Kim Ahern's Blog

Mayor Fenty visits with Law Students for Barack!

Kim Ahern — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:42:40 EST

Youthful and energetic Mayor Fenty of Washington D.C. spoke to Law Students for Barack this past week, hosted by George Washington Law.

It’s fantastic to see a group of busy law students gather together to support Barack and learn about his exciting race for the presidency. About 70 students came out for this event, which included a panel discussion on next generation leadership. The panel included Mayor Fenty, former assistant attorney general Robert Raben, GW Law School Professor Spencer Overton and general counsel to Sen. Barack Obama, Michael Strautmanis.

Mayor Fenty, like Senator Obama, is a rising star. Fenty is one of the youngest mayors of a major American City (he was only 35 when elected!) He knows what we know, that it is time for new leadership in Washington and he had this to say of why Barack should be the Democratic nominee for President:

“America is at a "watershed moment" where a leader can set a new bar for the government as well as the country.”

Great work Law Students for Barack Obama and especially to National Director, Josh Teitelbaum, who organized the event!

Obama continues to support college women

Kim Ahern — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:12:21 EST

“No woman should be turned away from university clinics and health centers because the cost of prescription drugs is out of reach. Access to contraceptives is essential to lowering the rate of unintended pregnancies in this country, and we need to make sure these drugs are affordable and accessible.” --Barack Obama

A recent New York Times editorial describes the increasing costs of contraceptives for young women on college campuses across the country. Next month, prescription contraceptives that once cost $10 a month will increase to $50.

Students have enough to worry about and budget for, such as the rising costs of student loans, but increases in the cost of contraceptives should not be one of those concerns. For almost 20 years, Congress has given pharmaceutical companies exemptions from additional costs if they were selling the contraceptives to universities. When the pharmaceutical companies began to abuse this privilege, by taking those generous exemptions and trading them with hospitals to receive product promotion, Congress rightfully revoked the privilege. Unfortunately, Congress went too far and allowed university health centers to be included in those cuts.

What Senator immediately recognized this problem and is now working to correct it? Senator Barack Obama. Last week, he introduced a more reasonable bill that would make university health centers eligible once again. What can you do about this problem? Call you Senator or Congressperson and tell to support Senator Obama’s Prevention Through Affordable Access Act. Senator Obama continues to demonstrate his commitment to college students, whether it be the very first Senate Bill he introduced to increase Pell Grants in order to make college more affordable or this current bill.

Show Barack the Money!

Kim Ahern — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:23:19 EST

While many in the media are writing about how students and young people don't vote - Students for Barack Obama will not only prove them wrong come January, but students all over the country are also demonstrating their commitment financially. SFBO has proven itself a force to be reckoned with organizationally but we are also proving to be a formidable fundraising force as well.

Of course students are just that: young people with little financial capacity of their own. However, the Obama for America campaign is reaching out for students in small and incremental ways. On average, the typical donation to Barack Obama for students is around $23.00, a small amount but when droves of students come out for events, it as an amount that adds up quickly. The Obama Campaign is also reaching out to students in many ways. For instance, at the end of a fundraising quarter, if you were a Facebook user, you would have received a 10% discount off any item at the Obama store – so not only are you making a donation but also getting some great gear in return!
Don’t take my word for it – check out the various campaign donations masked by students all over the county in the past few months:

Newark $4,260.00
Portland, OR $7,290.00
Atlanta $3,770.00
Washington DC $29,925.00
Prince George's County $7,365.00
Madison $33,225.00
Raleigh $26,175.00
Columbus $9,330.00
Charlottesville $31,515.00
St. Louis $16,440.00

TOTAL $169,295.00

Obama's Appeal Across the Parties

Kim Ahern — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:13:11 EST

In the December edition of the Atlantic Monthly conservative leaning Andrew Sullivan writes a telling and insightful piece on Senator Obama. Sullivan elaborates on what so many students already know, that Obama is the candidate for real change in our country. But Sullivan delves deeper and tells an intricate story of race, the Vietnam War and the Baby Boom generation in America. Intertwined throughout is a resonating message of why Obama would be an ideal General Election candidate: his message appeals to people all across the ideological spectrum.

Sullivan said of this appeal, “It isn’t about his policies as such; it is about his person. They are prepared to set their own ideological preferences to one side in favor of what Obama offers America in a critical moment in our dealings with the rest of the world. The war today matters enormously. The war of the last generation? Not so much. If you are an American who yearns to finally get beyond the symbolic battles of the Boomer generation and face today’s actual problems, Obama may be your man.”

The article describes in great detail just why Obama stands out amongst a field of other candidates, both Democrats and Republicans alike:

"But if you sense, as I do, that greater danger lies ahead, and that our divisions and recent history have combined to make the American polity and constitutional order increasingly vulnerable, then the calculus of risk changes. Sometimes, when the world is changing rapidly, the greater risk is caution. Close-up in this election campaign, Obama is unlikely. From a distance, he is necessary. At a time when America’s estrangement from the world risks tipping into dangerous imbalance, when a country at war with lethal enemies is also increasingly at war with itself, when humankind’s spiritual yearnings veer between an excess of certainty and an inability to believe anything at all, and when sectarian and racial divides seem as intractable as ever, a man who is a bridge between these worlds may be indispensable.

