This is the last post befoer the oath takes place. I just hope that everyone begin the hard work this week by contacting their Congressmen or women and let them know that as of today change is going to happen whether they like it or not. We need to inform each of them that they will be replaced if they try to fight against this change.
Please contact everyone in Congress and tell them that our voices mean that business as usual is over. We need everyone who worked so hard to elect Obama to start the battle now.
The crowd in Washington is Amazing as we wait for President Obama to take the oath. As Bush enters the crowd begins a collective boo and sing Goodbye, what a sight. I myself can't stand Bush but I think the crowd though letting off steam could have keeped that out as today is a celebration. I do fully understand their feelings and as this country allows free speech it is great to be able to boo without fear.
Bush is almost gone and the new era begins in minutes. The Crowds are huge and the numbers will never be truly known. All I can say is WOW, this is a great day in the United States of America. I do hope that people are praying for this to be a day of great celebation and nothing happens to Obama or his family. This country unfortunatly still has a large group of fanatics and I'm sure they would love the publicity of doing something stupid on the world stage.
I watch with the feelings of christmas day when I was a child. The emotions are something I expected as this day is long in coming. I just can't wait to see the person I and so many others worked so hard for take the oath and become our President. I see the emotions on the national mall and can almost feel their passion from my seat in Indiana. This is the best day in my lifetime and I am now speechless. God bless President Obama.
Wow, I can now see the true backing of President Obama. The people are everywhere on the national mall. This is proof that the people who voted for Obama are still excited as we all watch this amazing event of history. History is not just that Obama is African American but the following created these 2 years. Never has a President in my lifetime and I expect probably anyones had so many people behind them. I know Kennedy was loved by many but even he would be amazed by what is happening today.
Kennedy and his family will always be a major part our history. They helped create this day and would not believe the sights all over America. Bobby and John both fought for civil rights and believed that we are all equal. Today a man elected by all different colors, men and women, rich and poor stands before a nation filled with real excitement. We aren't sitting on the sidelines anymore, we believe that with all of us working hard, this nation can and will change.
Today, right this moment we wait to see President Obama take the oath of office. I don't think we will ever see this happen again as Obama is not just the "lesser of 2 evils" but a man with people ready to fight with him for change. We are going to have to work hard as we did during the campaign. We proved that the people do have a voice and now that voice is being heard around the world.
Only 1 more day before history is made. President-Elect Obama will soon be President Obama. Has a nice ring to it after suffering through the worst 8 years in my lifetime, or my parent for that matter. I can't wait to watch the swearing in, I only wish I could be there. I am so glad to have had a chance to work on a great campaign and meet some new friends. Now I look forward to working even harder to help make the changes needed in government. Thanks, "President-Elect" Obama for giving us all hope again. We can now walk with our heads held high as we move into the future. Hope doesn't seem that important until you have none.
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It's great to see so many people showing up to see our next President even as the temperatures are holding around 10 degrees. The trip today by President-Elect Obama and Joe Biden has been a great gesture on behalf of them to try and enclude as many people as possible. I could only wish they could have made a cross-country trip so those of us in the mid-west could see them. Many of us here in Indiana wish we could go to Washington and watch history live in person.
Right this minute Obama and Biden are getting ready to speak in Baltimore, one more stop on this day long trip. With a large crowd gathered in Baltimore the celebration has begun even before the President-Elect and Vice President-elect have arrived. The mayor and others are giving short speeches of their own while everyone awaits history. We can't see the entire crowd on TV but there is at least 10,000 people screaming as the governor speaks about just how historic this moment is. The camera has finally gave a great shot of the crowd that is well over 35,000. The passion on this day is something we as a country have needed for a while. The country has been held captive to a lame duck President and have had no reason to cheer, until NOW!
The President-Elect and Michelle as well as the Vice President-Elect have come on stage to a roaring crowd. Could we imagine this day just a few month's ago? I know I hoped to see this day, but until now I didn't realize just how much HOPE I and many others waited to see. Today is the beginning of something bigger than the President, it's bigger than us all.
Obama shows his love of history by talking about Ft. McHenry and the flag that gave us the star spangled banner. President-Elect Obama talks about the wars and global warming as he returns the love to someone in the crowd. He speaks of equality and a better life for us all. We have hope because we all had something, hope for change. We not only had hope, we did something about it. We elected a President that nobody saw coming, except us of course.
