Enough!

Michelle Obama Was Key to the White House!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:04:43 EST

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1083138/The-key-White-House-How-Michelle-Obama-clincher-Baracks-campaign.html#

The key to the White House: Michelle Obama was the clincher in Barack's campaign, say commentators

By David Gardner
Last updated at 4:29 AM on 05th November 2008

Commentators say Michelle Obama was key to her husband's triumph

She initially didn’t want her husband to run for president. But today Michelle Obama was being hailed as a key player in Barack Obama's historic White House triumph.

Michelle Obama was so crucial to clinching victory that campaign aides nicknamed her The Closer.

Now she is making history all of her own by becoming America’s first ever black First Lady.

And her admirers are labelling her as a 21st Century Jackie Kennedy who will bring glamour back to the White House.

The 44-year-old emerged from the shadows to attract a spotlight all of her own during her husband’s exhausting 22-month campaign.

When Mr Obama had to break off from electioneering just days before the election to visit his dying grandmother in Hawaii, it was Michelle he called on to step in for him at events he had to miss.

Far from being angry at the Democrat candidate’s no-show, huge crowds happily cheered on his wife.

It was just the latest example of the growing influence the striking 5 ft 11 ins Ivy League-educated lawyer had on her 47-year-old husband’s quest to become America’s first black president.

She admits she was initially worried about the effect the gruelling campaign would have on her young family and still spends as much time as possible with the couple’s daughters Malia, ten, and Sasha, seven.

Then she was hesitant at moving to the forefront as ‘the love of my life’ went from Democrat outsider to become runaway favourite to capture the keys to the West Wing.

I'm an associate of Barack Obama's and proud of it!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:13:32 EDT

Guilt by association?

I confess, I am an associate of Barack Obama's. Barack Obama and I have been associates for nearly two years now. We've both been in attendance at the same political rallies at the same time and contributed monies to some of the same causes. I admit he even called me at home once in the early days (I still have the recording on my answering machine to prove it!) to discuss his campaign's strategy and thank me for what I'd done to help support his campaign. I am not ashamed to tell you that he's invited me to join him a time or two on conference calls about women's issues and canvassing over the past two years.

Anyone else here not feeling any guilt for associating with Barack Obama? Stand up, shout it out, and be counted!

I AM AN ASSOCIATE OF BARACK OBAMA'S AND PROUD OF IT!

FBI has been investigating culprits in Wall Street crisis for over a year!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:08:06 EDT

Please take note of the parts I bolded below in the AP story that all the other articles point to as their source.

There is now evidence and an admission that the Bush administration has known for over a year that there was a serious problem in our financial system, serious enough that it warranted FBI investigations during the past year, and they did absolutely nothing to stop the continuation of it while investigations were underway. This wasn't a set of unexpected circumstances that no one foresaw, it was an effort at covering up the problem before it got out of hand and developed into a crisis. The FBI is now looking for a scapegoat to hang the whole thing upon.

While the FBI is investigating the corporations, the Congress needs to do their own investigation. What did the Bush Administration know and when did they know about it and who gave the orders to not act upon what they knew?

This is the same thing that occured in relation to the warnings the Bush Administration ignored about emenent terrorist attacks on our country before 9/11. They made no effort to protect American citizens from that.

This is the same thing they did relevant to the studies and warnings about the potential for catastrophic damage to New Orleans levies from a hurricane years before Katrina. They made no effort to protect American citizens from that.

This is the same thing they did relevant to ignoring the recommendations of the 911 commission about shoring up homeland security. They still have made no effort to protect American citizens with these recommendations.

This is the same thing they did for the last five years relevant to the warnings from local and state governments of a mortgate/foreclosure crisis in their states.

The only thing they've done to protect American citizens was to protect us from weapons of mass destruction and they even got that wrong and are now ignoring all the warning signs pointing to a build up of terrorists camps elsewhere.

We can not afford another four years of an administration that ignores all the warning signs leading up to a crisis in hopes that it will just go away.

This isn't trickle down economics, this is a clogged up pipeline that needs to be run through with a middle class worker's plumber's snake to remove all the accumulated gunk inside it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/financial_meltdown_investigation
FBI investigating companies at heart of meltdown

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago

The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also is under investigation.

The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.

Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year.

Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.

Over the past year as the housing market cratered, the FBI has opened a wide-ranging probe of companies across the financial services industry, from mortgage lenders to investment banks that bundle home loans into securities sold to investors. Mueller has previously said the FBI's hunt for culprits in the nation's subprime mortgage crisis focused on accounting fraud, insider trading, and failure to disclose the value of mortgage-related securities and other investments.

The investigations revealed Tuesday come as lawmakers began considering whether to approve emergency legislation that would give the government broad power to buy up devalued assets from troubled financial firms.

The bailout proposed by the Bush administration is aimed at helping unlock credit and stabilize badly shaken markets in the United States and around the globe.

In the past two weeks, the government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country's two biggest mortgage companies, with a bailout plan that could require the Treasury Department to put up as much as $100 billion for each of them over time if needed to keep them afloat as mortgage losses mount.

Last week, the Federal Reserve provided an emergency $85 billion loan to AIG, which teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers was forced to file for bankruptcy after attempts to engineer a private rescue fell apart. All the companies were laid low from bad bets on complex mortgage-related securities.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the joint decision last week that the only way to stop the carnage was to deal with the root cause of all the troubles, billions of dollars of bad mortgage debt sitting on the books of major financial companies. This debt has triggered the worst credit crisis in decades, causing credit markets to essentially freeze up despite the fact that the Fed joined with major central banks around the world to pump billions of dollars of reserves into the financial system.

Additionally, the FBI is investigating failed bank IndyMac Bancorp Inc. for possible fraud. Countrywide Financial Corp., formerly the nation's largest mortgage lender and now owned by Bank of America Corp., is also under scrutiny.

Wake up America! Searching through a couple bags of trash for gotchas isn't solving the problems of the economy or our national security. Wake up America!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:48:28 EDT

While John McCain and the Republicans focus on the symbolism of the contents of a few bags of trash someone told them might be left over from that DNC convention event with 80,000 people attending, Americans deal with the reality of the country's unemployment rate in August rising to 6.1 percent with a loss of over 84,000 jobs. That's right, picture the jobs of every person in that packed stadium as having disappeared and them being added to the unemployment lines in August.

Americans deal with the reality of the Feds taking over the country's two largest home mortgage institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and the citizens of this country being asked to chip in and pay for their losses on top of the losses we've already endured in the value of their own homes.

Wake up America! Searching through a couple bags of trash for gotchas isn't solving the problems of the economy or our national security. Wake up America!

Wake up America! American are dealing with the reality that unemployment rose among almost all demographic groups, but women were hit hardest, with a rise of 0.7 pp to 5.3 percent. This is equal to the high for the last downturn in September of 2003. Black women saw their unemployment rate jump by 1.6 percentage points to 9.1 percent. The unemployment rate for blacks overall rose by 0.9 pp to 10.6 percent. The unemployment rate for Hispanics jumped by 0.6 pp to 8.0 percent, the highest level since reaching 8.1 percent in July of 2003.

Wake up America! Workers at all educational levels had an increase in their unemployment rates. Workers without high school degrees had the largest rise, with their unemployment rate going up 1.1 pp to 9.6 percent, the highest level since October of 1994.

Wake up America! While most sectors lost jobs last month, manufacturing was hardest hit with a loss of 61,000 jobs, driven by a loss of 39,000 jobs in the auto sector. Over the last year, the auto sector has lost 129,000 jobs, or 12.9 percent of total employment. Retail trade lost 19,900 jobs, driven primarily by a loss of 14,100 jobs in auto and auto parts stores.

Wake up America! Searching through a couple bags of trash for gotchas isn't solving the problems of the economy or our national security. Wake up America!

Michelle Obama IS Our First Lady!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:33:56 EDT

Dear Michelle,

Way back on February 9th, the night before your husband made the formal announcement of his candidacy, I signed up on the barackobama.com website, joined the local Sacramento group, and started a newsletter for our group that eventually went nationwide. On February 11th, I created my own group, the Michelle Obama for First Lady Group.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/MichelleObamaforFirstLady

I did not know much about you, had only seen a couple of interviews, the last one the one you did with Oprah, and immediately knew you would make a terrific First Lady. I did not want you left out of the effort so I started the group as my way of also campaigning for you. I was shocked but very pleased when Joe Rospars featured the group on the campaign blog and thousands of people joined it. I did not know where I would head with it but knew we had a role to play. That same day when pundants were saying Barack was not enough of this or that, I created the ENOUGH logo using the Obama O and made my own ad about him being Enough and of having had enough of Bush. I made talking points that spelled out his name and answered all the questions about him being enough and having had enough of the Republicans. I was surprised and very pleased to hear that word and theme carried through to the convention this week. Here's a link to that old post on mybarackobama.com

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/Enough/CLhW

Michelle, you have confirmed my first impressions and expectations, especially when you started the Women for Obama movement and I got my invitation from Betsy Myers to join with you. In fact, you have surpassed expectations to the point that my 79-year-old mother, a die-hard feminist and Clinton supporter eventually switched sides and started making comments such as "Michelle should run for president after her husband's term." You drew her over to the Obama campaign and even inspired her to sign up to volunteer at the local campaign office in Albuquerque, NM.

Thank you Michelle. I know this has not been an easy experience for you. During your husband's acceptance speech last night I could see the range of emotions run across your face - from immense pride and love of your husband to intense nervousness and worry and back again to genuine joy.

Do not allow the campaign handlers to change you too much, Michelle. We like you just the way you are, a real genuine woman who gets it and gets us. You, Michelle Obama, will make a terrific First Lady, First Mother, and First Wife. Congratulations!

Viagra's Side Effects For McCain's G.O.P

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:00:55 EDT

The sponsors of this recent smear ad from the GOP are prime examples of why John McCain's efforts at campaign financing reforms have been nothing but superficial Viagra for the impotent.

With vigorous, uncontrollable friends like these people having a hard-on for you, Barack Obama would be an idiot to agree to limited campaign financing with John McCain in the midst of an election year.

Why is it that John McCain is so keen on election financing reforms yet so ineffective at implementing them?

Someone, please advise John to see his doctor if these uncontrollable urges of impotence continue.

Wallstreet Goes On Welfare

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:54:59 EDT

This article highlights some talking points for your town hall meeting on the economy, Senator Obama.

Corporate Welfare

The Street on Welfare

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008; Page A19

Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries and how government should keep its hands off the private economy.

The Wall Street titans have turned into a bunch of welfare clients. They are desperate to be bailed out by government from their own incompetence, and from the deregulatory regime for which they lobbied so hard. They have lost "confidence" in each other, you see, because none of these oh-so-wise captains of the universe have any idea what kinds of devalued securities sit in one another's portfolios.

So they have stopped investing. The biggest, most respected investment firms threaten to come crashing down. You can't have that. It's just fine to make it harder for the average Joe to file for bankruptcy, as did that wretched bankruptcy bill passed by Congress in 2005 at the request of the credit card industry. But the big guys are "too big to fail," because they could bring us all down with them.

Enter the federal government, the institution to which the wealthy are not supposed to pay capital gains or inheritance taxes. Good God, you don't expect these people to trade in their BMWs for Saturns, do you?

In a deal that the New York Times described as "shocking," J.P. Morgan Chase agreed over the weekend to pay $2 a share to buy all of Bear Stearns, one of the brand names of finance capitalism. The Federal Reserve approved a $30 billion -- that's with a "b" -- line of credit to make the deal work.

I don't fault Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, for being so interventionist in trying to save the economy. On the contrary, Bernanke deserves credit for ignoring all the extreme free-market bloviation. He doesn't want the economy to collapse on his watch, so he is willing to violate all the conservatives' shibboleths about the dangers of government intervention. As a voter once told the legendary political journalist Richard Rovere: "Sometimes you have to forget your principles to do what's right."

But if this near meltdown of capitalism doesn't encourage a lot of people to question the principles they have carried in their heads for the past three decades or so, nothing will.

We had already learned the hard way -- in the crash of 1929 and the Depression that followed -- that capitalism is quite capable of running off the rails. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was a response to the failure of the geniuses of finance (and their defenders in the economics profession) to realize what was happening or to fix it in time.

As the economist John Kenneth Galbraith noted of the era leading up to the Depression, "The threat to men of great dignity, privilege and pretense is not from the radicals they revile; it is from accepting their own myth. Exposure to reality remains the nemesis of the great -- a little understood thing."

But in the enthusiasm for deregulation that took root in the late 1970s, flowered in the Reagan era and reached its apogee in the second Bush years, we forgot the lesson that government needs to keep a careful watch on what capitalists do. Of course, some deregulation can be salutary, and the market system is, on balance, a wondrous instrument -- when it works. But the free market is just that: an instrument, not a principle.

In 1996, back when he was a Republican senator from Maine, William Cohen told me: "We have been saying for so long that government is the enemy. Government is the enemy until you need a friend."

So now the bailouts begin, and Wall Street usefully might feel a bit of gratitude, perhaps by being willing to have the wealthy foot some of the bill or to acknowledge that while its denizens were getting rich, a lot of Americans were losing jobs and health insurance. I'm waiting.

It is STILL the Economy, stupid!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:05:04 EDT

The economy is continuing to head down. Increasingly, I'm reading voices in the financial world who are speaking of something that could be reminiscent of the Great Depression. Here's Krugman on near term political realities. We can't let Clinton frame this for her benefit and we can't let McCain get away with parroting Bush by saying "it is all in our heads." The Obama campaign needs to continue seriously addressing the economic reality we face and the differences between Obama and the other candidate's priorities and their plans to lead us through it and on to recovery.

