Now that we have come to understand that it was not just a moment rather a movement in order to bring change to and for the people of this nation, we must all work hard each and everyday in order to keep up the work and positive things that we are all doing in order to make change. As well as be ever mindful of 2012 and the road ahead that we must work toward in order that our voices our acts on order to help others is not in vain and that we each day work to get others to partake on the growth and empowerment of this movement. As I have been to many towns in this state during and after the election, I have come across people who are working hard to help others in any and all ways that they can, it moves me to see small groups who do not care about the lime light and understand the mission and task at hand and that is to help others in their area who are having hard times, as well as get people to come forward and help out in any way that they can rather it be money, time, effort and or just speaking with others, SUCH AS PEOPLE THEY KNOW THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR, FAMILY , FRIENDS, Co-Workers. Every encounter is a chance to give some one a voice, every phone call or knocking of the door is a chance to move people to do more than just talk, to take action to work toward chnage and help out in their local areas as well as where every they may be needed. Thanks to all who are working hard each and everyday as well as those who help on weekends or whenever their time can allow.... working together and with a positive and healthy mind set we can be the change that we seek......
David Joseph Flack
This is the last post befoer the oath takes place. I just hope that everyone begin the hard work this week by contacting their Congressmen or women and let them know that as of today change is going to happen whether they like it or not. We need to inform each of them that they will be replaced if they try to fight against this change.
Please contact everyone in Congress and tell them that our voices mean that business as usual is over. We need everyone who worked so hard to elect Obama to start the battle now.
The crowd in Washington is Amazing as we wait for President Obama to take the oath. As Bush enters the crowd begins a collective boo and sing Goodbye, what a sight. I myself can't stand Bush but I think the crowd though letting off steam could have keeped that out as today is a celebration. I do fully understand their feelings and as this country allows free speech it is great to be able to boo without fear.
Bush is almost gone and the new era begins in minutes. The Crowds are huge and the numbers will never be truly known. All I can say is WOW, this is a great day in the United States of America. I do hope that people are praying for this to be a day of great celebation and nothing happens to Obama or his family. This country unfortunatly still has a large group of fanatics and I'm sure they would love the publicity of doing something stupid on the world stage.
I watch with the feelings of christmas day when I was a child. The emotions are something I expected as this day is long in coming. I just can't wait to see the person I and so many others worked so hard for take the oath and become our President. I see the emotions on the national mall and can almost feel their passion from my seat in Indiana. This is the best day in my lifetime and I am now speechless. God bless President Obama.
We asked for change with the Obama campaign at what seemed like a lifetime ago. With the New Year comes the change we all voted for. 2009 is going to be a tough year with the economy in the tank, crisis in the Middle East, and people losing their jobs and their retirement. President Obama is going to have his hands full but I believe in the change he has promised. With President Obama coming into office in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great depression; it's going to take years to dig out of everything this great country faces.
I can only hope people on boh sides of the aisle will give President Obama the time he needs to work out these issues. We as American's have a duty to get behind the man we voted for and help in any way we can. Change is going to include all of us, President Obama is one man with the backing of millions and he will need our continued support. Some people jump on the bandwagon when times are going great and fall by the wayside when the real work begins. We can't afford to lose a single person if the change is going to happen.
Many of us started working with the campaign before President elect Obama even had a viable campaign. We believed all the way through New Hampshire and Iowa and we continue to believe. Please people, the job isn't over, we must continue the fight. Don't sit back and say "we got the job done, Obama is President." I myself will do whatever I can do to help fight for the Obama policies and will campaign to remove anyone in Congress that tries to obstruct the change vital to a new beginning.
The other side of the aisle as well as a few on the left just don't want to see change in Washington. The government doesn't like change, it scares them and they will fight to stop it. One way we can help President Obama to make the changes he promised is to continue to work hard. Millions of you stood as one during the campaign, we will need to continue to stand as one to show Congress we are serious. If Congress sees any cracks in our work for President Obama they will try and divide us and that will give them a chance to destroy all the hard work we did to get President Obama elected. As ONE WE CAN NOT LOSE, DIVIDED WE WILL FALL.
Enjoy the next few days with your families and celebrate the new year. Soon we will need to focus on all the things that change will bring with it. Stay involved locally and if asked stand up and work nationally if necessary. The hard work is on all our shoulders and combined we are un-stoppable. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a wonderful new year. Thanks to everyone who was involved with the campaign and I look forward to working with anyone who wants to continue the job. January 20th is the day we have all looked forward to. January 20th is the new begining.
