ScientistSteve's Blog

How could I not do my utmost to seize this opportunity?

ScientistSteve — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:50:08 EST

I'm a 59 year old accomplished scientist who's shocked to find himself passionate about a political primary. I haven’t done anything in politics for the last 40 years.

I dearly wish to be optimistic about my country. But as a country we are confronting so many serious problems and have suffered from terrible leadership in recent years. It was almost unthinkable that a transformational national leader would emerge – one blessed with honesty, judgment and inspiration. But over the last 14 months I have slowly and progressively come to believe that Obama is just such a leader.

So I have found myself gradually becoming more and more engaged in the Obama campaign. First reading his books. Then providing a little financial support. Then attending his first rally near DC Then actively following the events leading up to the Iowa caucus, including immersion in the passionate chatter of the BarackObama.com blogs. On New Years day I first volunteered at the Arlington VA location, with a handful of other volunteers. The tempo then accelerated quickly. I attended an Iowa caucus-watch party and met for the first time a local republican fireman and his wife who had been out of state volunteers for Obama in Iowa. Suddenly, serious involvement in the campaign didn’t feel so foreign. The frustration of the loss in NH accelerated the commitment. I overcame the discomfort of phone-banking and became passionately involved in calling into Nevada. Thereafter, volunteering for 4 days out of state in SC seemed not only reasonable but inevitable. What an exhausting and exhilarating trip! (

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/ScientistSteve/CGxgH

); I was deeply impressed by the quality and intensity of Obama volunteers from all walks of life. So going to Delaware for 4 days followed naturally (

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/ScientistSteve/CGMRT

) as did 3 days of canvassing in MD, and hundreds of phone calls in to WI. Much remains to be done.

Many of my friends have been mystified by the unanticipated intensity of my commitment. But I care too much about where we as a country are headed and believe that this is a singular moment. How could I not do my utmost to seize this opportunity?

A politically divided family in Wisconsin reaches unexpected consensus on Obama

ScientistSteve — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:10:55 EST

I was very impressed by an email from the Wylde family on the Wisconsin for Obama listserv. Since the Wyldes aren’t bloggers, they happily agreed for me to post it here….

My husband is a long time democrat and I of course was a forever republican. Political debates in our family have always been avoided. He votes his way and I vote the “family way”. Never really paying attention to candidates in the past just knowing as a “Family rule” you Vote Republican. But there was something about Barack Obama that really moved me. Made me sit down and listen to him for the last several weeks and truly pay attention and then it hit me like a wall of bricks. Everything that Obama is hoping to change in the US is important to me. As an example: Healthcare: We are self employed, our daughter had an accident last summer and was in the emergency room, what we thought would be good insurance was very substandard and left us with a bill of over $5000.00. We looked at our policy and we really don’t get much coverage for $1600.00 every three months. Then we have three kids one a senior in high school and two sophomores. Although the kids get good grades and have some scholarships it still doesn’t pay for their college education. Our senior wants to be a psychologist, our daughter sophomore wants to be an attorney and our son the other sophomore wants to be involved in criminal justice. Well just hearing that you can imagine the dollars involved for college. The plan that Barack has for $4000.00 credit for the kids to attend college every year … but they don’t get it for free, they have to volunteer thru the community. Our kids have always been involved in the community so this will be nothing new. But they have always expressed that there is very few people that show up to actually help. Once again Barack moved us! So with all this being said we heard that Barack Obama was coming to the Kohl center and I made the decision for the family to go and see him. This thrilled and also stunned my husband. In the mean time I signed up on Barack’s web site and even made a small donation. I’m excited enough to step outside the boundaries of the “family rule” and actually join in the fight for something I believe in! At the age of 40 this is a HUGE Step.

We picked our kids up from school. Both sophomores and drove from Wisconsin Dells down to the Kohl Center. Our other son, the senior, had to work and couldn’t take off last night. We arrived there about 4:20 pm and were led right inside to a holding place. There must have been about 2500 people in there. What was amazing to us is the crowd was extremely diverse. There were all ages, and a full ethnic spectrum. For an outsider looking in … How can Barack move this diverse of a crowd? WOW! We stood and stood and stood some more. Wondering as to why they weren’t letting anyone in. Finally someone came over the sound system and announced they will begin letting people in shortly and folks thanks for your patience it’s worth the wait I promise you that. We didn’t know what the guy was talking about. But there we stood even more, people seemed to be in a pretty cheerful mood and there were only a few complainers in the crowd but it doesn’t matter where you go you always have that select few that are never happy.

It was finally time and they began to lead us in, it seemed like it took forever to go thru the winding ropes and people continuously were jockeying for position within the rope lines. After going thru security, we had to go thru long halls, down stairs and thru the locker areas as one of the security said to our family “oh folks your gonna love this.” We just smiled and continued the long walk.