What if this initiative fails? I'm sure that Mr. Bernanke and his colleagues are frantically considering other actions that they can take, but there's only so much the Fed — whose resources are limited, and whose mandate doesn't extend to rescuing the whole financial system — can do when faced with what looks increasingly like one of history's great financial crises.
The next steps will be up to the politicians.
I used to think that the major issues facing the next president would be how to get out of Iraq and what to do about health care. At this point, however, I suspect that the biggest problem for the next administration will be figuring out which parts of the financial system to bail out, how to pay the cleanup bills and how to explain what it's doing to an angry public.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/opinion/14krugman.html?hp

Bush, the Republicans and their related interest groups which wish to retain political dominance will continue to deny or minimize the problem as long as they can, then switch to a strategy of blaming everyone but themselves. Even if all the blame perhaps can't be laid at their feet, they will accept none. They will demand more tax cuts to 'solve' the problem.

I think all of this is going to become, as Krugman suggests, a much larger component in the election than we expected. In the next months and then in the general election, Bush and the Republicans will suffer for it, along with much else.

The danger, from a Democratic political perspective, is that this situation could make the next president's first term even more of a nightmare. The propaganda will be ramped up to blame THAT president and his/her party (along with earlier presidents of the same party...so Clinton and even Carter will be mentioned - never Reagan, of course). Obama must not be made into the scapegoat for America's economic ills. He and his advisors need to talk about his plans for a worst case scenario so we can take a proactive rather than reactive stance when the blame game begins. They (and we) also need to begin talking about the important need for a Democratic majority in both houses so we aren't wasting precious time with partisan bickering while they work on the immediate economic needs of the country. This will be an especially important topic in Pennsylvania where they have a high population of seniors. It is also an important topic to all of us struggling through the bad economic times while we are entering into retirement age ourselves, supporting elderly parents and grandparents, or finding reliable ways to plan for our own future retirements.

As the Great Depression (along with huge income disparities, evidences of greed and selfish unconcern for others) were fundamental components in the rationale for and the popularity of New Deal policies, this could lead to a serious turn of mind in America towards progressivism once again and a more receptive citizenry to the needed changes to fix our economy and our government.

Senator Obama, it is time you had a televised town hall meeting to discuss these topics with the nation.

Obama's Latest Legislative Success - Product Safety Reform Transparency

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:41:10 EST

Senate approves Obama's call for more transparency in sweeping product safety reforms to protect everyone.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-billmar07,0,3286147.story

Senate OKs sweeping product safety reform
TRIBUNE UPDATE: Bill calls for public complaint database, overhaul of agency
By Jim Tankersley and Patricia Callahan | TRIBUNE REPORTERS
March 7, 2008

Excerpt:

In an attempt to make those recalls more transparent, an amendment inserted Thursday on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) requires recall notices to include the names and locations of factories where the flawed products were produced. The failure of recall notices to include such information has allowed overseas factories to continue selling tainted products to unwitting U.S. importers that don't know of the factories' troubled track record.

Should Hillary Denounce PA Gov. Rendell for Associating with Farrakhan?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:32:29 EST

Hillary, how do you feel about your Super Delegate's connection to Farrakhan? Do you have similar vitirol for him? Shouldn't you denounce PA Governor Rendell for associating with Farrakhan when he was mayor of Philadelphia?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1DD173FF936A25757C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

April 15, 1997

Philadelphia Mayor Joins Farrakhan to Calm Ethnic Tensions

By MICHAEL JANOFSKY

Excerpt:

In a long church rally today, called to promote racial reconciliation after several recent high-profile crimes, Mayor Edward G. Rendell joined Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, in challenging residents of Philadelphia and the nation to put aside ethnic differences. Mr. Rendell became one of the few big-city mayors ever to share a podium with Mr. Farrakhan, a circumstance that was all the more unusual because Mr. Rendell is Jewish and Mr. Farrakhan is widely regarded as anti-Semitic.
Representatives from the city's leading Jewish and Roman Catholic organizations were invited to participate in the rally, but all declined. As the keynote speaker before an enthusiastic audience of more than 3,000 at the Tindley Temple United Methodist Church, h Mr. Farrakhan praised Mayor Rendell, a popular Democrat, for ''his courage and strength to rise above emotion and differences that might be between us or our communities.'' Mr. Farrakhan added: ''I believe, Mayor Rendell, that history will applaud your efforts.'' Mr. Rendell, whose speech preceded Mr. Farrakhan's, commended the Nation of Islam for its emphasis on family values and self-sufficiency. He told the audience that many people had warned him against ''sharing a platform'' with a figure as controversial as Mr. Farrakhan. But, he said, the incidents that prompted the rally -- the attack on a black woman, her son and nephew by a group of white men in February, and the fatal shooting of a white teen-ager by two black men in a robbery in the same neighborhood a month later -- have taken a toll on the city. ''The real risk would be not to be willing to talk about our differences,'' he said.

Samantha Power Is Now Free To Speak Up!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:21:44 EST

I see this as a two-edged sword. It is a loss for the Obama campaign but it may also free Samatha to be able to speak out much more forcefully against Hillary without the need to protect the Obama positive campaign strategy. It is certainly very much needed. She may be the strong female voice we've been looking for to speak out assertively and aggressively for Obama and against Clinton.

Go Samantha! Go Obama!

Comments needed on this article at the link.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/power_resigns_over_hillaryismo.php

Power Resigns Over Hillary-Is-Monster Comment
By Greg Sargent - March 7, 2008, 11:50AM

Here's her statement, just sent out by the campaign:

"With deep regret, I am resigning from my role as an advisor the Obama campaign effective today. Last Monday, I made inexcusable remarks that are at marked variance from my oft-stated admiration for Senator Clinton and from the spirit, tenor, and purpose of the Obama campaign. And I extend my deepest apologies to Senator Clinton, Senator Obama, and the remarkable team I have worked with over these long 14 months."

In an interview with The Scotsman, Power called Hillary a "monster" and said other less-than-flattering things about her. Despite her prompt apology yesterday, the Hillary camp demanded her resignation this morning.

Less than two hours later, she's out.

Where Are the Voices of Obama's Panel of Expert Advisors?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:38:32 EST

What I'd like to know is where are all those panels of authoritative experts that were trotted out all over Iowa early last year as each of Obama's major issue positions were rolled out? Why aren't any of them making the rounds of the news shows on behalf of Obama? He has a long list of advisors. Where are their voices? Why aren't there more of those panels of advisors making the rounds on the campaign trail with him in a continuing series of town meetings or holding press conferences to highlight various aspects of their advisories?

Axelrod is running a great campaign but we needs some strong specialists to knock down the nastiness and avoid the need for Obama himself to go negative either in person or through ads.

INFO/ADVICE/HUMOR: Survival Tips for Canvassing/Phoning in Pennsylvania

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:01:30 EST

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-smerconish/welcome-to-pennsylvania_b_90170.html

Welcome to Pennsylvania!
Posted March 6, 2008 | 06:19 AM (EST)

Welcome, Candidates! It's been a long time since Pennsylvania mattered in a presidential contest and we are elated to host you. As your self-appointed advance man, I offer the following survival tips for your seven-week sojourn into the Keystone state:

Pronunciation matters. When in Philadelphia, make certain that Olney is "ahl-uh-nee," Passyunk "pa-shunk" and the Schuylkill "skoo-kul."

In central Pennsylvania, Juniata County is not akin to a Hispanic first name, but rather "joo-nee-atta." In Pittsburgh, it's spelled Monongahela, and pronounced the same way.

Sports. Work in a mention of the Eagles (pronounced "Iggles") anytime traveling east of Harrisburg; reference JoePa whenever driving through or flying over central Pennsylvania, and describe the Immaculate Reception anytime subjected to a Q&A in Pittsburgh.

"Big Five" means basketball, and not the number of superdelegates controlled by city Democratic chairman Bob Brady.
Amish country: It's beautiful, but you may want to avoid Intercourse, Pa., for press avails. Ditto Blue Ball.

Politicos call it the "T." That's anything outside of the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia media markets. If you don't know why, get out a map and some crayons and it will come to you.

James Carville. Yeah, we know what he said about Alabama. Still, it's no reason to shout out "Free Bird" in central Pennsylvania. Better you reference Bon Jovi.

If you want to establish some street cred with the locals, tell Tim Russert you can't appear on "Meet the Press" because of a time conflict with Sid Mark's "Sundays with Sinatra."

The start of hunting season is a school holiday in much of the state.

Consider Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" for a rally introduction.

Philadelphia photo-ops. When you do the obligatory Reading Terminal stop, don't ask where the trains are. Similarly, no need to ask why 9th Street is called the Italian, and not the Asian, market.

Quote from the Daily News, not the Inquirer, to show you are a people person, excepting only the "Currents" section on Sundays.

Don't worry about rain on Election Day unless there is an antiquated map on Channel 6 with a puffy cloud over Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvanians love John Heinz and his family's ketchup. The jury is still out on Teresa.

We already know we deserved the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, no need for the reminder. (BTW, Philadelphia has a soft spot for classic rock, and we'd like to see Yes in that Hall of Fame.)

Philadelphians are tired of a particular tourist question. The answer is: He ran up the steps of the Art Museum.

Whatever the problem, a local man named David L. Cohen can solve it.

Upstate, if you say "youse," it will get you an applause line; ditto for "younz" in western Pennsylvania.

Anywhere but central PA, complain about not being able to buy a six-pack in a Wawa.

Dietary. The Geno's vs. Pat's decision is more important than NAFTA. If you speak English, support the memory of Police Officer Danny Faulkner and want a fence built on the Mexican border, go to Geno's; otherwise it is Pat's. Either way, do not make the mistake that cost John Kerry the White House - never, ever, order a cheesesteak with Swiss cheese.

Also, order scrapple for breakfast. Just don't ask what's in it. In Pittsburgh, if you are offered a sandwich stuffed with french fries, fried lunch meat and cole slaw, say "yes" and don't act surprised.

City Hall. Ignore the white noise you may hear above the mayor's desk; it has to do with a previous tenant.

Endorsements. If you are offered support from something called the Geator with the Heater, accept it. If you are asked whether you know anyone called "Sir Charles," tell them to put the call through. Also, try to have your picture taken with Pat Croce. Finally, see if Jimmy Rollins will say you are the candidate to beat.

One more thing. If you are asked any question that calls for an answer with a list, be sure to include Sister Mary Scullion, as she makes every list.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS - Registration Deadlines for Remaining Primaries and Caucuses

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:59:21 EST

Here's a list of remaining states yet to vote. The list includes the number of pledged delegates to be earned, whether it is an open, closed or modified closed primary or caucus, voter registration deadlines, and whether the state allows registration on voting day.

March 8

Wyoming - Caucus - 12 Pledged Delegates - Open Primary
Wyoming Democrats allow any Wyoming resident who will be 18 on Election Day to participate in the March 8 caucuses.
Wyoming allows qualified voters to register at the polls on Election Day. Bring an acceptable form of ID to the polls (for example: driver license, passport).

March 11

Mississippi - Primary - 33 Pledged Delegates - Open Primary
February 10, 2008 is the last day to register for Mississippi's primary

April 22

Pennsylvania - Primary - 158 Pledged Delegates - Closed Primary
Individuals must be registered and enrolled in a political party to vote in that party's primary.
ANYONE WHO WISHES TO VOTE IN THE CLOSED PRIMARY MUST APPLY FOR REGISTRATION AS A DEMOCRAT BEFORE MARCH 22.

May 3

Guam - Caucus - 4 Pledged Delegates

May 6

Indiana - Primary - 72 Pledged Delegates - Modified Closed Primary
April 7, 2008: Voter Registration Closes for the 2008 Election
Democrats may only vote in the Democratic primary, while Republicans may only vote in the Republican primary. However, unlike in a Closed Primary or Caucus, Independents may choose to vote in either party's primary.

North Carolina - Primary - 115 Pledged Delegates - Modified Closed Primary
April 11, 2008: Voter Registration Closes for the 2008 Election
Democrats may only vote in the Democratic primary, while Republicans may only vote in the Republican primary. However, unlike in a Closed Primary or Caucus, Independents may choose to vote in either party's primary.

May 13

West Virginia - Primary - 28 Pledged Delegates - Modified Closed Primary
April 22, 2008 Voter Registration Closes
Democrats may only vote in the Democratic primary, while Republicans may only vote in the Republican primary. However, unlike in a Closed Primary or Caucus, Independents may choose to vote in either party's primary.

May 20

Kentucy - Primary - 51 Pledged Delegates - Closed Primary
April 22, 2008 Voter Registration Deadline

Oregon - Primary - 52 Pledged Delegates - Closed Primary
April 29, 2008 Voter Registration Deadline

June 1

Puerto Rico - Caucus - 55 Pledged Delegates - Closed Caucus

June 3

Montana - Primary - 16 Pledged Delegates - Open Primary
Monday, May 5, 2008 – Regular Voter Registration Closes for Primary Election
If you miss this deadline, you may still register under late registration procedures by showing up at the local election office up to and including on election day, filling out and submitting a voter registration card, and voting a ballot that you give to the election office staff.

South Dakota - Primary - 15 Pledged Delegates - Closed Primary
May 19, 2008 Voter Registration Deadline

Barack Obama took a major step closer to the Democratic nomination on Tuesday

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:56:25 EST

Lots of good info in this blog. Study it. Let's get our chins up off the ground and go to work on it.

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/03/it-may-not-seem.html

Posted Thu Mar 6, 2008 at 6:18 AM |

It may not have seemed like it, but Barack Obama took a major step closer to the Democratic nomination on Tuesday

Now that we have emerged from the intensity of Tuesday's primaries, it's become clear that it's winning delegates that matters -- not winning states.

We knew this all along, but probably got a little greedy and hoped to land a knockout blow, ending the campaign prematurely. We didn't, and so the campaign continues.