Thanks for everything,
Robert Strunk
Bloomington Indiana
As the economy continues to fall apart, the republicans in a lame duck congress will do anything they can to cause further damage. I don't like to see public money going to bailout large corporations that fail from lack of good management. We simply can't sit back and watch the only 3 american car companies fall into bankruptcy. If we bailout banks than helping out the auto industry should not be problem. As economist begin to realize what many of us said almost a year ago. The world is facing a depression as bad as the original one if not worse. Senator Obama is doing everything in his power to help avert this situation. He simply is not in postion to do all he would like to do.
Senator Obama has shown that he is willing to work with all parties to keep this country from going into a financial disaster. He plans to hit the road running when he takes the oath in January and has put together a great team of Democrat's and Republican's to get the job done. We may be to late to stop the worst of the crisis but if we can shorten the duration and move toward a better and stronger economy with more oversight we can try to stop this from occuring again anytime soon. Here in Bloomington we of cource are feeling the pinch though we have a large college so that helps since student are going to spend and the college has to keep employees. We are all looking forward to a brighter future after the worst pesidency in history concludes. We can't call this a victory yet as it's going to take all of us to continue to fight as we did in the campaign. Senator Obama is still going to need the backing of the millions who voted for him. Now we must work even harder than before, we must not sit back and expect one man to do all the work. He needed us than and he needs us now. Don't let him and the rest of this great nation down, continue to fight and keep up the great work.
Electing Barack Obama showed the world that the best of what America represents is back! Celebrate your new president and new found sense of patriotism on January 20th by proudly displaying the American flag on a t-shirt or a button.
To order, go to: http://www.cafepress.com/ForFortyFourAll profits will be donated to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Note: I am not a professional t-shirt designer and will not receive any profit from the sales. The markup on these items is only 20%, all of which will be donated to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
How much is your time worth? A minimum of $10/hour, perhaps double or triple that; $30 per hour means $60,000 per annum -- not a bad living in Bloomington. Perhaps you believe the income you generate in your work is more than the value you could generate as a volunteer for a good cause. Based on today’s experience of some local citizens, most of you would be wrong.
Seven people contributing twelve hours of volunteer time on a Sunday afternoon in a single Bloomington neighborhood generated 350 pounds of food donations and $250. That’s about $950 of value, based on a reasonable estimate of the cost of food, so equivalent to almost $80 per hour!
This is the first direct action for a new community group called Volunteers for Change. Mostly volunteer veterans from Barack Obama’s campaign for the Presidency, the group has not waited for his inauguration let alone any re-election campaign to get back into action. Dedicated to the ideal of “being the change you seek,” watching as more and more local families fall into needy circumstances, and knowing they have developed some skills in community organizing, they simply started calling each other and connecting by email. The message shared? “We need to get back to work – now!”
The food and money being collected is contributed to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Hoosier Hills supplies food to 99 agency programs in six counties surrounding Bloomington. Last month, for only the 2nd time in their 26 year history, they distributed over 2 million pounds of food in a calendar year. This year's economic turmoil has produced a higher level of demand, and at several times during the year, the shelves were empty of canned goods. The agencies that went away empty-handed were therefore unable to feed an increasing number of people at community kitchens and food pantries.
During door-to-door canvassing on Senator Obama’s behalf, many volunteers had become acquainted with the everyday challenges local citizens face. They have seen both the face of despair during these difficult economic times and the face of hope. Their group’s goal is to transform despair to hope by engaging people in the political process at the point in which they are living their lives. Many may have thought the system has passed them by or abandoned them and as a result simply will not work to help solve their needs.
But that sense of hope needs to be transferred into results. During the holiday season, families come together and often share special meals. But for those who have little, the holidays can simply increase a sense of failure, want, and despair. The agencies that can assist families with a little extra food, or serve some extra hot meals directly to them, make a critical contribution to keeping hope alive. As a group, Volunteers for Change knows the goodwill that exists in our wider community. Together they have knocked on thousands of doors and talked to thousands of people all over Southern Indiana. They believe this as a direct result of President-elect Obama’s call to help solve the problems of everyday Americans.
Given the recent publicity on the challenges of the needy, they quickly agreed to focus on a “Campaign for Food.” Using published data, they targetted a neighborhood that voted overwhelmingly for Senator Obama during the general election. It was their hope that those who had had their doors knocked on during that campaign might once again be receptive. They hoped those who lived there had heard the same call. No one was sure, though, quite how this would play out --- till the first doors were knocked.
Students raised from their beds in the early afternoon predominantly went straight to their pantries to find a box or can to contribute. Families asked their children to help carry bigger contributions to the door. The well-off who had already contributed to similar causes through their church or workplace went back to their wallets, checkbooks, and food supplies to give again. Many asked the volunteers to come back again next week for more.
