City Name citizens in support of Barack Obama. Defeating opposing candidates since the year we were founded.
Proud home of The :10bux: Challenge.
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Choom Gang President’s Club ($2000 or more!): Skellen Derbytime!!! Eggplant999 groverat oxygen728 nyro stabbington
MONEY THROWN AT BARACK OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN SO FAR: SOME RIDICULOUS AMOUNT LIKE $65,000
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I'm Dave Carroll, a 31 year old software developer from Atlanta, GA. On Saturday, January 26, I was part of Atlanta's Get Out The Vote in South Carolina for Barack Obama.
I did this for my unborn child, my daughter. I want her to be proud of her country. It was the first political volunteering of my life, but it won't be the last.
If you've never canvassed or volunteered, maybe this will give you a notion of what it's like.
12:15 AM - After long MARTA delays, I finally pick up the van I'll be driving. Hard to believe I volunteered for this almost on a whim. Home for a little sleep.
5:30 AM - Up and at'em! I pick up a friend and head to the meeting site.
7:15 AM - After much wrangling, the van is full with 12 awesome human beings and we hit the road for Orangeburg, South Carolina. There are nine full vans in this caravan. We are number 3.
9:30 AM - At a pit stop, I get a good look at our Rainbow Coalition: 1 black man, 3 white women, 3 white men, and 5 black women. Our oldest are in their late 50's perhaps, our youngest are a pair of 16 year old high school girls.
12:00 PM - We arrive in Orangeburg, it seems small to us. (We haven't seen small yet.) But the regional Obama headquarters is packed!
12:10 PM - Back on the road. They need us in Norway, SC. Population: 380.
12:45 PM - Norway turns out to be a mini-headquarters for the surrounding towns. We are the bulk of the afternoon shift. I am eating an amazing pumpkin cookie topped with whipped cream.
1:00 PM - Canvassing Training led by Tushar from New York City. The two other full-time volunteers here are women from NYC and New Hampshire. They all put their lives on hold 2 weeks ago and have been working in this quiet rural corner since then.
1:05 PM - We learn that on election day, we are not changing anyone's mind. We are simply knocking on every door we already know supports our candidate.
1:20 PM - Our team splits up. My group of 5 hits the south side of a town called North. We split into two groups and start walking.
1:25 PM - The roads are all dirt. The houses are small. There are chickens in a backyard coop. Disrepair is the norm.
1:30 PM - A woman hugs me when I tell her nine vans came from Atlanta. Thanks to our reminder, she heads to the polls with a ride from her brother.
1:40 PM - Most people have already voted. This is a good sign. We get to say "thank you" a lot.
1:50 PM - Two older Caucasian gentlemen in a pick-up truck pass Caroline and Imam and ask them if they support Hillary. My teammates just wave their Obama poster and tell them to rethink their choice. The pick-up riders are surprisingly pleasant.
2:15 PM - For the first time in my life I can feel, in my bones, that every single vote matters. Seriously.
3:45 PM - Our team has finished canvassing our turf in North. Back to Norway for a quick break and reassignment.
4:10 PM - The same family from Norway which made those cookies has prepared an enormous spread of sandwiches, soups, and sides. I eat too much.
4:45 PM - With a re-formed team, we go to the outskirts of Springfield, SC (every state has one, right?). This time I'm playing in-between driver for 3 teams of 2.
5:15 PM - I start dropping people off. Less than two hours until the polls close.
5:45 PM - On a tiny dirt track surrounded by trailer homes, two kids excitedly chase our van with its prominent sign, yelling "OBAMA OBAMA", as though the man himself were inside. Later we learn that the canvassers we dropped off will recruit these guys to help them find houses and people to talk to.
6:00 PM - A young mother wearing a head scarf in a field of 5 trailer homes holds her baby and looks at me like I dropped out of the sky. She hasn't voted, and I honestly have no idea if she will, but I tell her there's still time and confirm she has a way to get into town.