But even though the campaign didn't end on Tuesday, Barack Obama got closer to winning the nomination -- and Hillary Clinton got further away.

The reason? The delegate math. On Tuesday, Barack Obama cut the number of delegates he needs to win a majority of pledged delegates from 425 to 272. Hillary Clinton just barely managed to get her number down to where Barack Obama started the night.

You can see the numbers on the chart below here.

It shows that we are in a much stronger position than Hillary Clinton because we are closer to the real magic number -- 1,627 -- than she is.

Once we hit 1,627 pledged delegates, Barack Obama will become the nominee -- unless the superdelegates step in and overturn the judgment of voters. And that's not going to happen.

(Click on the above link to view the chart)

(The source for the pledged delegate total is MSNBC. Barack Obama's official estimate puts him even further ahead, but I've tried to rely on independent media estimates rather than campaign estimates. That being said, Obama's estimates have proven to be fairly accurate in the past.)
There are 611 delegates remaining to be selected, plus we have yet to learn the allocation of 48 delegates that have already been elected. Those delegates are mostly (if not entirely) from the Texas caucuses.

As you can see, we need to win 272 of these 659 delegates -- 41%.
Hillary Clinton needs to win 414 of them -- 63%.

That will be a nearly impossible challenge.

Clinton is trying to focus the media's attention on Pennsylvania, but as you probably know there are two contests before Pennsylvania: Mississippi and Wyoming, and both favor Barack Obama. 45 delegates are stake in those contests.

In fact, although Pennsylvania is the biggest individual state left, just 26% of the delegates left to be selected are in Pennsylvania. It makes for good TV to focus on Pennsylvania, but the cold hard delegate math tells the smart person that Pennsylvania is just one of many remaining prizes. For example, shortly after Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Oregon hold their contests and between them, there are more delegates at stake (167) than in Pennsylvania (158).

The reality is that the media coverage (and even my own blog coverage!) has been very misleading. By focusing on who won which state on Tuesday, they conveyed a sense that Hillary Clinton had won a major victory.

In truth, she really didn't. She's celebrating a layup in a game that she trails by twenty points with just a couple of minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Here's one way to measure that:

On Tuesday morning, Barack Obama needed to 43% of the remaining delegates to hit 1,627. Hillary Clinton needed to win just under 60%.

As of today, Barack Obama needs to win just 41%. Hillary Clinton must win 63%.

Every time that Barack Obama wins another delegate, Hillary Clinton's challenge gets harder. That's why even though she won a few more delegates than Obama on Tuesday, she really lost.

March 22 is Registration Deadline for Democrats in Pennsylvania's Closed Primary

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:50:44 EST

April 22 is the election day for Pennsylvania. However, March 22nd is our deadline for registering voters for the CLOSED election.

The true deadline for our grassroots efforts is not far away, it is very close. We have lots of work to do in only 15 days.

Don't let the deadline sneak up on us like it did in Ohio.

Individuals must be registered and enrolled in a political party to vote in that party's primary.

Pennsylvania law provides that the deadline to apply to register to vote is 30 days prior to each election.

ANYONE WHO WISHES TO VOTE IN THE CLOSED PRIMARY MUST APPLY FOR REGISTRATION AS A DEMOCRAT BEFORE MARCH 22.

NOTHING WE DO TO ATTRACT NEW VOTERS, INDEPENDENTS OR CROSSOVERS AFTER THAT DATE WILL HAVE ANY EFFECT.

Here's a link for the Penn. Secretary of State site:

http://www.dos.state.pa.us/voting/cwp/view.asp?a=1192&q=443159&votingNav

and the Penn. Democratic Party

http://www.padems.com/

Pennsylvania Info For Talking Points

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:36:52 EST

Info for Blog writers and strategy thinkers. Use these statistics and rankings to customize info about Obama's plans and positions of importance for these states. Info is from NPR's Primary Map supplemental info. See the link for details on sources used to rank state info. See the section after the statistics for Party registration details and deadlines, below the fold.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/state.php?state=PA&page=&sort=relevance2

Pennsylvania Statistical Rankings

Senior Population - Ranked #3 in states with 15.1% of the population

83.8% of the population is White

10.4% of the population is Black

3.8 % of the population is Hispanic

Ranked #10 in states for per-student education expenditure spending $9,731 per student

Ranked #3 in states with highest carbon dioxide emissions per capita 22.2 tons per person

Sixth largest state in population with 12,440,621 people

Tenth highest gas prices of $3.063

19% of their schools are not achieving No Child Left Behind Standards

Ranks #32 in states with 1.6% unauthorized migrant population

Ranks #45 in states with 10.2% uninsured population

Ranks #25 and tied with 2 others in state unemployment at 4.7%

Ranks #3 in states with most number of troops killed in Iraq at 179 people

Clinton: I See Dead People

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 06:23:31 EST

Have you seen her latest TV ad where there is a phone ringing at 3am and we're to believe that we will be safe because Hillary had been around the block during her term as First Lady and got to know all the world leaders?

What they forgot to tell us in that ad is that many of the world leaders she met at that time are now dead. When she answers the phone in the next ad will she be saying "I see dead people?"

Clinton's Feminist Double-Speak and the 103 Sexually Harrassed Women

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 06:10:13 EST

Looks like our doubts about Hillary, as the feminist crusader are well-placed.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/29/718538.aspx

CLINTON DONATIONS FROM TROUBLED FIRM

Posted: Friday, February 29, 2008 5:47 PM
From NBC's Lisa Myers and Jim Popkin

Sen. Hillary Clinton has declined to return $170,000 in campaign contributions from individuals at a company accused of widespread sexual harassment, and whose CEO is a disbarred lawyer with a criminal record, federal campaign records show.

The federal government has accused the Illinois management consulting firm, International Profit Associates, or IPA, of a brazen pattern of sexual harassment including "sexual assaults," "degrading anti-female language" and "obscene suggestions."

In a 2001 lawsuit full of lurid details, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that 103 women employees at IPA were victimized for years. The civil case is ongoing, and IPA vigorously denies the allegations.

"This is by far, hands down, the worst case I've ever experienced," said Diane Smason, one of the EEOC lawyers handling the lawsuit. "Every woman there experienced sex harassment, they were part of a hostile work environment of sex harassment. And this occurred from the top down."

Sen. Clinton's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, told NBC News in a statement that the senator decided to keep the funds because the lawsuit is "ongoing" and because none of the sexual harassment allegations has been proven in court.

"With regard to the pending harassment suit, as a general matter, the campaign assesses findings of fact in deciding whether to return contributions," Wolfson said.

Also looks like another case of double-speak from Hillary.

You'll note in the above article that her campaign spokesperson says Hillary decided not to return the donations because the case is still pending and none of the sexual harrassment charges have yet been proven in court.

In case you need a refresher, reread the circumstances of her returning the funds to Norman Hsu here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20713395/

updated 5:28 p.m. PT, Mon., Sept. 10, 2007

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws.

“In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement Monday night. “An estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign.”

Wolfson said the Clinton campaign also will vigorously review its fundraisers, including thorough criminal background checks, in the future. “In any instances where a source of a bundler’s income is in question, the campaign will take affirmative steps to verify its origin,” he said.

Some background for the Florida Primary controversy

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:13:20 EST

1. The Clinton campaign is saying Obama violated the pledge first with the airing of his national ad. Actually the skirmishes into Florida have been going on longer than that, by both campaigns, with Bill Clinton having the most frequent and most publicized presence there as far back as October, 2007, just two months after the sanctions were imposed. Read more on that here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-levitt/floridas-shadow-campaign_b_66537.html

2. Some Clinton supporters are blaming the early primary date on the Florida Republicans, saying the law as imposed on them and passed by the Republican majority.

Well, that's not entirely correct. According to Wikipedia the original bills to move the primary date to January 29th passed the Florida House of Representatives unanimously and the Florida Senate nearly Unanimously (minus two votes) in a show of bipartisan support.

According to the Florida Democratic Party's website it was the amendments filed in an effort to change the January 29th date to forestall the DNC's sanctions that were turned down by the Florida Republicans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)_presidential_primaries,_2008

The Florida legislature voted via House Bill 537 to move forward the date of their state's primary to January 29th, causing a chain reaction which moved many other states' primaries and caucuses to much earlier dates. The vote passed with bipartisan support 118 to 0 in the House, 37 to 2 in the Senate. In response, the Democratic National Committee has ruled that Florida's delegates will not be seated, or, if seated, will not be able to vote, at the National Convention. Furthermore, the DNC has also stated that it will forbid any candidate from receiving delegates should they campaign in the Florida primary.[24] The DNC Rules Committee met on August 25, 2007 and ruled that Florida would have 30 days to move its primary date at least 7 days later than the current date of January 29, or else lose all of its delegates in the Democratic primary.

Will Another Clinton Presidency Result in an Impeachment Hearing?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:05:28 EST

Worst case scenario should the Clintons gain the Presidency:

I can see the country going through another four year old series of battles culminating with impeachment hearings, this time the issue of violations of the presidential term limit law, if Bill continues with this much involvement and interference in the White House.

Is the country ready to put the boundaries of those term limit laws to the test with a Hillary Clinton presidency?

Humor: Clinton's Electile Disfunction Disease

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:26:36 EST

Senator Obama is the cure for the Clinton Electile Disfunction Disease!

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bill_clinton_screw_it_im_running

Bill Clinton: 'Screw It, I'm Running For President'
January 23, 2008 | Issue 44•04
CHARLESTON, SC—After spending two months accompanying his wife, Hillary, on the campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton announced Monday that he is joining the 2008 presidential race, saying he "could no longer resist the urge."

"My fellow Americans, I am sick and tired of not being president," said Clinton, introducing his wife at a "Hillary '08" rally. "For seven agonizing years, I have sat idly by as others experienced the joys of campaigning, debating, and interacting with the people of this great nation, and I simply cannot take it anymore. I have to be president again. I have to."

He continued, "It is with a great sense of relief that I say to all of you today, 'Screw it. I'm in.'"

In a show of respect, Clinton then completed his introduction of Hillary Clinton, calling her a "wonderful wife and worthy political adversary," and warmly shook her hand as she approached the podium. A clearly shocked Mrs. Clinton got halfway through her speech about the nation's obligation to its children before walking briskly offstage.

Another piece of evidence that viral grassroots campaigning on the internet works!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:44:15 EST

Another piece of evidence that viral grassroots campaigning on the internet pays off. Let's put it to good use.

If we can't afford to purchase a 30-minute national spot for Obama to present his case to the people, perhaps this is the second best way to do it. Thirty minutes of Barack Obama talking about his political philosophy and outlining his plans and implementation strategies on a variety of topics with an emphasis on those implementation strategies.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=273806

Great speeches don't matter if no one hears them. Barack Obama delivered a riveting speech about America's moral crisis this weekend, calling for a united movement to overcome the nation's moral deficit and mounting economic inequality. Political observers praised the address and reporters covered it -- 53 mentions in major papers -- yet it's been largely overshadowed by the escalating fight between Obama and The Clintons, which still dominates this week's media narrative. The candidates and reporters are focused on the fight, a defensible choice given both its impact and the undeniable news of a former U.S. President "spreading demonstrably false information," according to ABC News. But it turns out the public found Obama's speech anyway.

While cable news shows gorge on campaign sparring, Obama's uplifting speech is absolutely dominating YouTube. The 34-minute address from Ebenezer Baptist Church is currently the fourth most viewed video in the world on YouTube, trailing two Britney Spears clips. Not only is that unusual traffic for a long political address – people also like it. On Tuesday, viewers voted it the second most "favorited" video in the world. It also drew the second highest number of incoming links, a key indicator of web interest that drives Google page rankings.

An old warning from Hillary Clinton: "Look at the very people involved in this."

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:08:07 EST

Anyone else old enough to remember the Pogo cartoon from the 70's about Earth Day where Pogo and friend are looking over a trash-strewn field and Pogo says "We have met the enemy and he is us."?

With their recent campaign tactics, the Clintons have evolved into their own enemy.

It looks like a rehash of a lot of old articles...but skim it and read my comments, especially the last one. These are important points to highlight in our blogs and comments.

Remember Hillary's comment in 1998 on the vast right-wing conspiracy against the Clintons?

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/27/hillary.today/

Hillary Clinton: 'This Is A Battle'

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Jan. 27) -- First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday firmly denied allegations that her husband had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Mrs. Clinton blamed the sex allegations on a "a vast right-wing conspiracy" against President Bill Clinton.

She made the statement during an interview on NBC's "Today" show, where she was asked to comment on accusations and rumors that have caused a political uproar and even triggered speculation about the possibility of impeachment of the president.
"I do believe that this is a battle," the first lady said.

"Look at the very people who are involved in this. They have popped up in other settings. The great story here for anybody willing to find it, write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president," Mrs. Clinton said.

The first lady called the sex and perjury allegations swirling around her husband part of an effort "to undo the results of two elections."

We now know the results of the advice given to Hillary by those folks she warned us about. The Hillary Clinton campaign tactics regarding the Culinary Workers Union in Nevada served to create a devisive internal split in that Union that they may not recover from.

Is Hillary being gullible like she was back in 1998 when she was defending Bill before he fessed up or in her hunger for power is she allowing herself to be used by those people she warned us about in 1998 to further bust up the Democrat Party?

Let's take a look at the people involved in her campaign.

Hillary Inspires Me

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 21:45:58 EST

Thanks Hillary. Your inspiring ridicule of a kid's school assignment was a masterpiece! Keep up the good work!

Many of us have pledged to donate $5 to the Obama campaign each time you do something like this. With your track record, the Obama campaign will soon be rolling in dollars.

Here's my $5 for this one, Senator Obama.

P.S. I hear the Clinton campaign is now saying it was all a joke, so I may feel inspired to donate another $5 very soon.