Many people who answered their door instantly recognized the Obama campaign symbols incorporated into the Volunteers for Change badges pinned to the coats of the stranger at their door (some also recognized the faces of the volunteer!), and gave a friendly welcome. A few inquired how they too could join in. But this was no merely partisan celebration. Hardy political campaigners are not dissuaded by potentially unfriendly turf, and they seemed to take extra pleasure in walking to the door of a few houses that still proudly declared their loyalty to Senator McCain. Sometimes a wry smile was shared at the door; but cloth bags were still filled with cans and food and offers of future donations were made with the same degree of responsiveness. The cause is greater than any red-blue politics.
So what happens next? Plenty. Volunteers for Change has been recognized by the still active Barack Obama campaign website, and can use its outreach capabilities. The USA Today noticed its posting there, and sent a photographer to record the Bloomington group’s first meeting as part of its feature on how “Obama volunteers plan to stay in touch.” Recognizing the alternative social networking within the younger community, a Facebook page was started and within three days had fifty IU students as “friends.” Plans are afoot for a website, a phone line, and drop off points for future donations.
And more door-to-door canvassing: Thanksgiving weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, no less. With more volunteers, more neighborhoods, and more donations, they can make more “Change” for those who need it. The Volunteers for Change target is 10,000 pounds of food and $50,000 of financial donations to Hoosier Hills Food Bank by the time our nation’s forty-fourth President is sworn in on January 20th. These seem like heady goals, yet from a group that helped “turn Indiana blue” for the first time in more than four decades of Presidential elections, perhaps anything is possible.
Volunteers for Change is a national group to assist the Obama Presidency with issues that need our grassroots support.
Our first campaign is for the collection of food, time line November 20, 2008 until December 31, 2008. With unemployment rising, and more and more of our food bank pantries empty we want to answer Obama's call to be our brother's keeper and fill our food banks for the winter ahead.
Summary of Plans from meeting of November 19, 2008: Volunteers for Change Action:
1. Tomorrow, Thursday, November 20, 2008, Rosemary Hart, Pam Warren and Rob Price will go to Hoosier Hills Food Bank at 9:30am to talk with Julio and determine the best way for our volunteers to work with them.
a. Report will be sent to all our volunteers with a plan of action
b. Pam and Rosemary will go to the city and get information on the letter that they sent which needs follow up calls made. We will request a sign up table for Volunteers for Change at the event this Saturday at Showers.
2. Attend Saturday, November 22, 2008 event on hunger at Showers Plaza
3. Weekly Meeting at 1329 South High Street, Rob and Mary’s house.
Organization:
1. Jeff Thomas will activate the Team Leaders
a. Jeanette Heidewald will work on scripts for phone banking
2. David Pace will do Publicity
3. Mary Runnell took our minuets this week, but we need a formal secretary
4. Set Up Group on mybo, post actions and blogs
Materials:
1. Product for the Volunteers
a. Rob will make a sheet of button prints and work on the design tonight, intended to say "Volunteers For Change"
b. Button Teams Kelley Latshaw and Terri Bleuel will begin making Buttons
c. Bumper Stickers for change “Volunteers for Change”
2. Sign up Sheets for Volunteers with our logo, Rob Price
Monroe County Indiana carried the day this election for Obama and was responsible in large measure for Indiana turning Blue! While we patiently wait for January 20th 2009 we are planning what we can do for our community at this time! In Monroe County IN we are planning to work together gathering food for our local food bank. I think this is a good suggestion for a current project for Obama Volunteers Nationally. With unemployment raising and many of our food banks empty or running low we need to help our communities stock our food banks for the winter,
In Bloomington, IN Hoosier Hills Food Bank collects food that is then distributed to 99 agency programs in six counties. Forty two percent of Monroe Counties total population wages are below the poverty guidelines. If you exclude every person who COULD be an Indiana University Student; 15%, going to school and working part time, it still leaves 26 percent of Monroe County Residents living in poverty. Even at 26 percent Monroe County’s poverty level is well above the national poverty rate of 12.5 percent and the Indiana rate of 12.3 percent.
Source: US Census 2006, 2007 American Community Survey
We are submitting this as a suggested volunteer effort for November – December 2008 for our Obama Volunteers. Meeting announcement to follow.
This is so remarkable, we did it!!
MSNBC called it just after 2 AM ET.
So whenever I can, I ask people I come across who they're supporting in the presidential election.
Because I ride public transportation, I often encounter a new driver. I've been encouraged that these part-time, multiple job, hard working individuals have been supporting Barack Obama. Even the one who identified themselves as conservative republican, and listens to Rush Lingaugh. They've had enough of the policies in the last 8 years.
Tonight I made some calls in Indiana. The majority were either wrong numbers or not home, but I guess that's to be expected from voter registration data. People move, and in these times in particular, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the numbers I had called had been to a family who had been kicked out of their home by a bank.
I found making the calls theraputic... gets my mind off the polling data. I'll do some more tomorrow.
