Ladies and Gentlemen, I am excited to let you know that I have arrived in Charlotte, NC as the new Regional Field Director for Organizing for America. I arrive in the midst of a historic health care debate and I can tell by the chatter in the streets that you are as fired up about health care change as I am! I want you to know that I am here to support you in your efforts to bring about the change that we all seek. I hope to help provide structure and direction to our movement so that we in Charlotte are working together as a strong and cohesive team. I want to urge you to join me for a brief informative meeting and Q & A session so that I can reveal to you much of the future that will be a part of OFA in Charlotte but also to hear from you about your concerns. Please sign up and join me at one of the following meeting opportunities next week! 1) Wednesday, August 26, 2009. Independence Library
6000 conference dr Charlotte, NC 28212
7:00 - 8:30 PM http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpffht 2) Thursday, August 27, 2009 Freedom Regional Library
1230 Alleghany Street Charlotte, NC 28208 7:00 - 8:30 PM http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpffhr
For questions or concerns please email me at brownk@dnc.org Sincerely, Kevin Brown Regional Field Director Organizing for America
Video the Vote went to Jackson County, West Virginia, in response to numerous reports of machine vote flipping. The local county clerk showed us the machines in question, but the demonstration left us with questions, as the machine appeared to malfunction even after it was calibrated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q9NSVUu8nk
I know that many people are as tired of traditional campaign adds as I am. Watching both Obama and McCain show more good natured, humorous sides at the roast the other day was so healing for me. As I consider whether to max out my contribution to the campaign, I wonder how the money would be spent. You know what I'd like to see? Commercials that embody the movement, adds that show the diversity and good will and passion of Obamacans. I think that people would respond well to seeing an empowered citizenry who is on the ground and running, ready to make American stronger and more harmonious. With the amount of advertising Obama has here in battleground NC, I am beginning to feel saturated. What I see on TV and what I feel when I am at our local headquarters doesn't connect for me. Our movement is kind, determined, generous, and breaks down barriers. Our adds are looking too much like the other guy's for me right now. Now that President Obama has acheived threshold in terms of appearing presidential and sweeping the debates, I think the time has come to embody hope. The movement foreshadows the impact of Obama's presidency. For example, who will do a better job on foreign affairs? The adoration of enormous crowds during President Obama's overseas visits illustrates the solid alliances that we could depend on in an Obama administration. People all over the world recognize the impact that his presidency would have. Here at home, who will do a better job with the budget? Just compare the management of the two campaigns: Obama has succeeded in recordbreaking contributions because of his ability to insire people. In his administration, we'll see this inspiration translate into recordbreaking percentages of people getting involved in charitable giving and volunteerism. Besides raising money, the Obama campaign can stretch a dollar until it screams for mercy. Contributions go so much further because of all the people willing to house campaign workers, show up to headquarters with their laptops and cellphones, and even donate their frequent flier miles. When I volunteered tonight I enjoyed a full catered dinner and dessert courtesy of a group of volunteers. So I decided to "pay it forward" by leaving a restaurant gift card for them to use on another day. This is business as usual at our campaign office. You feel the love. That's what our advertising should be showing. Hope in action. Community. Working together on what matters.
As a resident alien, I am interested in and committed to this country as if it would be my own. As a matter of fact, meanwhile it is my country.
I travel back to Europe often, and I have quite a number of contacts in several countries. It is devastating seeing, hearing and experiencing the way they think about us. And I don't mean the Merkels, Sarkozys, Browns or Berlusconis, no, just talk to the "man in the street". We have lost their confidence, their respect and their belief in our common future. 8 years of the Bush administration have changed their world (and ours, undoubtedly).
But they still like the American people. The common mood in other countries is focused on our administration. They see Guantanamo, they see torture, they see what is left of our civil rights and our democracy under the patriot act, they see how our administration thinks all problems in this world can be solved by throwing bombs. Many of them sincerely believe that Bush, Cheney, Rove and Rumsfeld are real war criminals in dark blue suits; in many "old world" countries, their behavior and their deeds would have put them behind bars long ago.
But they also feel there is a chance now to turn the tide. They have high hopes, like we do, that Barack Obama will bring the change we and the world needs. Not alone of course, but with the right advisers and with the right team, its doable.
Let Hillary Clinton be the Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. She knows the world, and the world knows and respects her. She could be immensely effective in the process of restoring our image abroad!
As a former South Carolina resident who now lives in Europe, I'd like to report that the reaction of much of the world to Sarah Palin's nomination is one of bewilderment and fear. "We knew Americans are not too bright (George W?) but what are they thinking?"...."Truly bizarre."...."As the Republican vice president could easily, if not likely, in the event of a McCain win, end up becoming the leader of the free world, the prospect is terrifying".... (reports from European press and media).
I have been reassuring folks over here that Americans are easily distracted, but not stupid, which is not easy to do in the wake of the Bush administration's devastating effect on the United States' reputation in the world.
Sarah Palin is indeed a frightening woman, but I have no fear that Americans will remain distracted for very much longer before they realize the absurdity of the Republican party's most recent blunder. Evidence in point, watch the polls in the coming weeks as the nation comes to its senses. An unbiased source, which provides a summary of ALL of the latest poll data, can be found here: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php
There are those who will continue to press forward armed with no more than creative fiction, as they attempt to discredit Barack Obama, and a set of blinders for the path of destruction left by our current administration. Sadly, it is pointless to argue or debate with these individuals, as their manipulation of fact has nothing to do with a believed truth, but rather is coded language for, "I will never vote for a black man."
EDITORIAL
Gov. Palin’s Worldview
Published: September 12, 2008
As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last couple of days, we kept wondering what on earth John McCain was thinking.
If he seriously thought this first-term governor — with less than two years in office — was qualified to be president, if necessary, at such a dangerous time, it raises profound questions about his judgment. If the choice was, as we suspect, a tactical move, then it was shockingly irresponsible.
It was bad enough that Ms. Palin’s performance in the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness.
What made it so much worse is the strategy for which the Republicans have made Ms. Palin the frontwoman: win the White House not on ideas, but by denigrating experience, judgment and qualifications.
The idea that Americans want leaders who have none of those things — who are so blindly certain of what Ms. Palin calls “the mission” that they won’t even pause for reflection — shows a contempt for voters and raises frightening questions about how Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin plan to run this country.
One of the many bizarre moments in the questioning by ABC News’s Charles Gibson was when Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, excused her lack of international experience by sneering that Americans don’t want “somebody’s big fat résumé maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state.”
As a result, charged Susan Greenhalgh, a spokeswoman for watchdog group Voter Action, the systems on which Americans will decide the race between Barack Obama and John McCain in November are "scandalously flawed"' and "the integrity of this election is in question."
http://www.truthout.org/article/warning-voting-machines-reveals-oversight-failure
Ok I have raised $135 dollars so far. That is a far cry from the $1000 that I am requesting. I will match you dollar for dollar until we reach a $1000 donation from small donors. Total out of pocket for me will be $1000, total out of pocket for you can be as little as $5. Just log into my personal page and donate and I will match your donation.
Thanks!
Travelingmanrick