The Power of Hope Fueled by the Grassroots of Change.

Vanity Fair Article: The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush (And why we need a President Obama)

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:00:25 EST

Excellent article. We need to develop bullet points on how the Obama presidency's economic policies would better deal with these consequences as compared to an Edwards or Clinton presidency and then post it every where we can.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/12/bush200712?currentPage=1

Below the fold are the first few paragraphs of the first page from this four-page article. Click on the link to read the entire article:

Reckoning: The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush
The next president will have to deal with yet another crippling legacy of George W. Bush: the economy. A Nobel laureate, Joseph E. Stiglitz, sees a generation-long struggle to recoup.
by Joseph E. Stiglitz December 2007

Return Debates to League of Women Voters

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:37:16 EST

Senator Obama, please, I urge you and your campaign managers to work toward the return of the presidential debate process to the League of Women Voters, an old time grassroots organization that serves our election process with fair, informative debates. Since the League of Women Voters were dumped from debate sponsorship and management, the debates have been nothing but tools for TV networks to make a pile of money and do nothing to educate voters about the candidates.

The networks' so-called "journalists" top priorities are to make a name for themselves to earn higher salaries. Journalists are more interested in the presidential "horse race" than they are in useful information to voters. They concentrate on the top presidential money raisers instead of inclusion fairness to all candidates. Even with that focused concentration on the money raisers, they haven't served the common good. They look for opportunities to create conflict and wallops to increase their network's ratings, which financially benefits the networks and themselves rather than educate voters. About the only value they have is as an entertainment show for cynics and commedians.

The debates are useless and little better than shallow one minute TV ads. Let's stop the sound-bite time restrictions and give candidates sufficient time to present their policies, which is what voters need. I prefer one hour or one-half hour interviews by fair moderators. Even 15 minute interviews would be better than the current debate model.

If we want to have debates of any value to voters, we must stop the corporate-sponsored-management by the networks of the debates in our election process. Let's put the League of Women Voters back in charge. PLEASE!

The Power of Hope Fueled by the Grassroots of Change

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:38:20 EDT

Dear Senator Obama:

I'd like to propose a national fundraising campaign called The Power of Hope - Fueled by the Grassroots of Change.

This national fundraising campaign would ask each of your supporters to pledge $1 each time the Obama campaign makes a statement or inquiry that causes a "what happened to the politics of hope" type response rather than a direct, honest answer from another candidate's campaign.

This type of fundraiser could be a lot of fun for everyone and encourage them to pay attention, much like the drinking games we all have participated in while listening to State of the Union speeches waiting for a certain word to be said so we could take a drink.

There are a lot of benefits to this type of fundraising gimmick.

It is ongoing and not short-term.

If the competition continues using that "what happened to" line, imagine the donations they'll be helping the Obama campaign generate.

If they don't want to help the Obama campaign generate such donations, they'll have to stop using that tired line and start giving answers.

Imagine how much inspiration and encouragement it will give the Obama campaign staff to keep applying more assertive pressure to generate that type of response to harvest all the pledged donations.

Think of the media frenzy each time the competition uses that line. I can hear it now... Clinton saying at a debate "what happened to the politics of hope" and the entire audience going "that's another dollar for Obama!"

Questions About Obama Campaign Financial Guide

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:25:45 EDT

The Financial Guide pamphlet that we can download from the campaign website's Resource Center is very poorly done, and nearly useless as a guide to what we are permitted to do or encouraged to do by Obama for America because it leaves large gaps and conflicts between Obama Campaign rules and FEC rules. This is an extremely important document, the only thing we have that gives us the information we need to campaign for Obama and stay within both the FEC rules and the rules established by Obama for America.

The important information we need is what Obama for America wants to allow grassroots to do within the campaign's limitations and how we should do it. I understand that by law the campaign is unable to give advice to us. However, you have already done that by offering a poorly written Financial Guide that sets poorly described limitations in which we may operate. All I am asking is that the Financial Guide be rewritten with more clearly stated limitations so we do not violate yours or the FEC rules.

Obama for America needs to recognize that grassroots campaigning consists of at least the following, each of which needs clearly stated rules:

Fund Raising for Obama for America
1. House Parties
2. Big "events"
3. Small donations collections

Informing voters and supporters
1. Tabling
2. Door to door
3. Demonstrations or rallies
4. House signs and bumper stickers

Tabling is probably the most common, the most often done activity by grassroots groups, so specific rules are needed:

1. Can we re-sell Obama Store items, such as buttons and bumper stickers? If so, what are the rules for that?

2. Informational handouts - can we design and print our own?

3. Must informational handouts have union "bugs" on them, be union shop printed or may they be copied at a local Kinkos, Office Max type vendor?

4. What disclosure information must be on them? "Approved by" or "not approved by" Obama for America? Paid for by whom?

5. Must informational handouts have only the Obama for America website information and Obama for America sign-up coupons on them or can they have our local group websites and sign-ups?

6. Can we use a "donations jar" for people to drop a few dollars to help out our local campaign?

7. Can we wear T-shirts, etc. promoting our local group or just Obama Store items?

8. Are the expenses we incur while doing tabling in-kind donations to Obama for America? To our local group? Both?

9. Can we collect donations in any form from the public to support our tabling activities, and how must we manage those donations if we can collect them - a specific bank account, a "cash box" in someone's home, totally informally, with each tabler using what he collects individually?

10. How do the expenses and donations for tables set up by a member of a group relate to the group's $1000 limit on spending? What is included in that $1000 limit, or how do we determine what expenditures are included?

11. What happens when a group has reached that $1,000 limit and does not wish to become a PAC? Must they disband? Should they reform into smaller groups, each with a different name and with another $1,000 limit to reach?

Please prove this really is a grassroots campaign that listens and help us help you at a grassroots level by answering these questions in a revised Financial Guide or blog post.

Do You Want To Talk With Michelle Obama?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:47:02 EDT

Here's your opportunity to tell her what a great First Family the Obamas will be in the White House.

and conference call with Michelle Obama and campaign manager David Plouffe

When:
Sunday, June 24th at 6pm EDT

Where:
Supporters' Homes Across the Country

What:
Invite your friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues to support Women for Obama

Goal:
Raise $250 per party to support our movement for change

Create your own event

Women for Obama House Part Resource Packet

ID Tags/Badges for HQ folk's blogs

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:48:49 EDT

Hey campaign folks,

Any possibility of attaching some kind of ID tag or badge to all the profiles/blog entries of people writing official post entries for all the various flavors of official blogs floating around the website now?

Reason I ask is I came across a blog entry purporting to be an official press release from Barack Obama. I did not find the corresponding press release in the list of press releases accessed via the Learn menu on the front page. I checked the author's profile and other blog entries and there are no clues that the person is a staff person writing "official" posts. The only way I figured out the person was authentic, and therefore the press release might be authentic, was that I stumbled upon the same entry in the Women for Obama blog. The blog title there did not include the author's name so I clicked on it and it took me to the same page I had visited earlier.

I still don't know if this confirms the authenticity of the press release listed in the blog since it isn't in the list of press releases and the person isn't identified as a writer for the campaign. I checked some of the other people who frequently write on the HQ blog and the Women for Obama blog and notice they are not identified as official HQ people either, other then their first blog introducing themselves.

We should not have to work so hard to verify the authenticity of statements/blogs representing themselves as official quotes from the campaign. This official ID tag or badge is especially important with all the various state HQs being created, and all the various official constituency pages such as women, students, faithful, etc. If you find the blog entry in a way other then clicking on a button or menu item on the Home page, there is nothing that tells you the content is from the campaign.

Coach Obama: An Advocate for America's Health

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:19:23 EDT

In California, if you have a pre-existing condition or your weight is over a certain limit, you get denied insurance coverage unless it is a group plan through your employer. (I had both.) If you become sick while unemployed, the only option open to you is a special insurance pool (funded by the very same provider that turned you down for individual coverage) at three times the subscription. Admittance into that pool currently has an 18-month waiting period because they only allow a specific number of members. By the time that 18 month waiting period expires, you can no longer afford to pay the higher rates if you seek temporary uninsured medical care while waiting.

If you are working or have more than $2000 in assets, you don't qualify for county/state medical assistance. If you are too ill to be able to work an extra job to pay for that special class of insurance, your only option is to rot away until you are impoverished and sick enough to qualify for emergency treatment, or seek medical treatment and end up on the streets while trying to pay those uninsured bills and fight off collection agencies. That's a problem that wouldn't be nearly as costly to the taxpayers if that person had been accepted into that original individual health care plan they were willing and able to pay for, and while their symptoms were manageable with preventive care. Believe it or not, that original individual health care plan was with the exact same provider offered through the employer group insurance and the special insurance pool through the State, Kaiser Permanente or Blue Cross.

I just lived through that nightmare and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. They're right, we aren't denied health care in America, but a lot of people are being asked to choose between their health and their housing.

The New Yorker - 11 page article on Obama

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:27:01 EDT

Fantastic 11-page spread on Obama in today's issue of the New Yorker! A must read for everyone.Here's a link to it online:The Conciliator: Where is Barack Obama Coming From?

Edited to add:

I printed it out and read it while lying on the couch waiting for it to be time to head out to the Anti-Veto Rally; at least I tried to. I woke up around midnight still wearing my Obama hat, with the light on and the papers in my hand. I finished reading it, took off my Obama hat and went back to sleep wondering how the rally went. :::yawn:::

The very first page of the article is the insight a person needs to see into the soul and motives of Barack Obama. He’s talking with corn farmers about biofuels, demonstrating his knowledge of the biofuel production process, noting their objections to switchgrass as the better source for biofuels. He dug deeper to discover what the problem was and found that it is not about commodity price, that it isn't just the usual proprietary, anti-competition attitude you would expect of most corporations. The farmers were looking at the bigger picture of returning organic matter to the ground to fertilize their crops rather than denuding it for biofuel. Obama engages them in finding ways to accomplish good farming strategies and still be able to produce the more efficient switchgrass-based biofuel. He finds ways to get them to be willing to progress toward the goal rather than stubbornly digging in to protect their position.

And, I loved the side-by-side comparison of health care speeches between Obama and Hillary. What a difference! By the reading, I can visualize a wagging finger pointing at everyone with a lot of you shoulds versus a friendly arm across the shoulders negotiating a give and take on the issue.

I also liked the entire background story. If we can get people to read this article, maybe they will have incentive to dig deeper and read his books too.

The description of his Senate office reception area just makes you want to camp out there with a sign reading "people, give the man a break!" Obama must have enormous reserves and an amazing support system that keeps those reserves replenished. Maybe the best thing we can do for the campaign is invite him to hide out in Sacramento for a day to get some rest!

Some poignant passages for me:

Obama is always disappointing people who feel that he gives too much respect or yields too much ground to the other side, rather than fighting aggressively for his principles."

Then it went on to tell the story of a seminar about the Second Amendment and how one of the classmates from an urban area was for gun control andeven though Obama agreed there were too many guns in big cities, he was willing to hear out another classmate because that classmate had grown up in the Soviet bloc where they didn’t have such freedoms. "Standing on one side of the room with his arms folded is just not his M.O."

Also liked this one. It is something all of us need to keep in mind:

"One weekend I was with him they were making a big deal about his school in Indonesia being a madrassa," Valerie Jarrett says. "I said, ‘How could they have even run with this story? It’s so completely inaccurate!’ He said, ‘You know, we’ve contacted the school and the principal’s gonna explain what kind of a school it is and we’re gonna refute it all. You need to just calm down. This is gonna be fun! Valerie, you’re not a guy but let me explain it to you in sport terms. It’s like we’re in a basketball game, and I’m gonna fumble the ball, and someone’s gonna steal the ball, and I’m gonna miss a free throw, but we’re gonna win the game. You can’t get yourself worked up over every little thing that somebody says about me or you’re gonna go crazy.’ "

Repost: Fifty Ways to Elect Obama - A Grassroots Effort

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:36:15 EDT

Reposting this so we don't lose it when the next archive of the website occurs to truncate the blogs:

Lots of success stories out there while wearing Obama gear or handing out flyers and postcards. Let's start listing them and see if we can come up with at least 50 ways to elect Obama. Here's a little something to get us started:

Fifty Ways to Elect Obama
(sung to tune of Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon)

The problem is all inside your head, she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to elect Obama

He said it's really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
So I repeat myself, at the risk of being rude
There must be fifty ways to elect Obama
Fifty ways to elect Obama

{Refrain}
Just slip them facts, Jack, show them his plan, Stan
Don't need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus, there's much to discuss
Just wear your pin, Lee, and set yourself free
{Repeat once}

She said it pleases me to help Obama win
I wish there was something I could do to help him again
I said, I appreciate that, and let me please explain
About the fifty ways

{Refrain}
Just slip them facts, Jack, show them his plan, Stan
Don't need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me
Hop on the bus, Gus, don't need to discuss much
Just wear your pin, Lee, and set yourself free

She said, why don't we both just talk on it tonight
And I believe, in the morning I'll begin to see the light
And then she thanked me and I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways to elect Obama
Fifty ways to elect Obama

For a list of some of our success stories, read further. Add your own and let's make this 150 Ways to Elect Obama!

Transcript from Video of Michelle Obama's Speech at Women For Obama Luncheon

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:59:29 EDT

I took the time to type out a transcript of Michelle's Women For Obama speech for a hearing-impaired friend. I want to share it here for others if they also have such a need, or have dial-up internet connections like I do and don't often have the several hours it takes to download the 15-minute videos for viewing. It is a few pages so read it at your leisure. If the campaign site wishes to post it in the Obama For Women section, that would be wonderful!