The President-Elect is giving credit to the many people who worked so hard to get us to this point. He is talking of the fact that no man is perfect and he will make mistakes but he will do what he knows that we want a govermnent that is for all of us. Together we have hope for a better country and a better world. Again a home run speech from a great speaker. We all have to give something back if we want to make a difference.
Obama said we made this trip possible and we made this day possible. Most politicians look back at those who elected them and give nothing more then a wave. Obama is different in the fact he knows this election was something special and we created this, we made a new future for ourselves. He wants all of us to go down this road together and work hard as a group, not unlike the campaign. As he shakes hands with members in the crowd the nation watches and looks forward to the 20th when all of us will again have a voice.
I can't help but want to see Bush charged and convicted of the crimes he commited. I know we all wish to move forward and we do need to do that. We must however stand up and let all future government officals relize that they are not above the law. This can't be allowed to happen again or this nation will fail. We can't look away at Bush and his cronies without showing the world that we as a people must somehow condon what has been done.
The world looks to this country as a beacon of hope. How do we move on and ignore war crimes? I'm not saying Bush is a Hitler or anything close but he did commit crimes both in the middle east and here at home. The country will only heal when the people know all of the crimes commited by the Bush administration. The Attorney Generals office, torture, getting people who don't agree with the Bush policy removed from their positions, and walking on all of our rights.
Bush commited war crimes yet he walks around like nothing happened. His people insured that the people at CBS who showed that Bush failed his country when he went AWOL lost their jobs due to serious pressure from the right wing nuts. He trampled our civil rights yet he again chuckles to himself seeing nothing wrong with that serious crime. Torture has been proven to be almost useless because a person will tell you what he thinks you want to hear, not to mention what was done was both illegal in this country but also to the laws of war. We would be asking for the heads of people involved with torturing any of our kids.
This country needs to heal and look to the future but now that the word torture has been used by members of the Bush administration to descibe water-boarding the prosecutors have a legal duty to investigate and charge all those involved. This country is a country of laws that not even the president has the right to break. If we fail to do what is legally mandated by the law this type of thing WILL happen again.
Congress tried to impeach President Clinton for lying, how did we not impeach a war criminal? This is just to important to just let fade away. In order for this country to fully heal this an issue that has to be addressed. We have a right to know everything the Bush administration has done and the law has a duty to prosecute these crimes, including many constitutional issues. We have to be sure that nothing even close to this ever happens again. I am interested in other peoples viewpoint on this issue and look forward to reading those for or against.
A great speech by Joe Biden as he is ready to board the train to Washington. The people are showing up in great numbers even as the cold weather hangs around 0 degrees with little sun. It is amazing to watch this event here in Indiana and see the thousands of people who are seeing history as it's made. Washington is almost ready for the 20th and so are all of us. The day's of hope are upon everyone who has worked so hard for this.
Joe Biden reminded all that the work has just begun but the middle class will be salvaged and will again be a force in all of the economy. He didn't speak long before introducing President-Elect Obama and Michelle. A roar could be heard in the background as the people sang Happy Birthday to Michelle Obama. The President-Elect and his family almost feel like friends we have had for years. They still remember all of us who helped him become the 44th President of the United States.
Obama reminds all of us where Joe Biden came from and how he know swhat we all are feeling and how he will fight for us. Joe Biden was elected to congress at the age of 30 years old and the terrible events that happened shortly after that. Biden has been where many of us are and he will fight for us all. The fact that Joe Biden rides home every night on the train so he can be with his family and enjoy watching his kids grow up. Like President-Elect Obama he will work to change Washington and the government that is no longer for the people.
President-Elect Obama knows of many individuals whose personal stories represent what we are all feeling in this time of economic crisis. Obama continues to build the excitment as he moves across Delaware and Maryland on his way to the house we built. The responsibility of all of us is to continue to back the President and help turn this country around. Obama is looking for everyone to do their part. We must stand side by side, Republican or Democrat, and work hard to heal this country.
Can anyone give a speech that means so much to the masses? President-Elect Obama is the Kennedy of our time, the Lincoln of history. We sit and watch as the trip to Washington has begun and think about everything we did together to see this historic moment come to be. The speech will go down in history as one of the greats. This is only the beginning of the hard work but it was great to hear President-Elect Obama talk about the work that millions of us did to get to this day.