Saturday in Bloomington on a Beautiful fall day is full of people heading to Brown County, just a few miles away, to watch the leaves change into what seems like a thousand different colors. People from hundreds of miles drive here to see the leaves from the rolling hills that surround Bloomington and Nashville. The Indiana University campus looks great this time of year as well. IU has many things on campus that look wonderful against the limestone buildings scattered around town. These are the things that a person would normally see in Bloomington on a Saturday during a crisp fall day. Some people are still watching these things but at the Curry Building, downtown Bloomington has a line of people who can't wait to vote.
Bloomington almost never has a say in an election so most people just watch from the sidelines as the East Coast decides our next President. This election is so different from all those others. People are willing to wait in line for their chance to cast their vote. The line is full of older people that you kind of expect to be there, but something is different this election, young people are excited and they too are voting. Senator Obama might not win the Presidency this election, but he created something we haven't seen in years, excitement.
Many of the people in line are smiling and laughing as they wait 20 - 30 minutes to vote. They are excited that this state gets to be a part of this historic election. They talk about seeing a canidate with a ring of truth in his words. This man has the look and feel that he wants to change business as usual in Washington, but he has something else, he came from the place most of us came from. Senator Obama wants to change this country, he has. I have never seen so many people patiently waiting in a line to do anything.
As this election heads into the the last few days I get the chance to work for the campaign one last time before election Tuesday. I work the polls in Bloomington so I can't talk politics anymore. I have to sit back and watch from the sidelines as people cast their vote. This is fine with me, I get to stand and listen to others talk as they wait. I get to be a part of this historic election in more than one way, I get to vote of course, but now I get to actually become a working part of this election. Monday I will go out and talk with Senator Obama supporters and make sure they know where to go on Tuesday to vote. We will make sure the people have their photo ID., a newer law in Indiana that some still don't know about. On Tuesday I go from a campaign suppoter to another government worker without a voice. I have already voted so my voice has already been heard so I don't mind.
As people vote here in Bloomington we sit and watch as person after person steps to the line and waits their time before voting. This is not a normal fall day in Bloomington Indiana but we will enjoy it just the same. The leaves will be here every year, the limestone buildings on IU. will be there year after year, but you only see an election like this once in a lifetime. Do you hear the clock in the background? It's telling everyone it's time to get out and vote, it's telling us that a new day is upon us and we need change. Senator Obama is that change and it's up to us to give him that charge. Washington can change but we have to change it, we must have our voice heard, our vote is that voice.
Not much longer for a campaign that has been going on for the past 2 years. I'm not sure what the news channels will talk about after the election. The top stories for at least 2 years has been politics. Now what? The election is only a week away and the people who have worked for Senator Obama's campaign are still working hard and have yet to miss a beat. Many people have spent many hours of many days to get us to this point. I just want to take the time to thank so mant people who have given their time to a campaign for the ages.
Without all the people working long hours to get the word out and getting the new generation of people registered I believe we probably wouldn't have had a chance. Though I couldn't help as much as I would have liked due to a disability, there are thousand of people across the country that gave up their lives to work for real change. We now have a few days left and we will know who the next President and what road this nation will take. The people of this campaign continue to fight for a belief that we must change now. I can imagine how tired these people are but they don't show it. I haven't seen so many people get together for a single cause in my lifetime and I can't say enough about them. Thanks for all the work, thanks for leading the charge, most of all thanks for giving this nation a chance. Because of you, this nation can return to it's former leadership role on the world stage. Thanks for giving of yourselves as my Father, and Grandfather did in WWII and Vietnam. There have been no bullets and no air raids but this fight has taken place on streets across this great nation. Thank you so much and let's all watch Senator Obama become the next President of the United States.
The voting in Bloomington is going great. Long lines waiting to get that early vote on a Saturday is amazing to watch. Of course not everyone is voting for Senator Obama but the talk going in seems to lean in Senator Obama corner. I looked for t-shirts at the farmers market downtown where the local Obama office has a booth every weekend, none to be found. I went to the democrat headquarters and finally found a few shirts, 4 or 5 maybe. The office found some shirts that had been in the back of the office. These shirts are all that are left in Bloomington and the demand is still strong. I also lucked into a Obama/Biden yard sign, something I have been looking for since Aug.
The voting is going on this Sunday here, something I don't remember happening in my lifetime. The buzz is all about Senator Obama and the parties are being scheduled for what we hope is a victory for the entire country. I have a little party planned for that night myself after working the polls until 6PM. Just another lazy weekend in Bloomington Indiana, a town that normally is looking forward to seeing the changing color of the leaves in fall. We still love the colors but this year something else is blowing in the wind, Indiana has something to say in November. Go Obama, change is a few weeks away.
