.

I was interested to see what impact that might have in Iowa and the caucuses. I am happy to say little to none, as far as I could tell. Yet, the night after Barack's birthday, I got a call from my best friend from high school, with whom I hadn't spoken in over a year. Soon the talk turned to politics, and I am sad to say that she has bought pretty much all the lies. Her fears have overwhelmed her. If this was a test, she has failed miserably. It's not that's she not voting for Barack; it's why she's not voting for him, because she's full of fear, hate, ignorance and prejudice--which she sure didn't show when we were in high school.

When I told her how sad it made me to hear her say such horrible things about an entire group of people (Muslims, mainly), to hear how prejudiced she's become, she actually responded, "that really offends me to have you call me that." Apparently, she thinks that what happened on September 11 gives her the right to hate all Muslims and spread horrible, vicious lies about them. I told her I was glad that at least being called prejudiced offended her, since it suggests that perhaps that she still has a shred of basic decency and realizes that being prejudiced is wrong.

I can respect Republicans not voting for Barack simply because they disagree with his policies. We don't all think alike, after all. But I can't look past someone being prejudiced, hateful, and hurtful; I see that as a prelude mentality to some truly horrible stuff. And there is no way I can be friends with this person any more (even though she was godmother to my firstborn, one of my bridesmaids, etc), as long as she holds such hate and bigotry in her heart.

The opposition might have hate, but we have HOPE, and we shall overcome!

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (4) | Report Objectionable Content

Thoughts on the new "Activity Tracker"

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm EDT

I like the idea behind this change. It's always seemed a bit strange to me, when folks try to rack up friends to up their points. I have about 15 requests from people I've never heard of, who seem to be trying to break the 500- or 1000-mark with friends; I just don't see the point of friendship like that.

But a problem that was there with the old system still seems to be there. If you're trying to assign value to the work someone does for the campaign, how can you accurately measure that? This system doesn't seem to do it any better than the old way. When I did things as a precinct captain last fall, it didn't earn me a point, apart from a couple of events I threw. Not a point for the hundreds of letters written, voters registered, doors knocked, phone calls made, etc. And throughout the primary I would often make calls directly for the campaign, given a different Voter ID system than the website used. And again it didn't earn a point. Over the summer, I've done several things for the campaign (hosting volunteers, walking in parades, donating supplies, etc), including going to the office for Barack's birthday and making over 50 calls. And none of this earned me a point. So how does this change? Do I just enter the number of doors I've knocked on or voters I've registered? Do we create other categories for various forms of unrecognized support? Are our already overworked organizers in the office supposed to be entering this information for us? Or is the whole idea of ranking people this way a bit misleading? Especially since now it's to be more central to a person's online identity, being visible to all, including on all group lists, etc? And might it not make some folks feel strange to have so much of their business out in everyone's face? Some folks are very concerned about their privacy, and with good reason.

So, while I agree completely that the point was never points for points sake, I also don't see how this new system is all that much more accurate, nor why it has to be even more central to the system.

I'm working for a President, not for points or credit.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (3) | Report Objectionable Content

On "flip flops"

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm EDT

Barack has demonstrated incredible political courage time and again, fighting for issues that others are often too cowardly or apathetic to touch, like capital case reform. I have yet to see a supposed "flip flop" of Barack's that I felt was a true "flip flop," even while I may have disagreed with his decisions.

Barack stays true to the ultimate goal, while he is flexible on the specifics. Too many folks get blinded by the specifics and claim that he's "flip flopped." He compromises by finding the common ground, negotiating on the specifics, but staying true to the ultimate goal. And that's change we can believe in.

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (1) | Report Objectionable Content

O-lympics

By IA for Obama ☮ - Aug 4th, 2008 at 12:35 am EDT

Here's a twist on the Olympics logo that a friend and I did for my son's birthday invitations. Hope you like it!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Maeve47/OLympics

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (0) | Report Objectionable Content

"working" women

By IA for Obama ☮ - Jul 29th, 2008 at 10:29 am EDT

I just read Barack's Women and Families Blueprint," found here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGxyNg . This booklet is great, apart from a fairly major, unnecessary, and uncharacteristic gaffe. It specifies that it aims to help "working" women and families. Specifying certain women as "working" in this way will be read as a big slap in the face to women who work by raising their own children full-time. No one pays them for that, obviously, but it is extremely demanding (and of course deeply rewarding) work. I have worked full-time; I have had flexible hours in a paid position as I raised my family; and I have been a full-time mother (a term that is also inadequate and unfair to parents who work for pay -- parenting is not a part-time thing). We ALL have it hard. We ALL need better work-life balance. We ALL can benefit from virtually everything in this booklet. Why phrase it in a way that may well be insulting to a great number of hard-working but unpaid women?

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (5) | Report Objectionable Content

Hold yourself accountable, too

By IA for Obama ☮ - Jul 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 pm EDT

I've been a supporter for 5 years, and all these folks claiming Barack's shifting to the center, selling out, or what have you, are speaking more of their own ignorance of Barack's complexity, as well as his integrity. The richest example is those who get indignant over his remarks regarding the recent SCOTUS ruling on the death penalty--remarks that were almost verbatim what he wrote in his bestselling book, remarks that have been consistently reflected in his word and deed.

Barack Obama is not a narrow reflection of your own ideology, however much your ideologies may share in common. Barack Obama is far more complex than that, and he always has been. Try reading his books, his speeches, and studying his legislative record. Don't simply reduce him to the flaming liberal right-wingers love to paint him as, or to some perfect liberal savior with whom you will always 100% agree. Hold him accountable, but hold yourself accountable as well. Those claiming he's changed show how little they know or understand him, and often how little they know or understand the issues. Take some responsibility to become more informed on both counts.

Also, if you're up in arms over FISA or whatever, Al Giordano has some very wise words for you to ponder (thanks to Christine for bringing it to my attention):

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/smart-dissent#new

"[T]he highest calling of patriotism is not dissent. It is smart dissent, that based not on self-indulgence or the blurting of one's frustration's out in ways that seek to share the panic or the misery, but based on - even sometimes against great odds - building the objective conditions by which we will win the important battles worth fighting. We don't need any candidate's permission or endorsement of our issue or position to do that, and we sure don't have to wait for any politician to begin organizing the people to set him straight once in power. Ironically, we, the people have more leverage - if we organize - after a candidate becomes an official, than we do during the heat of an electoral campaign when he or she is so singularly focused on the goal of getting elected. And if we can use his own campaign as the basis through which to become organized, that much stronger will be our ability to move mountains when and if that campaign is victorious."

Now back to work!

Mail to a Friend | Link | Comments (4) | Report Objectionable Content

Page 1 of 4 | Next | Last

Posts

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.