We all put in many hours to push through a canidate that everyone else overlooked. He was not supposed to win this election, he was not supposed to get past the first couple of states. Today President-Elect Obama is moving on a slow train to Washington as the end of the old school is on it's way out. President-Elect Obama is facing a tough challenge as he moves into the White House but he has been there before. "Battle Tested", many say he wasn't battle tested, what do they call the campaign that started 2 years ago?
President-Elect Obama has something no other President has had in many lifetimes, US. Everyone I've talked to knows this is just the starting point for the next battle. They know Obama will need all of us to continue working hard if we are going to save this nation. This country is worth saving, to much blood has been spilled for us not to work hard. Many have given their lives to protect our country, we don't have to give our lives but we do have to give all we can to help the new President fight Capital Hill and the enemies of change.
The economy is something Obama is going to have to hit the ground running on January 20th. What I have been saying for awhile about this being the next great depression is not far from becoming reality. Vice-President Chaney says nobody saw this coming, I am not an economist, I don't work on Wall Street, yet I saw this coming last summer. I can promise you I was not the only person to see this coming. Chaney, like the rest of this administration have nothing but excuses and denials. President-Elect Obama is not going to fall back on excuses or any other bull we normally see in Washington. He is going to ask us to tighten our belts and get our hands dirty.
The speech covered many generations as he pulled pieces of great speeches from the past. We must stand behind Obama and give anything we can to keep this country moving. We did the impossible back in November so there is nothing we can't do. I have said before that together we will not falter. Washington is looking for cracks in this army and we must not show any weakness if we are going to see the change that is going to save this country. We are the Obama Army, we are not afraid.
While we all look forward to January 20th we are still at war. The fighting continues in Iraq and Afganistan and we all look forward to bringing all the troops home soon. While the fighting over there is coming to an end the fighting here has just begun. It's not going to be easy but if we continue to work together this is a fight that can and will be won.
The speech today gives us all hope for the future, a future that includes all of us. President-Elect Obama is giving back today as he rides a train through Delaware and Maryland. He wants Americans to fell close to him and he is still one of us. He knows after all the parades are over and he has been sworn in that he continues to need our help. Are you up to it, are we up to it? Nothing is going to be instantly fixed on the 20th and we all need to understand that. Obama said it took years to get in this mess and it's going to take years to fix it.
I hope as everyone sits back and watches the inauguration and parades they feel proud for the hard work we all put in to see this day. Enjoy the day and take a big breath as the next year is going to be hard. Don't stop the fight because we have only won a battle, not a war. We can't take time off thinking now that Obama is in the White House that we can relax. Congress will be watching us to see if we will still be working hard to help Obama or are we going to put everything on his shoulders and think we are done. Don't give Congress or anyone else in Washington a chance to breath.
When this country declared it's independence it took many thousands of people to stand behind that declaration. It took a revolution to stand as a new country. This is our revolution and though we don't have to fight and lose our lives to win it, we must stand up and continue to be heard.
We asked for change with the Obama campaign at what seemed like a lifetime ago. With the New Year comes the change we all voted for. 2009 is going to be a tough year with the economy in the tank, crisis in the Middle East, and people losing their jobs and their retirement. President Obama is going to have his hands full but I believe in the change he has promised. With President Obama coming into office in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great depression; it's going to take years to dig out of everything this great country faces.
I can only hope people on boh sides of the aisle will give President Obama the time he needs to work out these issues. We as American's have a duty to get behind the man we voted for and help in any way we can. Change is going to include all of us, President Obama is one man with the backing of millions and he will need our continued support. Some people jump on the bandwagon when times are going great and fall by the wayside when the real work begins. We can't afford to lose a single person if the change is going to happen.
Many of us started working with the campaign before President elect Obama even had a viable campaign. We believed all the way through New Hampshire and Iowa and we continue to believe. Please people, the job isn't over, we must continue the fight. Don't sit back and say "we got the job done, Obama is President." I myself will do whatever I can do to help fight for the Obama policies and will campaign to remove anyone in Congress that tries to obstruct the change vital to a new beginning.