Women for Obama Luncheon

April 16, 2007

Michelle Obama Speaking

…This is just a wonderful event. The more I go out, the more I realize that there is something going on. This is, this is a movement! This is something bigger than Barack Obama or Michelle Obama or anyone else in this room. Don’t you just feel it? It is amazing. (applause)

So, I am honored to be here. Over the last few months I’ve had an opportunity to take a few trips around the country, you may have read. Some of them, I’ve gone on with Barack. Most recently, I’ve been doing trips on my own. We try to take the girls when we can. The one thing people are most curious about of me, they really want to know particularly the women, and they want to know "how are you doing?" I mean, "how are you doing?" I’m like, "I know, I know". They really want to know how am I balancing this stuff. Balancing being a mother, a professional, a campaigner, a wife, a woman, right? And they want to know how have things changed for us over the course of this journey.

Barack, Please Sponsor Legislation To Restrict Ammo Sales

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:10:14 EDT

I believe in our citizens' right to bear arms, but there is something wrong in our society, when you can cut someone down just as easily with a gun as you can with a stupid remark. Here are my thoughts on what needs to be done, and how Senator Obama can help.

Guns are part of the problem, but by themselves, they are inanimate objects. Someone wrote in the comments on the HQ blog, "The right to bear arms" seems to be taken as "the right to USE a weapon when you are really pissed off at someone." How does this happen? How does someone get a hold of two lethal, semi-automatic weapons, plenty of spare magazines, body-armor, etc. and unload on any and everyone in his way? Ironically, this person was almost as prepared as our poor troops in Iraq!" Congress needs to spend investigative time finding out the answers to those questions and craft ways to curtail it.

Legislation To Restrict Ammo Sales, Not Gun Sales

A person can walk into a store and buy large quantities of ammo with no questions asked. If I try to buy some over the counter-cold medicine, I have to sign a document, show I.D and can purchase it only in limited quantities. Why can’t we do the same for bullets? Why aren't there any safeguards in place that asked this person why he needed all those bullets? Why can't we do the same thing some states do for syringes and fill orders for bullets based upon a corresponding number of empty shells traded in? The second amendment protects the right to bear arms. It gives no one the right to fire them when angry. Restrict ammo sales, not gun sales and we will have no problems with the NRA gun lobbyists.

It is just as easy to track a person's ammo purchases as it is to track the books they read at the library or the pills they buy at a drugstore. There needs to be a national database for tracking all forms of ammo purchases. People would have the same 10-day waiting period before any bullets are handed to them. We would still have a record of which people own or use ammo for guns, and they will not be able to go around to dozens of stores buying batches of ammo to get around the quota rule. We would sure have a lot less bullet holes in the neighborhood traffic signs if people had to conserve their indiscriminate use of their ammo quota for times of emergency.

First-Responders And Self-Protection

Our nation cannot further delay coming to a consensus over the problem of gun violence and Constitutional rights to bear arms. All parties must be willing to tackle the issue on many different fronts. It is futile to demand the right to carry arms as a form of self-protection in these instances of mass violence. Who do the first responders shoot at when they first arrive on the scene, the crazy idiot who invaded the campus or workplace, or the crazy idiot defending himself by brandishing his own gun? What about the third guy who panics at the bullets flying in all directions and starts shooting his own gun at the both of them? How will the first responders know the difference between the good guy and the bad guy when split second decisions leave lives at stake?

People Count

It is futile to debate the balance between our right to have guns and the violence aided by gun possession without including access to quality healthcare, including mental and emotional counseling. The problems of school and workplace violence will not be solved until the broader culture of this society decides to reject the mentality that serves these acts. It will change when we decide to teach children that firing a gun at someone is not a solution for anger, and spend as much time caring for each other as we do our televisions and computers.

Obama Campaign Launches Answer Center

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 20:19:55 EDT

Are you like all the rest of us? Do you have loads of questions and no answers? Now there is a place to get answers. The Answer Center currently has 110 questions and answers ranging on topics as varied as:

All Categories
       Policy
       Scheduling/Invite
       My.BarackObama.com
       Campaign Updates
       Volunteer
       Press
       Employment
       Fundraising
     Website
       General
       Events
       Biography
       Feedback
       Requests

To begin, type your question into the "Keyword" field and click "Search." Or feel free to browse through as many Q&As as you'd like. You can browse by subject or search the knowledge base for answers using drop-down menus and search text. You can view a list of answers, sort answers, and page up or down. To view answer details, click the subject link.

If you can't find the answer to your question, click here to suggest a new question. You'll find a link to the Answer Center on www.barackobama.com under the LEARN menu in the toolbar.

Lynn

Sacramento for Obama

Obama Campaign Launches Resource Center

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:38:02 EDT

In case you haven't seen it, the Obama website has a new tool to offer, the Resource Center.

It has guides and information on how to organize in your community, flyers to download, print and distribute in your community and BarackTV videos you can download to create your own DVDs.

Under the Guides tab, you find documents for viewing and downloading that help you get your community organized, help you with your first meeting, give you an orientation of all the tools available for you on the www.barackobama.com website, and financial guidelines for house parties, community events, internet activities, limits on expanding on the guidelines, terms and conditions.

Under the Flyers tab, there is a downloadable flyer the campaign has prepared on Healthcare.

Under the Videos tab, you'll find two videos and instructions for making your own DVD and links to free software you'll need to do that.

You'll find a link to the new Resource Center in your Dashboard.

Lynn
Sacramento for Obama Group
SacramentoForObama.com

Sign up for our newsletter here

American Have You Had Enough Yet?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:18:53 EDT

Enough of the occupation of violence in Iraq?

Enough of the occupation of violence in our communities and schools?

Enough of divisive, derogatory social commentary?

Enough of the excuses, distractions and no action?

Senator Obama, I've had ENOUGH! America needs you right now, today! We can't wait for 2008!

Obama's Women Empowered For Change

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:46:59 EDT

I was invited by Senator Obama's Chief Operations Officer, Betsy Myers, and Ertharin Cousin, Campaign Advisor, to join the Senator in a conference call today to kick off the Campaign's Women for Obama effort. Along with that came an invitation to become a charter member of the official Women for Obama community.

On the Conference Call, the Senator spoke of the untapped resource we women provide for the country and his campaign. A new section of the www.barackobama.com website is now devoted to the Women for Obama community. "Together we will provide a focused, campaign-wide, coordinated effort to represent women," said Betsy."

On the homepage of www.barackobama.com, you'll find a Women For Obama link. Join us!

In Chicago earlier today, Michelle Obama and her husband held a luncheon with local women to announce the launch of Women for Obama. Here's the Press Release regarding the newest tool in our arsenal to elect Barack Obama as our next President:

Call For Action: Step It Up - 2007

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:45:28 EDT

April 14th is a big day across the nation. This is a great opportunity for local groups and individuals to get out there with their Obama t-shirts, buttons and other campaign gear to talk about the Senator's policies and actions regarding energy reforms. Tell the people to Step It Up in 2008 too, by voting for Barack Obama. Conserve your carbons, strut your Obama stuff while taking action for climate change! To bone up on the Senator's actions on Energy, check out the Issues page.

Find an event near you by going to the Step It Up - 2007 website and searching by state or zipcode. They plan for rallies outside churches, along the tide lines in our coastal cities, in cornfields and forests and on statehouse steps. Every group will be saying the same thing: "Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050." As people gather, they'll link pictures of the protests together electronically via the web.

What is Step It Up 2007?

This April 14th, tens of thousands of Americans will gather all across the country at meaningful, iconic places to call for action on climate change. We will hike, bike, climb, walk, swim, kayak, canoe, or simply sit or stand with banners of our call to action:

There are already 1367 events planned in 50 states across the country! There are currently 5 bills in the 110th Congress on Climate Change. For a point by point comparison, check out the summary here.

Lynn Worrell (Lynn)
Sacramento for Obama Group
SacramentoForObama.com

Sign up for our newsletter here

How to Make a 6'x2' Rally Banner for Your Group

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 02:25:58 EDT

Many people have been asking in the various email groups where they can get a large banner sign for their Obama group. Others have mentioned that they have spent several hundred dollars on one. One of our Sacramento for Obama group members is a very clever person. (He's also an engineer and figured out how to do this without a lot of trial and error.) Want proof? Here's a photo of the banner he made for our group.

Want to know how he did it so you can make one for your own group? I told Vaughn about everyone being curious about such banners and suggested he write up the instructions and put it on his blog. He did! You will find it here on Vaughn's blog.

Now you can save yourselves a lot of money and get a well-made, beautifully customized banner for your group. Here's a bit of a cost comparison on a ready-made sign versus the materials costs for a self-made one by someone with an excellent graphics program, an ink-jet printer, a large work surface and a hot iron. Vaughn even has a few pdf files of the graphics for you to use. All you'll need to do is substitute the lettering for your own group.

Pre-made Banners at some campaign stuff type store that don't mention your group's name = $150 (you still have to provide the poles and rope!)

T-shirt Transfer paper, 24 sheets of 8.5x11" for ink jet printer = $25-$30

cotton broadcloth or canvas fabric at in white or navy, 48" wide, $6.99 a yard = $14.00 for 6'x4.5' banner fabric

Grommets, 25' nylon rope, 2 closet rod poles with 2 eye hooks each = $50

Your own, customized Obama group banner you can be proud of = priceless!

We're proud of ours and very proud of Vaughn's ingenuity!

Michelle Wows Them In Iowa

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:42:45 EDT

Michelle Obama: We need 'leaders' By ABBY SIMONS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
April 1, 2007

Michelle Obama told Iowa supporters Saturday that she married her presidential contender husband for the intelligence and charisma that will lead him to the White House - although he still won't pick up his socks at home.

On her first solo campaign trip on behalf of her husband, Obama discussed politics only briefly with the Des Moines crowd of about 150.

Instead, in a 15-minute speech, she focused on her upbringing in a working-class family on Chicago's South Side and on her marriage to Barack Obama, now a U.S. senator from Illinois.

Obama, 43, spoke loosely and comfortably in the home of Willie Glanton, Iowa's first black legislator.

Obama joked about her first impressions of her husband, whom she met when he gained an internship at her law firm. She was his summer adviser.

The two married in 1992. They have two young daughters.

"I met a man who shared my values, but at first I thought we were very different," she said. "I mean, here was a black guy raised by white grandparents in Hawaii."

But she was serious when she explained that Obama shared the values of her late father, Frasier Robinson, who with her mother made immense sacrifices to put her and her older brother through Princeton University.

Her father was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He died in 1990.

"My dad lived with this disease, and despite the pain, despite the struggle and the embarrassment, he never complained once. In fact he never missed a day of work," she said.

"Now, whenever choices are made in my life, I always ask myself, 'What would my father think of this?' and, 'Would my father approve of the man I married?' "

The answer is "yes," she said. And for several of the reasons she chose to marry him - his integrity, courage and the fact that "this brother is smart" - voters should elect him their next president, she said.

"Politics turns away good people. If you've got sense, don't do this," she said. "But I'm not just here as the wife of a candidate, but I'm here as woman, a mother, a professional, a citizen desperate for something to change," she said.

"We've done well to elect people, but we've not done well at electing leaders."

ASL translators or closed captioning to aid in Senator Obama's words reaching 1.2 to 42.2 million people?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:40:52 EDT

Anyone know of a transcript of the March 31st Webcast video? I have a few deaf friends I want to have read it. They tried using the CC button on the video, but learned it was for copyright info not closed captioning.Also, any possibility of adding closed captioning or an ASL translator to current and future webcasts and videos? My friends were excited to see the CC button and hoped you had thoughtfully included them in the webcast audience.Want to know how large that audience is?

A Brief Summary of Estimates for the Size of the Deaf Population
in the USA Based on Available Federal Data and Published Research:

About 2 to 4 of every 1,000 people in the United States are "functionally deaf," though more than half became deaf relatively late in life; fewer than 1 out of every 1,000 people in the United States became deaf before 18 years of age.
However, if people with a severe hearing impairment are included with those who are deaf, then the number is 4 to 10 times higher. That is, anywhere from 9 to 22 out of every 1,000 people have a severe hearing impairment or are deaf. Again, at least half of these people reported their hearing loss after 64 years of age.
Finally, if everyone who has any kind of "trouble" with their hearing is included then anywhere from 37 to 140 out of every 1,000 people in the United States have some kind of hearing loss, with a large share being at least 65 years old.

The current US population is 301,519,887. If I did my math right, that means there is an audience of anywhere from 1.2 to 42.2 million people needing to have Senator Obama's words reach them via full transcripts, closed captioning or onscreen ASL translators.

Kudos to the Web Team and the HQ Bloggers!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:52:12 EDT

Wow! What great stuff on the HQ blog today. Now that's the stuff we want to see and hear about. People just like all of us, given some face time and a place to chat a little about themselves. People are talking about why they want Barack Obama leading the way toward rebuilding an old fashion sense of patriotism and civic pride in which all Americans are included and not left behind. Really good to have you helping our voices be heard!

Those pictures say more than a thousand words and give many more reasons to donate a dollar or two. Keep them coming! I was inspired to add a couple dollars to the pot today because of them. If anyone else is enjoying seeing the faces of our fellow Obama supporters, pitch in a dollar to let HQ know we want more! And don't forget to take pictures of each other while you're out strutting your Obama mania so you can inspire the rest of us with your beaming faces.

Excellent work guys and gals!

Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill in Congress

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:19:21 EDT

I want the Obama campaign and supporters to get behind this Bill.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards. Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure. Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

My maternal grand aunt had ovarian cancer, my paternal aunt has breast cancer, two of my paternal cousins have breast cancer (one of them is fighting a return of it in a stage similar to Elizabeth Edwards) , my maternal uncle has non Hodgkin's lymphoma. To say the least, my family needs all the medical help they can get. Insurance companies need to just get out of our way. There are lives at stake here!