6:45 PM - I round everyone up, including two women who were starting to freak each other out a bit in the rural gloom.
6:59 PM - Everyone is back at Norway, nibbling on food and chatting. I predict we'll hear results within one hour. Others are unwilling to be so optimistic.
7:01 PM - The volunteer from New Hampshire gets off her cell phone and gets our attention. Obama has been declared the winner before a single official vote is counted. The exit polls must be overwhelming.
7:02 PM - Ten minutes of joyous pandemonium in a modest church meeting room on a quiet country road outside a town with fewer residents than my condominium complex. But we know: We Did It. This is our victory.
7:20 PM - Glancing nervously at the clock, we bid our all-too-hasty good byes to the Norway team and the twelve of us head for Atlanta.
8:00 PM - South Carolina Public Radio finally starts covering the election results on the radio. We are eating it up. Obama is winning with almost twice the votes as Hillary. AP calls it a "rout".
8:48 PM - I fill up the van and the cashier high-fives me when she sees my button, saying "the troops are going to come back from Iraq now!".
8:58 PM - At a Starbucks in Augusta, the barista buys my coffee for me. He canvassed and voted today, too.
9:00 PM - For the twenty minutes of Barack's victory speech, I seriously endanger the lives of twelve people. It's hard to drive with tears in the eyes.
10:30 PM - We get into a scary but important conversation about gay marriage. There are serious differences of religious opinion, but we realize we all agree on the same governmental policy - a civil union should be possible for any two people. Leave the rest to the churches.
11:00 PM - Home at last. We've talked the entire way. We are wiped out, but we changed the world.
Wow.
Never before have I been this excited. The day began with nervous anticipation. Spent my time reading my usual politico forum and trying my damndest not to be overly confident. Lo and behold, overconfidence would not be a problem this evening.
Well, the site admins finally gave us the option of donating to the group directly (instead of through my personal page)! Either one you want to give money to is fine with me - I will add it to the tally.
City Name Citizen's Tax (old donation page)City Name Neighborhood Watch Dues (new donation page)
And many people donated last quarter, pushing our unofficial total up over $15,000!
Hooray for buying democracy!
Update: Catching up on the thread and it turns out that $2000 went uncounted. Let's give it up for DerbyTime!!! for the whopping cap-contribution of $2,300!
Well, that quarter passed me by. I apologize, guys, I have been unforgivably remiss in keeping this updated. So let's just get down to business, shall we? Our total is now a whopping $9,950! So close!
I'd like to recognize our new FUNDRAISING SUPERSTARS, Abugadu and John K, for their generous donation of $250 each. Thank you, guys! You are an inspiration!
And now, our sponsors.
It was a slow week, but it's still good, it's still good!
I'd like to recognize our DONATION SUPERSTAR, Raylen. Thanks for the c-note, Raylen!
Our total for the week of 4/7: $220.00Grand total so far: $6,355
A big hand to all our donors:
I must say Romney is well-postured to be the Republican presidential candidate. Unless the Republicans are STRUCK with love of Giuliani, I think Romney will be the one. His wife, incidently, has MS. Now Edwards is on. An African-American woman was saying to him,"You don't speak to me, you don't speak to my enslaved ancestors, and you don't speak for the Latino community." Wow. His response was for her to go to his website and he would answer his question, because he really wanted to....Edwards is saying we should 'directly' engage in Iran.
Julie
Ahoyhoy, City Name citizens! We had a very respectable fund raising week thanks to the Senator's jaw-dropping haul coaxing more people on the bandwagon. And it's all thanks to small-time donors like us! Good show, good show!
Let us recognize our FUNDRAISING SUPERSTAR, Pancakes, for being the first new donor of the second quarter, and dropping a C-note at that. Thanks, Pancakes!
Our total for the week of 3/24-3/31: $555.00Grand total so far: $6,135.00
Let us rejoice.