Well we made it out of the tunnel and onto the floor, YES THE FLOOR! We were told where to stand… right behind the podium. We never imagined being so close. Secret service handed us signs to hold up during the speech. Our daughter was even on CNN last night with a close up. The speech was inspiring and even had our son cheering and commenting which he’s usually a bump on log most of the time. Barack even moved him! It was very exciting. It seemed like he only spoke for 10 minutes, hanging on each of his words, much to our amazement he spoke for 30 minutes. Barack left the stage and then walked around the stage circle and shook hands with everyone he could reach. We all shook his hand, it was inspiring, uplifting and completely energizing. He spoke to my husband and said thank you for your support, my husband responded back “no sir, thank you”. Barack shook his hand again! As soon as I can figure out how to download our cell phone with all the photos I will post those as well.

After the rally we signed up to be on the list for volunteering. We are excited to be part of this incredible journey. Ladies and Gentlemen.. YES WE CAN!!!

More inspiration in Delaware

ScientistSteve — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:16:57 EST

Here are a few thoughts from a wonderful trip to Delaware to campaign for Barack Obama.
See also a few pictures at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23261742@N06/sets/72157603862543554

Saturday Feb 2nd
Just a quick note. It was a really good first day in Delaware, albeit not the homey community that I found in SC. I’ve not got long, so I’ll just mention a few high points.

1) I had two riders up to Wilmington. One was a 25ish woman who is a research assistant for a Homeland Security committee on the hill. The other, Menal, is an 18 year old high school senior who has gotten excited about Obama and leads an effort at her school. She shocked her Indian parents by asking to go to SC, which they reluctantly agreed to. She has a great time and is now spending 4 days in DE. Elyse went back last night, but Menal and I are sleeping with about 8 other volunteers in the basement of a downtown Wilmington church.

2) We spent much of the day canvassing in a lower income neighborhood. Only 10-20% of people were home, many undecided and not willing to talk. But I have some lovely images of others. Onr image is of a young woman on her porch with her 2 yo and her dog. Genuinely undecided and eager to talk about Obama policies on family development (improving parenting skills). Another image is of an older guy working in his garage, who wasn’t on my “turf” sheet, but who I approached and was eager to talk. A third, was of a young African American family who was SO excited to hear that Barack Obama was going to

3) A number of us slept in sleeping bags in the basement of a local church

Sunday Feb 3th
Amazing time this morning at the “Wings of Faith” church at 91 Christiana Rd in New Castle DE. My participation evolved from a phone call to one of the other Obama volunteers the evening before, asking if they wanted to participate in the “Faith Based out-reach” of the Obama campaign. He is Jewish but passed on the information to me. Fortunately, I had brought some respectable clothes. Menal chose to go with me, because she had never participated in a Christian service. When we showed up at Obama HQ at 9AM, a group of about 50 people were assembling of people with very mixed ethnic backgrounds, ages and origins. After being instructed, we were given a packet which included a letter from Obama to the churches, which we might be asked to read. My assignment (with Menal) was to the “Wings of Faith” church in New Castle DE. It proved to be a young church which had started with 4 members 4 years before and now had a membership of 200. They worshipped in a non-descript rectangular building in a warehouse area, but inside was a simple but beautiful worship hall capable of seating perhaps 300. The pastor, Bishop Watson, was about 40 years old. He was not sophisticated in a worldly sense, but proved to be an earnest, insightful and deeply spiritual man. He met with us for a few minutes, welcomed us, and by his own admission was sizing us up, as he expected the congregation to also do. He decided to read the letter himself (since it was just words), and invited me to say a few words thereafter which would allow his congregants to judge for themselves.

As the service started, there were about 100 African Americans, old and young. He chose to address the political issue at the beginning of the service, so it would not interfere with the worship that followed. First, he fiercely admonished his congregants to vote, “since people had died to that you can vote”. Second, he urged them to decide their own vote from their conscience, not anyone else’s. Third, he told them how he had been undecided until 3 days before, when he had met and heard Michelle Obama. He was deeply impressed by her genuineness and honesty. Forth he read the letter from Obama to the congregation. His attention was grabbed by a phrase in the letter to the effect that in these troubled times, “ordinary people can do extraordinary things”. He paused and repeated that for emphasis (and latter worked beautifully wove that phrase into his sermon about the people of Israel in Egypt). Fourth, he asked me to speak. I did so, not eloquently but from my heart – outlining my conviction that Obama’s integrity, authenticity (illustrated by his days of community organizing in Chicago) and ability to bring people together set him apart. Thereafter Bishop Watson oversaw an intense, beautiful and lengthy worship service. I was deeply impressed by him, and by his congregation. They were mostly welcoming to us, both in the service and afterwards. Truly a wonderful experience.