Please urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2005 (S 910/HR1849). The bill would allow a woman and her doctor to decide whether she should recuperate for at least 48 hours in the hospital or whether she has enough support to get quality care at home following this emotionally and physically difficult surgery.

This act would ensure a minimum hospital stay of 48 hours to any woman following a mastectomy. It does not mandate a 48 hour hospital stay nor does it set 48 hours as a maximum amount of time a woman can stay in the hospital. It simply ensures that any decision in favor of a shorter or longer hospital stay will be made by the patient and her doctor.

Fifty Ways to Elect Obama - A Grassroots Effort

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:23:29 EDT

Fifty Ways to Elect Obama
(sung to tune of Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon)

The problem is all inside your head, she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to elect Obama

She said it pleases me to help Obama win
I wish there was something I could do to help him again
I said, I appreciate that, and let me please explain
About the fifty ways

For a list of some of our success stories, read further. Add your own and let's make this 150 Ways to Elect Obama!

Is He Enough?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:36:08 EDT

Is he enough?

Is he Black enough?
Is he American enough?
Is he Rich enough?
Is he Articulate enough?
Is he Christian enough?
Is he Kool enough?

Is he Old enough?
Is he Bodacious enough?
Is he Appealing enough?
Is he Man enough?
Is he Autonomous enough?

Is he Innovative enough?
Is he Skilled enough?

Is he Experienced enough?
Is he Needed enough?
Is he Objective enough?
Is he Unifying enough?
Is he Gorgeous enough?
Is he Honest enough?

Have you had enough?

Enough of politics as usual?
Enough of narrow minds and broad stereotypes?
Enough of bickering and partisanship?
Enough of liars and empty promises?
Enough of wasted time and wasted lives?
Enough of the faithful and the faithless?

I've had enough and I think Barack Obama is enough.
Obama represents we who have had enough and want him enough to support his campaign.
Vote for Senator Barack "Enough" Obama as our next president.

Making Use Of Our Blog's "Extended Post" Feature

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:11:25 EDT

I'm just as guilty as anyone else when I get excited and want to tell everyone something about the Obama campaign. I'm making an effort to remember to use the blog's extended post tool when writing my lengthy posts. Please join me in doing so.

Many of us are new to blogging as well as political campaigns. Here's how to use the extended post feature:

Write a couple short teaser paragraphs in the upper portion of the blog post template (called Post Text) and then put the main body of your post in the lower portion (called Extended Post Text). The result is that only the teaser parapraphs are displayed in everyone else's group blogs with a "read more" link to your own blog where we can read the entire post.

Doing this makes short, slightly off-topic posts more receptive to group administrators and doesn't push their own local group's posts off the screen with a big wall of text.

Leah Meets Barack Meets Creativity

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:54:46 EDT

swirlplanet.com is donating $5 of every item ordered to the Obama campaign. Share the photo with your friends, make postcards from it and put your group's www.my.barackobama.com URL on the back to use as hand outs.

Here are just some of the things you'll find there.

All my Michelle Obama for First Lady group members will love this one!

I Got A Thank You Phone Call From Barack!

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:19:12 EDT

Late last night I checked my telephone messages from the last couple of days. Usually there are none or lots of hang-ups from people dialing the wrong number. To my amazement, this jovial, deep baritone voice starts talking to me. For the first half a minute I was skeptical, thinking it was my brother playing a joke on me because of my obsession with Obama. But, lo and behold it was the real deal. Better yet, it was the live real deal, not the typical recorded message from politicians.

I was so thrilled and impressed with his personal phone call! I've replayed it so many times now I can almost recite it with each nuance that was in his voice. I am so damned proud! How did he know that a genuine phone call would mean so very much more to me than an emailed or snail mailed recognition letter? There's no way the cynic in me can discount it this time as some staffer writing on his behalf. I just saw the man at the rally in Oakland and I know he was up late at the Mark Hopkins fundraiser. How sweet of him to take time out to call and thank me, an unemployed peon who can't give much monetarily right now, but works her butt off to spread the word about his campaign with the hope that someone will notice and hire me.

I posted a recording for everyone to hear. Read further for a transcription or the recording.

My Obama Mania and the Oakland Rally

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:26:57 EDT

I can't believe it has been only a month since Barack Obama officially proclaimed his candidacy for president on February 10th. That's the day I went to his website and signed up for the Sacramento for Obama Group. Since then we had our first organizing meeting on February 22 where 55 of us introduced ourselves, formed committees and broke up into our respective committees to make plans for our future actions.

I'm on the Communications Committee for our group. We had a day-long meeting at Richard and Suzanne-Marie's house the following weekend in Placerville and determined who our targeted audience was going to be for our communications effort and how best to reach them.

Our campaign website was up and running and we produced our first Update newsletter which was emailed to 137 members on March 6th. Our first local gathering of Obama supporters at the Blue Cue in Sacramento on March 10th had more than 200 people in attendance, along with media from 3 local news stations.

The second Update newsletter was produced as a special edition for the upcoming Rally with Obama in Oakland on the 17th. That one was emailed to 234 members on March 14th.

Our Sacramento group had our own t-shirts made but they didn't yet have any in my size so I ordered one, cut out the logo then sewed it onto one of my own red shirts. It turned out great and I was quite proud of my handiwork.

I was so excited the night before that I could not sleep. I finally got up at 3 am to read email hoping that would make me sleepy. After a 3 hour nap, I was up again at 7am preparing to head down to Natomas to meet up with the rest of our caravan. The first shift of 35 volunteers from our Sacramento group left Natomas earlier at 8am. Our group of 15 people departed at 10:30. We were sure glad we did!

Barack Obama Wins Election! - How'd It Happen?

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 06:34:20 EDT

One of our writers on the Communications team of Sacramento for Obama was asked to put together information to help people new to politics learn about the election process and what needs to occur along the way when Senator Obama is elected our next president.

It is quite an interesting article written from a future perspective looking back on the next year.

Thought I'd give you all a heads up on it so you can share it with your own newbies.

Here's a link to Vaughn Hopkin's blog entry.

Driving Directions, Public Transit Options for Oakland Rally

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 02:49:04 EDT

The atmosphere in Northern California is full of excitement as Rally time draws closer.

If you're headed to Oakland to join up and show some California spirit to Senator Obama, here are some details you may wish to know:

Heads Up

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:31:41 EDT

Just letting everyone know a Special Edition of our UPDATE newsletter was just sent out. It contains last minute details, maps and driving directions for the caravan to and rally in Oakland on the 17th. We also added a rondevu spot in Oakland so we can all invade City Hall Plaza as a group. Look for it in your in-boxes.

If you're not subscribed, and need a copy for the maps and directions, leave a reply with an email address and I'll forward a copy to you.

A few more details will follow in another post for the entire region.

Lynn

Northern California Unites for Obama

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 01:50:10 EST

Just a short 15 days ago we had our very first meeting of 55 people to meet each other and organize into committees.

Tonight, we broke all records with more than 200 people from around Northern California meeting to network and celebrate the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama for president. We also had cameras from three local news stations there interviewing members of the gathering crowd.

If you'd like details of tonight's event, subscribe to our UPDATE newsletter. A short video of the event is here on youtube. A special edition for the Rally with Senator Obama will be published on March 14.

March 17 Rally - Oakland City Hall Plaza 3pm

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:54:13 EST

It's official now. We're on the barackobama.com event calendar and ticket sign-ups are now available at Oakland Rally RSVP and Ticket Sign Up.

When: Saturday March 17 -- Gates open at 3:00 PM

Where: Oakland City Hall Plaza, One Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, California

How: The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below to obtain your ticket.

Oakland Rally RSVP and Ticket Sign Up.

Once you sign up, an e-ticket will be sent to you for printing. You'll need to bring that e-ticket with you to the Rally.

As a reminder to you in the Sacramento Valley Region, we're carpooling in a huge caravan for the 2 hour drive to Oakland. If you wish to join up with us, coordinate rides in our forums at our website sacramentoforobama.com and meet up with us in Natomas at the designated starting point for our caravan.

Meet up in Natomas between 10am and 11 am on the 17th for the caravan.

•Nearest BART station to the Rally: 12th Street Station

•Parking: The closest parking structures are the following garages - 14th Street & Clay Street; City Center Parking garage (across from City Hall); 14th Street & Broadway (behind City Hall)

Special Edition of our UPDATE newsletter coming out on the 14th with maps and driving directions from Natomas to Oakland and from Oakland to San Francisco Mark Hopkins Hotel for anyone going to the evening's fundraiser.

Song for Oakland's March 17 Rally for Obama

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:45:08 EST

A bunch of us are carpooling, forming a long caravan of vehicles for the 2 hour drive from the Sacramento Valley to Oakland for the Rally on March 17.

We'll have a lot of time for talking and singing and I thought I'd invite people to come up with some lyrics for a rally song we can sing along the way.

For more details on the event, check out our website at SacramentoForObama.com and register to receive our newsletter so you can stay in touch with our activities. If you'd like to receive a copy of our current newsletter, add your email address in the comments and I'll send you one.

Here's what we know so far:

You may or may not have heard that Senator Obama will be in the Bay Area on March 17th. He will be at a fundraiser in San Francisco and a rally in Oakland.

Information on the March 17th rally is coming out bit by bit. Senator Obama's rallys have been very well attended - to get into some you have to have a ticket. The Bay Area Dems are the group sponsoring this event and are asking that people RSVP. Please go to this link, if you haven't already, and sign up. When you get there click on RSVP on the left hand side, as you are prompted pick the "grass roots" event, when it asked for the name of the person who invited you please write in "via Sacramento for Obama". RSVP for Oakland Rally here.

If you need a ride or can offer one please go to the forums at www.sacramentoforobama.com there is a thread started to help you coordinate a ride there. We are going to meet up at the Natomas Target Shopping Center in the parking lot by the street in the area in front of Linens N Things/Sports Authority - there is always parking there so we won't be disturbing anybody. Soon available on the website will be Sacramento for Obama logos that you can print out and put in your windows for the drive down. Also, on a first come first serve basis, Sacramento for Obama tshirts will be available at the Target parking lot. If there is a need we will make a stop at the Park and Ride in Davis to pick up extra people to join our caravan to Oakland. Note: We will be inviting the media to stop by as we assemble in Natomas, give them a local angle to the rally that they will most likely be covering in Oakland.

Here's my rally song. Add yours in the comments!

Sorting Filters in Group Membership Lists

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:55:41 EST

Hey HQ Web Team!

You folks are doing remarkable work, responding to the volume of requests being made to improve our use of this wonderful tool you've provided.

Here's another! You didn't think the kudos was the only reason for writing, did you? LOL

Anyway...

For us group administrators, I have a request that is rather urgent for the larger groups.

May we have some sort filters for the "Management Membership" tool in Admin View? The list of members currently displays alphabetically. That is great for ease in locating a name. However, it creates a lot of work for figuring out which are the newly joined members so we can be sure to send them a greeting and first contact email.

Can we get a sort filter option that sorts the list by join date to fill this immediate need please?

Also, if the software has this flexibility, I would love to be able to display more than 5 names per page. That's a heck of a lot of wait time while scrolling through the pages of a long list. Choices of 5, 10, and 25 per page would be great, or just 5 and 25 if options are limited.

Thank you so much for all you do to make it so much easier for us to help you help us help get Senator Obama elected!

Lynn

Obama and the Many Sides Of Immigration

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:25:07 EST

I wrote the following email to one of my groups seeking information from our Research Committee and thought I'd post it here for others to help with too.

If anyone has sources that connect Obama's personal history, track record, agenda for future to any of the aspects of this many-sided issue, please give specific links and how you think it relates:

Lynn

----------------------------

Hi Folks!

The immigration issue is where I think we can highlight Obama's skills and demonstrated history in bringing diverse sides of an issue together to solve a problem. If we could get some examples of how he's done this before, that will help.

This is the type of work that Obama excels in and why he attracts so many of us to him. These are the issues the people here in California, the other border states and the rest of the states of our Union will want to hear the Senator speak about.

The whole issue of immigration is so complex and such an ingrained part of our economy, that it isn't just a matter of legal/illegal. It will take someone of his caliber to gather all sides together and get them each to give a little toward a solution everyone can work with. Achieving such a consensus will solve a lot more problems for our country than just illegal immigration. It is going to take all of us being willing to budge a little and Obama has the skills to accomplish it.

As far as just giving people a bunch of links to find the information themselves, let's not exclude or ignore those people who choose not to use computers or don't have access to them or lack the knowledge to navigate a website in search of information. We have to craft our campaign literature for them as well as the internet crowd. There aren't enough bodies in the internet crowd to be able to win an election by ourselves. We have to draw in and include those other folks too.

We need info that relates Obama's skills, history and agenda on these aspects surrounding the immigration issue:

Questions re: Site Maintenance & Blogs & LISTSERV Security, Events

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 23:09:57 EST

Anyone have answers to the following:

Will the barackobama.com site be performing archival functions on our blogs down the road?

Will old posts be archived and retrievable by us?

If not, will we be given warning of such archivals occurring so we can save any important info from earlier posts and repost them?

Also, if we leave a group that one of our blog entries was previously posted to, what happens to that post? Does it remain or disappear when we disappear from the group?

If we later rejoin that group, will our old blog entries appear again if they did disappear?

Also, anyone hearing rumors of people sending hate mail through the LISTSERV?

Someone sent an unrelated chain mail letter to one of the groups I own using LISTSERV. When asked not to do that, one of the responses was that she was getting lots of hate mail and it looked like our group's LISTSERV was the source. She then said she looked at the hate mail again and said it appeared to have come from outside the group, but had the LISTSERV address as one of the addressees (no hate mail ever came through the LISTSERV that I saw.) I asked her to forward me a copy of the hate mail so I could make HQ aware of the problem and she said she had deleted it.