The other side of the aisle as well as a few on the left just don't want to see change in Washington. The government doesn't like change, it scares them and they will fight to stop it. One way we can help President Obama to make the changes he promised is to continue to work hard. Millions of you stood as one during the campaign, we will need to continue to stand as one to show Congress we are serious. If Congress sees any cracks in our work for President Obama they will try and divide us and that will give them a chance to destroy all the hard work we did to get President Obama elected. As ONE WE CAN NOT LOSE, DIVIDED WE WILL FALL.
Enjoy the next few days with your families and celebrate the new year. Soon we will need to focus on all the things that change will bring with it. Stay involved locally and if asked stand up and work nationally if necessary. The hard work is on all our shoulders and combined we are un-stoppable. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a wonderful new year. Thanks to everyone who was involved with the campaign and I look forward to working with anyone who wants to continue the job. January 20th is the day we have all looked forward to. January 20th is the new begining.
Thanks for everything,
Robert Strunk
Bloomington Indiana
As the economy continues to fall apart, the republicans in a lame duck congress will do anything they can to cause further damage. I don't like to see public money going to bailout large corporations that fail from lack of good management. We simply can't sit back and watch the only 3 american car companies fall into bankruptcy. If we bailout banks than helping out the auto industry should not be problem. As economist begin to realize what many of us said almost a year ago. The world is facing a depression as bad as the original one if not worse. Senator Obama is doing everything in his power to help avert this situation. He simply is not in postion to do all he would like to do.
Senator Obama has shown that he is willing to work with all parties to keep this country from going into a financial disaster. He plans to hit the road running when he takes the oath in January and has put together a great team of Democrat's and Republican's to get the job done. We may be to late to stop the worst of the crisis but if we can shorten the duration and move toward a better and stronger economy with more oversight we can try to stop this from occuring again anytime soon. Here in Bloomington we of cource are feeling the pinch though we have a large college so that helps since student are going to spend and the college has to keep employees. We are all looking forward to a brighter future after the worst pesidency in history concludes. We can't call this a victory yet as it's going to take all of us to continue to fight as we did in the campaign. Senator Obama is still going to need the backing of the millions who voted for him. Now we must work even harder than before, we must not sit back and expect one man to do all the work. He needed us than and he needs us now. Don't let him and the rest of this great nation down, continue to fight and keep up the great work.
Here in Indiana we pride ourselves on being fair. Now we hear that the GOP has tried to stop the early voting by going to the Indiana Supreme Court. They lost their petition to close the polls but this is another example of how the republicans continue to try to steal elections. 2000 wasn't good enough for them, one of the worst fraud filled elections in modern US history, they know they can't win in a fair election. Not since Henry Clay used his power in the House of Representitives to buy a power position has this country felt so abused by a party. It was FRAUD then, it is FRAUD now. Everyone deserves to vote no matter what party they choose. This is the land of the free, yet Bush and his party feel that means free to use every means available to win.
The long lines in Ohio, Florida and the hanging chad and the Supreme Court have all been used to keep a large number of votes from either being cast or counted. We all know that politics is a dirty business and it has been that way for generations. We the public need to stand up and say enough is enough and insure that everyone gets to vote and all votes need to be counted. Indiana put in place a law that makes everyone who votes have a gov. ID. to insure there is no further voter fraud. This state has not EVER had a major case of voter fraud and I'm not sure if we ever had any case. This law was put in place by the republicans to put up obsticles for the poor and elderly who have to go wait in long lines at the BMV to receive said ID. The only good side to this law is if you can't afford ID they must give you one anyway. My question is why do we put up walls for any voter? The above mentioned people tend to vote Democrat, wonder why now?
The election will be over soon and we will here of fraud, we will hear of long lines, we will hear of votes not being counted and we will have court cases. This is sad in a country that sends observers to other countries to stop voter fraud. Fox watching the hen house if you ask most people today. We as Americans must stop this kind of election issues. We need other nations to watch our polls so nobody cheats in our elections. Never going to happen, it is up to all of us to put a stop to this kind of politics. Those who have died or served during wars didn't do so for this kind of crap. If the goverment can't put an end to this fraud, we may have to step up. I'm not asking for a new revolution, but I'm not ruling it out either. This isn't about poor vs. rich, this isn't white vs. black, this is about parties out of control and right now it happens to be republicans in the spotlight. Democrats have done their fair share in the past but it all needs to be stopped.