Due to timing, we only got to the fringe of the Obama rally of about 20,000 people for the last few minutes of Barack’s speech. What a site on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Thereafter we want canvassing in a lower class neighborhood, most of which had not been to the rally, were not very attuned to the political process and many were undecided. But quite a few were eager to learn. A few images linger powerfully in my mind. A very young mother with a 2yo and 5yo playing on a bed in the small living room. A elderly black man who stepped outside for a long conversation, fearful of Obama’s assignation. A carful of 5 young black men that I chatted up on the roadside, who seemed to be listening much more than I might have expected.

That night, a retired grandmother welcomed us into her home for much needed rest after a long day.

A political journey in Clarendon County, SC

ScientistSteve — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:04:06 EST

(See also a few associated pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23261742@N06/sets/72157603811089915 )

Yesterday, I drove down from the Washington DC area with 3 others volunteers to Clarendon County, SC, a rural country of perhaps 50,000 people. In the course of 5 hours yesterday, we began to learn of the political journey inspired by Barack Obama that’s been in progress here for the last 5 months. Ivy is the young woman on the Obama staff that’s been guiding the journey since August. She’s low key and personable, but her intelligence and organization shines through moments after she greets you. Obama HQ in Manning is easiest to describe as a double-wide trailer with a few cubby-hole offices, a few folding tables setup for phone-banking via temporary wires dangling from the ceiling, and about 20 folding chairs. The battle plan is arrayed on the walls: precinct maps and voter goals for each precinct.

In addition to us, there were several others volunteers from the DC area and a woman, Marjorie, from Chicago who had flown in earlier in the week. When I asked her how she got involved, she observed that “our people were slow to support Barack” but that an awakening is occurring and her eyes shone as she talked about coming here to volunteer and her plans to do so again in NY, where she grew up.

Shortly after we arrived in strides Mr. Bowen, a Vietnam vet. He’s a passionate local volunteer, In a few words, he’s fired up about Barack. He tells me how Barack came to Manning in October. It’s amazing to me Barack had come to the out-of-the-way town of Manning back in October. Mr. Bowen pulls out a photo album of pictures he took then and at the Obama rally with Oprah. It’s clear that seeing, hearing and meeting Barack, was an inspiration to him. He tells how his extended family scolds him for spending money from his fixed income for gas to commute daily the 12 miles to Obama HQ. It’s clear that he views it as an investment in the future! Later in the evening when other volunteers arrive, he’s the one that breaks out with the “Fired up” chant.

The younger locals are involved too. A few of them are hanging out in the corner of the HQ trailer. Interested students of the black history class at the local high school high school are being allowed time off on Friday by the school to help by leaving poll information on voters’ doorknobs on pre-election Friday (tomorrow).

Ivy’s well informed and has things well organized. She figures the optimal number of volunteers for voting day would be about 230! She’s got perhaps 150 so she’ll improvise and prioritize. Tonight is the meeting for poll-checkers. By law they have to be voters registered in the county. About 15 of them can make it this evening. Great people from all walks of life. Ivy reminds them this was a new experience for all of them over the last 5 months. She also reminds them that the primary and election is only the beginning. They are now equipped with new skills. They should be the candidates for local office. They could be the next Senator. Looks of mixed amusement and pride pass between them. It is quite a journey!

These are wonderful people, The changes are quiet, but they are profound.

Push-poll in Nevada smears Dems, claims Obama funded by Corporate America

ScientistSteve — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:17:26 EST

On Wednesday evening I was phoning into Nevada to make sure that folks were informed about the time and place for their caucus on Saturday. (If they were interested, of course I was happy to talk with them about issues and why I support Barack Obama). Before I had talked with many people, one smart gentleman told me about what sounded like a push-poll he had gotten the night before which was “polling” with questions that included apparently false negative claims about each of the Democratic candidates. It was not an automated call, but rather one with human callers. He had captured the calling telephone number (320-695-2000), had called it and not gotten a satisfactory answer of the purpose of the poll. After I had made a few more calls to voters, I talked with a woman who had gotten what sound like a similar call. That call had convinced her that all democratic candidates had been “bought” by Corporate America with big money donations. She had been informed by this poll that Barack Obama was indebted to big banks because he was taking large donations from them. So there appears to be a push-poll smear campaign directed into Nevada, apparently against all democratic candidates that conveys totally false information about Obama.

I was incensed and have done four things

1) I told the people I was talking with the truth about Obama’s rejection of big money donations and his phenomenal success with donations from small donors.

2) I reported the information to the Carson City office of Obama HQ, who indicated they would follow up

3) I traced the number back on the internet to Synergy Advantage Group (http://www.synergyadvantage.com/). There is very little information on the web on this telemarketing group.

4) I have written this blog entry about it.

If you have any useful suggestions on ways to combat this disgusting dis-information campaign, I’d appreciate them.

[I guess there is also a moral here. This despicable practice illustrates the low state of American political discourse and highlights the importance of the sea-change that Barack Obama is inspiring and leading.]