Not quite sure what to make of it. I can't find the person's name or email address in my group's membership list, yet she seems to be receiving mail I've sent via LISTSERV. Seems a little suspicious to me, especially after some of the accusations she made to me when I asked her not to send chain letters via the LISTSERV.

If she's not a group member, how is she receiving mail I send via LISTSERV?

If she's not a group member, how is she able to send mail to the group using the LISTSERV address?

Last thing... Events.

I RSVP'd using the Event tool saying that I would NOT attend a few events in my area and the dashboard now shows me as attending those events. The negative RSVP option should either be removed or fixed so event organizers don't get false headcounts.

Editing this original post to include screenshots of what my questions refer to in hopes of clarifying them.

Here's a screenshot from my personal blog on blogger.com. The blogger truncates the list of blog entries so that only the current month's posts are displayed. The others are archived in separate files with the date range as names and listed in an index as shown in the screen shot. In my case, I have 4 year's worth of archives on my blog. I still have access to any of those old posts in those monthly archives.

This second image is of my dashboard in the events section. See where it lists the two events under "Events I Am Attending?" Those are the two events I responded to as NOT attending. Perhaps the label on that section should be changed to Events I Have RSVP'd To.

Sacramento for Obama - First Meeting 2-22-07

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:42:21 EST

The Sacramento for Obama Group met face to face last night with 55 people showing up for our first meeting. After brief introductions we broke into committees, selected a person to head each committee and then gathered in committee groups to sign up and get to work on electing Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

We had quite a diverse group in attendance. Some drove from San Francisco, others from the Sierra Foothills. Some are attorneys, retired engineers, entertainment promoters, moms and their kids, teachers, college students, secretaries, software programmers and much more.

Questions re: Unjoining a Group I Created

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 10:06:32 EST

I have a few questions I hope one of my fellow group administrators can help with. I'm sure others will want to have this info in the future too.

If I unjoin a group I created, does that delete the entire group or does it keep it intact for the rest of the group?

Does the administration of the group get assigned automatically to someone else in the group or is the group left without an administrator?

Is there a way we can transfer the administration of the group to someone else, such as a contact at HQ or some utility on this website that I haven't stumbled upon yet?

Thanks! I'm trying to simplify and narrow my focused efforts here to just a few groups and hope the answers to the above will help me in that endeavor.

Lynn

We Need An Exercise Class For Our Organizing Muscles

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 13:10:26 EST

I think for a lot of us, our organizing muscles are flabby and out of shape from lack of use. It's been a very long time since many of us got inspired enough to turn off the TV and so something about it. Strategies, methods and technologies have changed drastically since then.

There's also a bunch who didn't know they had organizing muscles and need to learn how to use them.

For those groups who are having successful, productive group planning meetings and events, please post the process for others to learn from.

What kind of structure has formed within your group?

Committees with areas of responsibility? What were the areas?

How did you gather knowledge of the group's talents and resources?

What did you do with that info once you had it?

How did you maintain the communication flow in the group? What method of communication was used?

How did you obtain campaign materials and how was it funded?

Did you coordinate with the state's campaign people or did you do it on your own?

What support, materials and funds were you able to get from the campaign for your events?

If you had to do your own printing of materials, how did you obtain the artwork for it?

If you scored an appearance of the Senator, how did you do it?

If it was a small event without the Senator, what was the hook to attract people to the event? What was the objective for the event?

How many group meetings has it taken to make it happen, and what were the agendas for each of the meetings?

How successful were you in getting committed volunteers to actually show up? What did you do to motivate?

Edited to add: I've found exactly what I was looking for in the Utah for Obama group. I urge everyone needing some models for their groups to read through the entire Utah group blog and comments. This is how it is done. Would still like to hear about the process other groups are using. Here's the link to the Utah for Obama group blog:

Utah for Obama

Obama Circle Logo

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 22:22:05 EST

I made this for anyone to use if they wish.

Here's How I Finally Got the Event Tool to Work For Me

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 05:02:10 EST

So far, I've gone to My Computer->Contro Panel->Internet Options->Privacy->Sites->typed barackobama.com in the Address Of Website field and then ->Allow.

That adds the barackobama.com site in the managed website list. You can confirm you did it correctly by seeing the barackobama.com site in the list with an Always Allow setting. This has been fine everyone on the obama site for the last week until I tried to confirm attendance at an event today and ran into the enable cookie error.

To overcome the error, I also turned off my Personal Privacy Software and Firewall and tried to confirm event attendance without success.

I have now found the answer for my situation. Hope it is as easy for yours if you, too are using the AOL browser.

It seems the trouble with the event tool on the Obama site is with the AOL browser. I tried again with the AOL browser and got the same cookie message. I enabled my Privacy and Firewall software again and without changing any settiings, I tried using Internet Explorer and it worked.Either this site needs better compatibility with the AOL browser or the IE browser is alarmingly insecure. LOL. I have a feeling it is a compatibility problem with the AOL browser because I still have trouble with the drop menus not retreating and having to refresh the page anytime I want to read what is on the pageAnyway, thought I'd let folks know so they can try an alternate browser method if they too are still having cookie problems.See you all there. By the way, I am bringing a camera so we can take a group photo and send it to HQ for their staff blog, and so we can post it in the Sacramento blog too.Just giving everyone fair warning so you can spiff up or down. And of course, you can attend and opt out of the group photo, so don't let that stop you from joining us!Am crossposting this into the group administrator's collaboration blog so they can pass the word if others in their groups are having similar problems with the event tool and cookies.

Sacramento Area Event Ideas

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 05:54:10 EST

I've been looking through the Sacramento Parks and Rec websites and found several things that would make great events for our group to work on during the upcoming spring and summer months. I'll give links to the various pages and talk about the idea that was inspired by seeing the page:

Idea #1

City Parks welcomes individuals, families, and groups to participate in one day, short term, and ongoing volunteer stewardship activities in our parks, trails, and nature areas. We have a wide variety of activities for the outdoor enthusiast, including youth and other special populations. Volunteers under age 18 need adult supervision. We provide training, tools and supplies.

Group activities can be scheduled during our regular parks hours, 6am to 2:30pm, Monday through Friday, and on occasional Saturdays or Sundays.

The Idea:

Obama's Gardeners - Growing America's Future

We can have a group event while working on a park. Everyone wear their Obama campaign gear for high visibility and have a box of literature, voter registration cards, etc. to hand out to people in the park. Could play recordings of Obama's speeches while we work.

Idea #2

Off-leash Dog Parks

There are five such parks open in Sacramento.

The Idea:

Pets Walk for Obama Day

We could have a Pets Walk for Obama Day with pets wearing Obama campaign gear such as hats, t-shirts and sign sandwich boards. Pet owners wearing matching gear and hand out campaign literature in the park.

Idea #3

A Walk in the Park

Want to experience a City park in a whole new way? A new pilot project, A Walk in the Park provides walking directions, distance and points of interest to make your walking experience in City parks more enjoyable!

The initial Walk in the Park series provides information for the following walkable parks: Southside Park Downtown Sacramento, McKinely Park in East Sacramento, and William Land Park in Land Park. Additional parks will be added in the future.

The Idea:

Neighbors for Obama - A Walk in the Park

Are you interested in walking in your neighborhood park but don’t want to walk alone? Join your Neighbors for Obama and take a walk around the park and get to know your neighbors and Barack Obama. Gather walkers along the trail as the group swells. Have a brown bag lunch (everyone brings one for themselves and one other person from the neighborhood) in the park afterwards. Everyone wears their Obama campaign gear for high visibility and have a supply of literature, voter registration cards, etc. to hand out to people in the park.

Idea #4

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE ON THIS ONE - FEB. 20

Bicycle race and festival coming to town on Feb. 20 – Sacramento County is co-sponsoring the second annual AMGEN Tour of California. This tour will bring the world's top professional bicycle teams to the California coast. The race will come through Sacramento on Feb. 20. Don’t miss the Regional Parks booth at event.

The Idea:

Obama Is All About You!

Get out there as a group in various locations to cheer on the bikers in Obama campaign gear for high visibility and television exposure.

For more route details and bike race info

Here's the Route through Sacramento:

Entering Sacramento
Tower Bridge - Watch as the riders cross the Sacramento River across the Tower Bridge. Have lunch and stroll the shops of Historic Old Sacramento.

Capitol Mall - One of the most picturesque areas of the stage. View the riders as they head towards the beautiful State Capitol. Plenty of space on the open grassy areas to view the riders as the approach the ending circuit.

10th St / N St - Check out the Lifestyle festival before and after the race on 10th St between L St and N St. Vendors, food, displays, and exhibitions will be featured before and after the race. Along the West Steps of the State Capitol.

15th St –16th St / P St - This area is where the riders make a hard left turn on a tricky portion of the course. Relax in Fremont Park, have a hot cup of coffee at one of several unique coffee shops, or have lunch at several wonderful restaurants that surround this residential area. Light rail stops are just 1 block away!

18th St between Capitol and L St - One of Sacramento’s hottest restaurant sites. Choose from a multitude of various restaurants, including Zocalo's, Dragonfly's, Paesano's Pizza, Crepeville, and Java City. There is exceptional sidewalk dinning in this area.

16th St / L St - The East end of Capitol Park has some great restaurants and is a shaded viewing area. This site is also near several of the State of California ‘s War Memorials. Riders will most probably be starting to sprint to the finish from this area!

The Finish Line (11th St / L ST) - Viewing stands, covered areas, restaurants, and the State Capitol in the background. You may not find a more beautiful site to watch a fast, furious finish during the entire race! Visit the K Street pedestrian mall and Downtown Plaza or catch a movie at the IMAX Theatre. Regional Transit has several light rail stops two blocks from the finish and Lifestyle Festival!

Telephonic Town Meetings

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:43:35 EST

I'd like to offer up a new technology that one of the Sacramento area Congressional Representatives is using to hold town hall meetings by telephone. I participated in one a few weeks ago and was quite impressed with the technology and the quality of substantive dialog from both the Rep, and my fellow citizens.

Here are a couple links that will help describe what it is.

A description of how this Congress Rep uses the system:

A lengthy article in Government Technology Magazine:

Here's a more recent article on how the use of the technology has been revised to include polling on various questions while listening to the telephone meeting:

Basically it is a huge conference call with hundreds of muted people on the line. Tens of thousands are dialed up and invited to join in the call and as many as 600 or more do. They have the choice of just listening or getting in the queue to ask a question. The Rep is able to open the mike to people one at a time to ask their question and then they are muted again after the question is addressed. Calls went out randomly to anyone in the district regardless of party affiliation and questions were asked and answered regardless of affiliation. It has one drawback that can be easily overcome with creative introduction in the first few seconds of the call. I've been called several times before for the town meeting and hung up because I thought it was yet another political telemarketer type call asking for money. This last time, I listened longer to understand what it was and am delighted I did.

In the one I recently participated in, I got in the queue almost immediately and it only took about 30 minutes before it was my turn to ask a question. The Q and A session went on for about 90 minutes and at the end, people left in the question queue were given the opportunity to leave their question or comment in voicemail for followup by a staffer. It was a very effective and impressive 90 minutes. If it wasn't for the guy's politics, I'd vote for him for the innovative way he keeps in touch with folks back home in their living rooms. ;-)

One of the criticisms of this internet activism is that it isolates people who do not have or desire computer access. An opportunity for telephonic town hall meetings would give the senator the ability to do "retail" stumping simultaneously in several locations while out on the road. He'd be able to contact and introduce himself to people who don't wish to or are unable to leave their homes for political meetings.

Anyway, thought I'd offer it up for the HQ folks to take a look at and consider.

I believe this is the website for the company with the technology.

Calif. Primary Moving from June to February

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:49:08 EST

Californians, Get Your Skates Ready! 55 Electoral Votes Await Us.

Looks as if the Bill to move up our primary date is sailing through. We have to be ready to hit the ground running and prepare ourselves for an organizational push much faster than the usual June primary season. Write your representatives and the governator, and let them know your views on the upcoming Assembly vote. Time to start planning your voter registration and get out the vote events.

That's the sweet thing about Senator Obama's campaign. With a lot of the effort being done on the internet, we can move quickly to adjust to the changing primary dates. It looks like quite a few other states are planning to change their vote dates to counter California's wealth of electoral votes.

Speculation is that the earlier primary date would be more favorable for Senator Clinton since she has a more readily recognized name. Let's prove them wrong!

Here are some excerpts from today's SF Chronicle article.

SACRAMENTO
Senate OKs presidential primary for February
Measure to ease term limits might be added to ballot
Greg Lucas, Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

(02-14) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- State senators approved a measure Tuesday to leap-frog California's 2008 presidential primary from June to the first Tuesday in February, a move supporters claim will give the Golden State more power in selecting the nation's next president.
...

The 40-member Senate sent the bill to the Assembly on a lopsided bipartisan vote of 31-5. Members of both parties in the lower house support moving the primary forward, as does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
...
If the bill is signed into law, as expected, California would become the fifth presidential primary behind New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina. Ten other states already hold Democratic primaries on the first Tuesday of February.
Twelve states hold Republican primaries on that date. Other states, including Texas and Florida -- are also weighing whether to move their primaries forward to February as well.
...
While the state Senate expedited passage of the presidential primary bill, the measure hit a minor speed bump in the Assembly as Republican lawmakers refused to waive rules that would expedite action on the measure.
The move by the Republicans imperiled meeting the timetable for action on the bill set earlier in the day by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. Núñez told the Sacramento Press Club that he wanted the bill on the governor's desk within 10 days.
But Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis (Fresno County) said there was no reason to hurry the process. Villines said many Assembly Republicans would not support the bill unless it guarantees reimbursement to counties for the costs of the primary, estimated at between $60 million and $90 million.