We may in fact have finally found that bridge to the 21st century that Bill Clinton told us about. Its name is Obama."

Obama's Appeal Across the Parties

Kim Ahern — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:53:10 EST

Sullivan said of this appeal, “It isn’t about his policies as such; it is about his person. They are prepared to set their own ideological preferences to one side in favor of what Obama offers America in a critical moment in our dealings with the rest of the world. The war today matters enormously. The war of the last generation? Not so much. If you are an American who yearns to finally get beyond the symbolic battles of the Boomer generation and face today’s actual problems, Obama may be your man.”

The article describes in great detail just why Obama stands out amongst a field of other candidates, both Democrats and Republicans alike:

"But if you sense, as I do, that greater danger lies ahead, and that our divisions and recent history have combined to make the American polity and constitutional order increasingly vulnerable, then the calculus of risk changes. Sometimes, when the world is changing rapidly, the greater risk is caution. Close-up in this election campaign, Obama is unlikely. From a distance, he is necessary. At a time when America’s estrangement from the world risks tipping into dangerous imbalance, when a country at war with lethal enemies is also increasingly at war with itself, when humankind’s spiritual yearnings veer between an excess of certainty and an inability to believe anything at all, and when sectarian and racial divides seem as intractable as ever, a man who is a bridge between these worlds may be indispensable.

We may in fact have finally found that bridge to the 21st century that Bill Clinton told us about. Its name is Obama."

Canvass for Change

Kim Ahern — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:37:48 EDT

The main thing that we want to communicate today is that this war that we've been fighting in Iraq has got to stop, that we can no longer afford $275 million a day spent on a civil war between factions in Iraq where there is no military solution to be had, that it's time for us to begin bringing our young men and women home — they have been there long enough - Barack Obama, Canvass for Change, 10/13/2007

Saturday’s nationwide Canvass to Change allowed Students for Barack Obama to help spread our candidate's message of hope and action. Even Senator Obama returned to his community organizer roots as he walked around knocking on neighborhood doors in Iowa. First-time doorknockers and veteran canvassers walked side-by-side, house-to-house, joining their voices to call for an end to the War in Iraq.

It was just over five years ago that our country declared war. SFBO knows that Barack Obama showed the judgment and courage to oppose the war from the beginning and yesterday those that participated in the canvass got to explain Barack’s courage to others.

It is an empowering experience to spend a day knocking on doors and telling people why a student like yourself is giving up a Saturday to help bring about real change in this country.

Obama for America said that supporters canvassed in 15 states, and that in Iowa alone about 400 volunteers knocked on more than 10,000 doors.

The Hidden Souls in the Obama Army

Kim Ahern — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:49:15 EDT

Throughout the past Presidential cycles, almost every Democratic candidate has espoused that they would be the one to capture the ever elusive “youth vote.” Ah, the youth vote, but what exactly does that mean? Essentially, this is the voting bloc of young voters that will come to candidate’s events and join Facebook groups – but when it comes to actually getting to the polls on Election Day, they just don’t show up, or at least until now they have not.

Barack Obama is the candidate that will bring these voters out on Election Day, according to a recent memo by campaign manager David Plouffe. These hidden souls in the Obama Army, recently feature in a Nation article are Obama’s (not so) secret weapon. Recent National polling numbers continue to show Hillary Clinton jumping into the lead. The key issue here is, how are these polls conducted? Traditional polling surveys use landlines to conduct their polls. Now – how many high school seniors or college students that you know have landlines? None, Plouffe’s point exactly! Obama’s hidden army are these first time primary voters, that are not showing up on voting lists and do not have land lines. Although it is important to note Senator Obama just jumped ahead in the Iowa polls!

Ok, even if the above assumption is accepted as true that still does not guarantee these voters will come out on Election Day, or does it? Even taking conservative estimates, the young voter bloc (18 – 30 year olds) have been increasing in voting in both the 2004 and 2006 elections and will make up approximately ¼ of the overall voting population in the 2008 election. Hence, the votes are out there and the Obama Campaign is going to get them!

The Obama Campaign is reaching out to young voters like no other campaign has in history. Students for Barack Obama, once a Facebook group, were immediately made into the campaign's official student wing. Senator Obama is holding innovative and inspiring fundraisers throughout the country focused solely on students, such as the packed crowd at Boston University last spring, where supporters paid a mere $23 dollars to hear Obama speak. Another great example of how the campaign is reaching out to students is by including the hundreds of college chapters across the country in important canvassing tools such as using an innovative database to allow the individual chapters to canvass right on their own campuses! The Obama Campaign is truly demonstrating their commitment to students and this will transform into votes. On Election Day, not only will that ever-elusive youth vote actually come out, but they will be proud supporters of Senator Obama as the Joshua generation leads our country to a better tomorrow.

The Hidden Souls in the Obama Army

Kim Ahern — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:54:24 EDT

Take Back America

Kim Ahern — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:05:17 EDT

I had the opportunity to hear Senator Obama speak today at the Take Back America conference - it was fantastic! He did his stump speech - but a bit longer and more speaking toward the progressive majority as a whole. It was a great event!
Senator Edwards followed immediately after - I have to say, the crowd was definitely MUCH MORE EXCITED FOR OBAMA! Senator Obama spoke longer and excited the crowds much more than any other candidate there!
Keep up the work to everyone out there!
Here is the video from the conference:Link