I look forward to this Tuesday and can only hope that this year is not a repeat of 2000. I have chosen to work the polls to do what I can at my local polling place to insure a better and fairer election. I am only one person so I don't think that somehow I alone can stop politics as usual but it is one place. This nation must pull together and if we get enough people in the polling places then we can make a real difference. We take for granted that our rights will always be here. Nations around the world have people who wish they could vote, we have that right, yet we are to lazy a nation to get up off our butts and do something as easy as voting. Let's take back this country that so many have died for. VVVVVVVVVVVVOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEE!
Saturday in Bloomington on a Beautiful fall day is full of people heading to Brown County, just a few miles away, to watch the leaves change into what seems like a thousand different colors. People from hundreds of miles drive here to see the leaves from the rolling hills that surround Bloomington and Nashville. The Indiana University campus looks great this time of year as well. IU has many things on campus that look wonderful against the limestone buildings scattered around town. These are the things that a person would normally see in Bloomington on a Saturday during a crisp fall day. Some people are still watching these things but at the Curry Building, downtown Bloomington has a line of people who can't wait to vote.
Bloomington almost never has a say in an election so most people just watch from the sidelines as the East Coast decides our next President. This election is so different from all those others. People are willing to wait in line for their chance to cast their vote. The line is full of older people that you kind of expect to be there, but something is different this election, young people are excited and they too are voting. Senator Obama might not win the Presidency this election, but he created something we haven't seen in years, excitement.
Many of the people in line are smiling and laughing as they wait 20 - 30 minutes to vote. They are excited that this state gets to be a part of this historic election. They talk about seeing a canidate with a ring of truth in his words. This man has the look and feel that he wants to change business as usual in Washington, but he has something else, he came from the place most of us came from. Senator Obama wants to change this country, he has. I have never seen so many people patiently waiting in a line to do anything.
As this election heads into the the last few days I get the chance to work for the campaign one last time before election Tuesday. I work the polls in Bloomington so I can't talk politics anymore. I have to sit back and watch from the sidelines as people cast their vote. This is fine with me, I get to stand and listen to others talk as they wait. I get to be a part of this historic election in more than one way, I get to vote of course, but now I get to actually become a working part of this election. Monday I will go out and talk with Senator Obama supporters and make sure they know where to go on Tuesday to vote. We will make sure the people have their photo ID., a newer law in Indiana that some still don't know about. On Tuesday I go from a campaign suppoter to another government worker without a voice. I have already voted so my voice has already been heard so I don't mind.
As people vote here in Bloomington we sit and watch as person after person steps to the line and waits their time before voting. This is not a normal fall day in Bloomington Indiana but we will enjoy it just the same. The leaves will be here every year, the limestone buildings on IU. will be there year after year, but you only see an election like this once in a lifetime. Do you hear the clock in the background? It's telling everyone it's time to get out and vote, it's telling us that a new day is upon us and we need change. Senator Obama is that change and it's up to us to give him that charge. Washington can change but we have to change it, we must have our voice heard, our vote is that voice.
Not much longer for a campaign that has been going on for the past 2 years. I'm not sure what the news channels will talk about after the election. The top stories for at least 2 years has been politics. Now what? The election is only a week away and the people who have worked for Senator Obama's campaign are still working hard and have yet to miss a beat. Many people have spent many hours of many days to get us to this point. I just want to take the time to thank so mant people who have given their time to a campaign for the ages.
Without all the people working long hours to get the word out and getting the new generation of people registered I believe we probably wouldn't have had a chance. Though I couldn't help as much as I would have liked due to a disability, there are thousand of people across the country that gave up their lives to work for real change. We now have a few days left and we will know who the next President and what road this nation will take. The people of this campaign continue to fight for a belief that we must change now. I can imagine how tired these people are but they don't show it. I haven't seen so many people get together for a single cause in my lifetime and I can't say enough about them. Thanks for all the work, thanks for leading the charge, most of all thanks for giving this nation a chance. Because of you, this nation can return to it's former leadership role on the world stage. Thanks for giving of yourselves as my Father, and Grandfather did in WWII and Vietnam. There have been no bullets and no air raids but this fight has taken place on streets across this great nation. Thank you so much and let's all watch Senator Obama become the next President of the United States.