How to Remove Yourself From Listserv Emails

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:55:02 EST

Copy of email sent to the Rapid Response Group. We have several people dropping out of the group because of the volume of listserv emails flowing.

Folks, if the volume of email you are receiving is becoming a nusance for you, it is not necessary to drop out of the Rapid Response group to stop the flow. All you need to do is go to the barackobama.com website, login and then go to My Groups, then click on the Rapid Response group name in the list of groups you've joined. On the next page you'll have the option of removing yourself from this listserv.
Doing this, assures you are still in the loop and can help with the effort while not being bogged down by the clutter of emails.Please reconsider this option before dropping out of the group. We need every single one of you to make this happen.Visit the group's blog often to remain focused on the project. Let's move as much of these discussions to the blog where we'll have an archive of the discussions for new people to review down the road when they join up.I've written a request to have more options regarding receiving listmails. Please add your supporting comments here in the Website Feedback group blog.

Happy Valentine's Day, Obama Family

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:25:52 EST

Sheri and Bob Stritof are featuring the Michelle and Barack Obama marriage in their advice column on marriages in the People and Relations section on about.com.

Read it here:

Stop ListServ from Becoming a Nusance

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:21:36 EST

The individual group members need tools to control their ListServ emails. The volume of mail coming to my mailbox is already getting out of control. I don't want our enthusiam to be a factor in turning people off to our message.

We need the choice of receiving each message as a single instant email, a daily summary, or no emails with access to the ListServ's website for viewing.

We need authors of ListServ mail to post copies of the ListServ communications in the Group Blog for people to go to if they do not want emails, but also do not want to be out of the loop.

We need to keep reminding people to check the group's blog on a daily basis to stay current.

We need the blogs to act as archives for the Listserv discussions for people to review down the road as the groups expand.

We need access to the group's Listserv archives for new members to review if people don't want to use the group blogs as an archive.

We need people to be conscious of ListServ etiquette, especially that of responding to individuals when possible rather than the whole group. Perhaps a small etiquette reminder where the group's Listserv address is listed would help.

Group Member Counts Out of Kilter

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:51:38 EST

The website has a problem with the group member counts.

To see for yourselves, take a look at the "Show Me Groups With Most Members" link on the My Groups page. Then take a look at the "Show Me Groups With Recent Blog Posts" link.

Here are screen captures for just one group that show the drastic discrepancy:

We need to have this fixed immediately. It is discouraging to hear talk of groups having tens of thousands of people joining only to see our groups listed with only a couple hundred members, when in reality our group has thousands of members too. You lose confidence in the information being produced from this website when there are such discrepancies.

And another thing

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:49:28 EST

Would it be possible for Group Administrators to have a "feature" tool that keeps a designated post anchored to the top of the blog so it doesn't get buried as time goes on? I'm thinking of posts with content such as mission statements and goals, how to's and resources and organizational assignments and contacts so everything isn't aimed at just the administrator?

Way Too Many Page Navigations

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:40:52 EST

Please have sympathy for those of us on slow dial up connections. There are way too many page swaps needed to navigate the site. Sometimes I feel as though I am trapped in a circular reference going nowhere slowly as I wait for each page change to load while trying to find my way around. It will only get worse as the site expands.

Make more use of a static, direct menuing system with tool buttons with direct routes to various page levels. An example would be to add a View My Blog link under the My Blog navigation button in the menu on the right. Then I wouldn't have to go to either the dashboard page or the blog management page and then select view blog.

We also need a way to track any responses or questions we write as comments in other blogs. Perhaps a My Comments list of the last 10 comments authored by us. The only way to do this now is to write an original blog entry as a comment and the continuity gets lost.

Also, on invitations to join groups, join friends, or events, they need to identify which group is associated with the invitation. I received an event invitation and had to look through several groups to determine the source.

And, one more thing, what is the website's position on individuals linking to other fundraising mechanisms such as actblue in their fundraising requests? I have a problem with this because I don't know who actblue is, I don't know if 100% of the money goes to the Obama campaign, and it detracts from the community cohesion we're nurturing here. What are everyone else's thoughts?

Three Cheers to Michelle on a Smokeless Oval Office

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:41:42 EST

As an ex-smoker, I can whole-heartedly empathize with the Senator's struggle to quit the nasty habit. It isn't easy at any time, doing so under the stress of a political campaign is heroic. His smoking isn't an issue of his presidential abilities. It is a personal health issue. His wife is concerned about his stress related smoking and wants him to quit.

Three cheers for Michelle insisting her husband put his health and the health of others around him first.

Three cheers for Michelle for enlisting the public's help as watchdogs for any smoke signals.

Three cheers for Michelle in helping to remove one more trumped up obstacle on the list of objections to voting for a President Barack Obama, and continuing the Smokeless Whitehouse example for our youth.

And finally, thank you Barack for no longer stinking like an old ashtray! ;-)

Marc Hansen at the Des Moines Register devoted an entire column to the subject.

Campaign Strategy Hook

Here's an idea for a campaign hook for anyone to pick up and run with:

Turn the whole smoking issue into a campaign positive. Get the American Cancer Society (or some other sponsor) to endorse and support something like the annual Great American Smokeout Day in support of Barack Obama's stop smoking struggle.

Develop a few possible targets for this and start a writing campaign to urge them to co-sponsor a competition.

Get grassroots organizations to do cigarette collection drives at grocery stores, libraries, schools, music stores, sporting events and other places people gather. Have a competition to see who collects the most unopened cigarette packs. The winners get a visit from Michelle Obama (and maybe Barack). Would be an opportunity for the Senator to speak about his health inititives.

Suggestion for Improved Website Tools

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 06:06:00 EST

When reading a blog, we have the ability to click on the author's name and then click to view their profile so we can add them to a friend list. Currently, the blog entry is just redisplayed with no other tools available. I'd like the same ability to click on an item in the author's group list and have the ability to then join that group. The only way to do so now, is to do a search for that group name and then join.

When I click on an individual or group name, I'd like to see a my relationship box on that page that shows common groups and friends so I'm not having to click on specific groups to see if I'm already a member of that one.

In the My Groups box, I'd like to see in parenthesis the current number of members in each group, and possibly a new members added in last 24 hours number so I'm not having to go to the admin tool to sort members by join date to see if there are any new folks to greet. An example would be the total number/24 hr number such as (42/4).

We have the ability to view groups which have had recent blog entries, however it only lists 10. I'd like to have the number expanded. With the volume of activity, a 10 item restriction isn't very informatives.

Would like ability to filter the list of groups by state (without having to know zipcodes and search for a state name) so as the campaign progresses, we can join and unjoin groups to help out in states as their primary elections become the focus.

Further down the line, I'd like to see a location map (national and individual state) of the grassroots people to see where the campaign's geographic strengths and weaknesses are located.

Further down the line, I'd like the ability to view all site-wide blog entries sorted by rating levels and or number of comments to help me keep a current overview of what is going on.

Article about Michelle and Family Album Photos

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:23:09 EST

Photos from the Barack Obama family photo album from 60 Minutes website

Newsweek article about Michelle and balancing her career with his, and their family life.

Join Senator Obama in Los Angeles February 20th

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:43:09 EST

Pass the word!

Join Senator Obama in Los Angeles

Please join Senator Barack Obama Tuesday, February 20th, 2:00 PM at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex in Los Angeles, California.

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required but recommended for faster entry. You can RSVP below to receive your ticket by email:

WHEN: Tuesday, February 20th -- Gates open at 2 PM

WHERE: 5001 Rodeo Road, Los Angeles, CA 90016

DETAILS: Please do not bring any bags or signs. Also, please limit personal items. This event will take place RAIN or SHINE.

NOTE: Parking is free and available.

You can RSVP below to receive your ticket by email here

Obama's Plan to bring Troops Home by 3/2008

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:52:54 EST

I'm having a problem with a portion of Barack Obama's announcement speech and would like some help in designing a response.

The quote is:

But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace."

Some people have asked why this is a part of his presidential campaign platform since, if he is victorious in achieving that goal while in the Senate and still a candidate, it will be meaningless to his presidential term. Will the remaining planks of his platform carry him through to victory? If he does not achieve that goal, is he setting himself up for failure right before most State election days.

Any guidance for framing a response to those questions?

More Sources for How To Grow Your Group and Fundraising

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:42:28 EST

Starting a collection of sites and articles to help Groups learn how to organize their activities for success.

Tony Poderis Fundraising Library

Content Includes:
Planning For Fund-Raising
Non-Profit Fund-Raising Demystified
Developing a Communications Strategy For the Development Operation
Major Gifts Campaign Checklist
Building Donor Loyalty
Cultivate A "Grass-Roots" Fund-Raising Campaign For Your Organization
Your Organization's Next Special Event: "Fund-Raiser" Or "Friend-Raiser?
Funding Sources And Prospects
Tapping The Philanthropic Well
Rating And Evaluating Prospects: Whom Do You Ask for How Much
Organizing A Campaign
A Campaign Deferred Is A Campaign Defeated
How To Recruit Your Volunteer Fund-Raising Team
Campaign Solicitation Kits: "For Want Of A Kit A Campaign Was Lost?"
Managing A Campaign
Designing a Communications Plan To Enhance Your Fundraising Campaign
Asking For The Money: "If You Don't Ask You Don't Get"
So, You Were Asked To Volunteer And To Work On A Fund-Raising Campaign

Also has suggested handouts for organizing meetings at various stages of the campaign.

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Top 10 Political Fundraising Do's and Don'ts
by Joe Garecht

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Articles refer to employees, but it works for volunteers also.

Grassroots Political Opportunities

Voter Registration
Non-Monetary Support of Candidates
Monetary Support of Candidates
Get Out The Vote (GOTV)
Pre-Election Activities

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It's a republican site, but what the hey, it is loaded with lots of good organizing info and advice for everyone working a campaign.

Local Victory Grassroots Organization

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Will be adding more as time progresses. If you have some favorites to add, message the urls to me.

New additions:

List of official primary/caucus dates in 2008

This is a collection of scientific, nation-wide public opinion polls that have been conducted relating to the U.S. presidential election, 2008.

This is a list of progressive organizations; that is, organizations which promote progressive political and/or social values. Places to hook up with to get the leg work started.

The Citizen's Handbook

epolitics: online advocacy tools & tactics

Info: How to Grow Your Group & Fundraising Basics

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:35:56 EST

The League of Women Voters is a great resource for people new to the political campaign process.

Who is the League of Women Voters (LWV)?
About the League of Women Voters

Excerpts:

League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels.

There are Leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, in addition to the hundreds of local Leagues nationwide.

The League of Women Voters is strictly nonpartisan; it neither supports nor opposes candidates for office at any level of government. At the same time, the League is wholeheartedly political and works to influence policy through advocacy. It is the original grassroots citizen network, directed by the consensus of its members nationwide.

Information Sources

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 06:17:56 EST

For anyone wishing to learn more about Obama and his qualifications, experience, abilities and stance on various issues, here's a great website:

The substance is there. There's a lot more to him than charisma if you're willing to do some reading so you'll be armed to answer questions put to you by your contacts.

Link
The site includes Quotes, background and voting record on:

Abortion
Budget and Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy and Oil
Environment
Families and Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Government Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Jobs
Principles and Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
Technology
War and Peace
Welfare and Poverty

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Another good website to learn more about Obama. It also has links to dozens of articles about Obama and by Obama:

Link

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Learn about his campaign contributors and personal finances here:

Link

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Great article about Obama's possible foreign policies:

Obama Shapes an Agenda Beyond Iraq War - December 26, 2006 - The New York Sun
Link

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In addition to his fame from speeches at conventions, he's gotten a lot of exposure from the two appearances he's made on Oprah in the last couple of years. People have learned a lot about him from those two interviews. You can view the interviews on oprah.com.

His books are also a part of the Oprah's bookclub reading list. And, Oprah has a video interview with Obama in his home on her website, as well as photos and highlights of his two appearances there.

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You can obtain his books from any public library or bookstore. If you are interested in only reading an executive summary of one of his books, you'll find one here on The Audacity of Hope

Link

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If you're only interested in hearing, not reading, NPR has audio spots of his past speeches that garnered the national spotlight for him several years ago, as well as some interviews with him:

Link

The sources to educate ourselves about Senator Obama are there. It is up to each of us to put them to use.

Please add to the list any sites you find particularly helpful in helping people learn more about Senator Obama.

Enough

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 04:53:59 EST

Is he enough?

Is he Black enough?
Is he American enough?
Is he Rich enough?
Is he Articulate enough?
Is he Christian enough?
Is he Kool enough?

Is he Old enough?
Is he Bodacious enough?
Is he Appealing enough?
Is he Man enough?
Is he Autonomous enough?

Is he Innovative enough?
Is he Skilled enough?

Is he Experienced enough?
Is he Needed enough?
Is he Objective enough?
Is he Unifying enough?
Is he Gorgeous enough?
Is he Honest enough?

Have you had enough?

Enough of politics as usual?
Enough of narrow minds and broad stereotypes?
Enough of bickering and partisanship?
Enough of liars and empty promises?
Enough of wasted time and wasted lives?
Enough of the faithful and the faithless?

I've had enough and I think Barack Obama is enough.
Obama represents we who have had enough and want him enough to support his campaign.
Vote for Senator Barack "Enough" Obama as our next president.

Obama is enough! <<----click here to download the Enough! graphic I made. Show others that you, too, have had enough!

Contribute to the Barrack Obama for President campaign effort here.

Join other grassroots supporters in the effort to realize a new vision of Hope for the United States of America here.

Welcome to A2Kers

Lynn, Sacramento, CA — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:23:14 EST

Welcome aboard the Obama for President campaign trail. Let us know you're here by adding a comment to this blog.

If you're interested in announcing and seeking members for any groups you've joined or created, post them here too.

Good to see you all here.

Lynn

aka Butrflynet