The Democratic National Committee sought yesterday to quell the growing tempest over the scheduling of debates for the party's presidential contenders, announcing it would sanction a debate each month between July and December. But the "sanctioned" events won't include an event being aired by Fox News in September.
"I'm pleased the DNC can help play a role in facilitating such an important dialogue with our candidates," DNC Chairman Howard Dean said in a statement. "Given our strong, dynamic and diverse field of Democratic candidates and the great enthusiasm voters already have expressed, we can expect a lively, thoughtful discussion of the issues."
The DNC said specific cities and media sponsors still had to be worked out, but the sites of the four first caucuses and primaries -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada -- are likely locations to host debates.
Several leading candidates had expressed concern that the multitude of debate requests would affect their campaigning and fundraising, and had requested that party leaders intervene to control the number of forums.
Many Democrats are also alarmed by an agreement by the Congressional Black Caucus to hold a September debate in Detroit with the Fox News Channel, which is seen as having a conservative tilt. DNC officials said yesterday that the debate would not be among those sanctioned by the party. Fox officials said their event will go forward as planned.
YAHOO! NEWS had an article today with Hillary speaking out against the President's possible Veto of the Congress' Resolution on the Iraq War.
This was very SMART of her as she's the first to publicly say it. I urge all of you to read it.
A great time was had by all at the Haas House. Ric and Marilyn generously opened their home and hearts to other Obama supporters for a wonderful barbeque and viewing of Barack LIVE! There were about 35 of us.
It was so nice to see an American flag waving at a residence which endorses the new thinking of Barack Obama. I could do the same thing. Imagine, reviving the American flag that doesn't signify Bush, War, Secrecy, and Repression!
God bless you Ric and Marilyn!
Dear Senator Obama,
We like you, do you like us?
[ ] yes[ ] no[ ] only for our moneyYours,City Name
Best fundraising week yet. Congratulations on getting it together for that final surge at the end of the quarter, because we pulled off a whopping $1,482.00. We are gods.
I'd like to thank our FUNDRAISING SUPERSTAR, Thessaly, not only for dropping a C-note, but for doing that on top of hosting a Community Kickoff event yesterday. We salute you, Thessaly!
Thanks also to Willa Rogers for her $300 pledge, which was met early last week. Thank you, Willa!
Our total for the week of 3/24-3/31: $1,482.00Grand total so far: $5,580.00
Back-patting time!
Hey fellow travelers! It's been a fairly quiet week, but we still made a good showing despite being pretty tapped out at the moment!
I'd like to recognize this week's FUNDRAISING SUPERSTAR, Goatstein, for being our most consistent contributor, giving Obama a steady trickle of money during this all-important first quarter. We salute you, Goatstein!
I'd also like to note that Willa Rogers has thrown down another $300 pledge! Come on guys, let's drain her dry!
Our total for the week of 3/17-3/23: $310Make Willa Rogers Pay, Part II: $255 ($45 bucks to go!)Grand total so far: $4,203
Our valiant donors:
Welp, I'm fried, and the site ate one post already. :argh: Let's just get down to it, shall we?
We shall take this moment to salute Skellen, our FUNDRAISING SUPERSTAR, for his generous St. Patty's Day gift of $100! Thank you, and we raise our mostly-empty glasses to you, Skellen! Cheers!
Our total for the week of 3/10-3/16: $345Grand total so far: $3,818
Let's us honor this week's donors:
Listen up, men! It's been an amazing fundraising week as we raised over 1,000 dollars for Obama's campaign. Preliminary reports from the front indicate that Obama has become a fundraising machine, and that half his money comes from small online donors. That's us!
I'd like to take this moment to thank Willa Rogers, who, predictably, is our FUNDRAISING SUPERSTAR for her awesome $500 donation, matching contributions by you guys. Thanks to everyone who poured money into the Make Willa Rogers Pay campaign (wittingly or unwittingly), and we salute you, Willa Rogers!
Our total for the week of 3/3-3/9: $1,108Grand total so far: $3,480
We're getting close to banking $5,000 for Obama! Ten bucks a week will buy you a viable candidate! Don't let this great deal get away!
Let us honor our :10bux: campaign donors:
Greetings, comrades! We had a glorious week of fundraising and made a very strong showing despite being three weeks into the long haul, mostly thanks to our generous repeat donors.
And, of course, thanks to our DONATION SUPERSTAR, DancingMachine who used his W-endorsed tax-cut and sent it off for the greater glory to the tune of $250. We salute you, Comrade Dancing Machine!
Our total for this week: $780. Grand total so far: $2,435Total for the Make Willa Rogers Pay Campaign: $410. (Well. This isn't going to take long.)
Now to thank our generous donors, whose noble sacrifices oil the machinery of progress:
Willa Rogers came out of the closet to say:
Since I still haven't gotten around to making my contribution yet, and since Q1 fundraising totals will be announced shortly after the end of March, and since it's important for Obama to show strong numbers for this quarter, and since I've been working my ass off lately and have some disposable coin, I'm going to make this challenge:For every dollar donated to City Name for Obama between now and March 31, I'll match the new donations dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $500, through my contribution at the end of the month. (QF, keeping track of this is in your hands.) If some goon contributes :10bux: , then consider that contribution to be :20bux: toward Obama, factoring in the matching money.I'd love to see the group get to $5,000 total contributions by the end of the month, and this would be an easy way to add $1,000. So keep on forking over those tenners, and know that twice that will end up in the coffers.
Since Willa threw down the gauntlet yesterday we've raised $150, and a LOT of that was from repeat donors giving their ten bucks. You guys rule. Whoever contributes the next $350, rest easy knowing that your contribution goes towards the noble goal of making Willa cough up some dough.
(And on a slightly more serious note, Willa is, of course, one of our resident campaign veterans and is chock full of advice about starting grassroots organizing in your area. If you have time to burn for Obama but don't know where to start, PM her on the forums, or email her and she'll help you out. She's a fantastic resource, so if you're interested, don't let her go to waste.)
--Quantum Finger
Want to contact me?PM me on the forums!Message me through this site!Reply to my most recent blog post!Email me at mockingpoints@gmail.com !Remember, donating is easy and pleasurable!
This group is a bunch of crazy people. Completely, totally insane. The last time I updated the list of donors, we had made over a hundred dollars and my panties were all in a bunch.
Now? As of the end of last week and at a little less than two weeks of fundraising, we have given Obama $1,555. I don't even want to speculate as to the current state of my underwear.
Without further ado, the second list of donors who rounded out our first week (the first donors can be found in this entry here):
The City Name for Obama FAQ
1. Wait, what is this group?
If you don't know who we are and where we come from, you're probably in the wrong place.
2. Why Barack Obama?
Everyone has their own reasons for supporting the Senator in his bid for the presidency - some love his policy, some think he has the potential to be a great statesman, some are desperate for a fresh face in Washington - but long story short he took us out on a date one night in '59 and was a perfect gentleman. We are easily swayed by a man who stands up when we leave the table.
I'm happy in my pants to announce that we've hit and surpassed the $100 mark, which I did not expect to happen so quickly. Special thanks goes to Foucault's Dog ($50) and Nonsense ($25) for their more than generous contributions.
I've put Foucault's Dog in the community info as our current donating superstar, but ANYONE can become our donating superstar through small but consistent contributions. This is a long term fundraiser, so it's consistency that will fuel us, not necessarily huge lump sums (though huge lump sums are still nice). According to my (crude) calculations, we need a mere $100 a week - that's ten people donating ten dollars from their weekly paychecks, or one absolutely crazy guy donating a hundred - to reach the $5,000 mark by the time primary hell rolls around.
We're off to an awesome start, guys! Therefore, number of weeks I don't have to send out annoying reminders on the listserv: 1
:woop:!
