History made
A country saved
Scream it out loud
I am so damn proud
1%, or 1 vote out of 100There have been 12 Presidential elections that were decided by less than a 1% margin; meaning if less than 1% of the voters in certain states had changed their mind to the other candidate the outcome of the entire election would have been different. More than half were decided by less than a 2% margin.
In 2004, 57,787 votes would have given us President Kerry.In 2000, 269 votes would have given us President GoreIn 1996, 575,515 votes would have given us President Dole.
From ABC News:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html
=========="Squeakers"Ned PotterABC NewsSeptember 29, 2008How close have Presidential elections been? Closer, perhaps, than we ever guessed. Mike Sheppard, a grad student in statistics at Michigan State, has done a mathematical exercise that shows it.He ran a computer program to answer this question: "What is the smallest number of total votes that need to be switched from one candidate to another, and from which states, to affect the outcome of the election?"The answer: in some years, very, very few. Take a look at his analysis HERE. It shows the powerful interaction between the popular vote and the electoral college.[...]==========
Full article here:http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html
Detailed analysis here, including colored maps:https://www.msu.edu/~sheppa28/elections.html-Mike Sheppard
We are less than two months from the day that our country will decide who will be the next president of these United States. I doubt that I am preaching to anyone but the choir here, but I feel it necessary to reiterate the importance of this election. The position of the Obama campaign from the very beginning (I've been with the movement for over a year now) has been to stay "above the fray" of the negative campaigning of the past. Doing so has often been very hard, as we've made our way through a very trying primary cycle into an even nastier general race. And when you consider how the past eight years have brought out the worst in our country, the challenge of remaining positive becomes even harder to master.
But what we have to remember is that all of that cynicism, negativity, and partisan bickering CAN be defeated in 2008. We, as the youngest people to go to the polls this year and as the future leaders of the state of Idaho and the United States of America, have a duty to each other, to our own kids, to our brothers and sisters, and to our elders, to make the statement that we demand CHANGE in the way politics and government are run in this country.
Many of you may be curious as to who I am, as the director of our GO-IDAHO group. As I said above, I have now been involved with the Obama campaign for a little over a year. I was initially approached by some old friends back in D.C. who asked if I'd head up an Idaho chapter of a group called Young Lawyers for Obama. After some careful thought and some heavy research into the candidate, I found myself being called by that same idea that Barack frequently attributes to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The fierce urgency of now." I accepted the invitation, and soon integrated my efforts into the overall grassroots movement to elect Sen. Obama.
I remained an active volunteer throughout the primary season, and proudly shared some truly awe-inspiring moments on the journey. When we got news that Barack Obama would ACTUALLY be visiting Boise, the excitement was almost uncontrollable. Because of my consistent volunteer efforts, I had the distinct honor of being selected to drive in the motorcade that brought Obama and his staff from the airport to the Grove Hotel the night before his speech. While I did not drive the Senator, I did have three of his top advisors. I remember driving down Broadway (we took an interesting route) and being asked by one of the three gentlemen how many people I expected to show up. Having grown up in eastern Idaho and, therefore, having a healthy skepticism about the willingness of Democrats to show their faces in public, I answered, "I think we'll have a good four or five thousand." Without needing to go into much more detail, I'll only say that I shared in the profound disbelief when over 14,000 showed up the next morning. All I can remember thinking is, "We've done something here... we have changed Idaho politics forever."
Just a few days later we made history with (1) record attendance (2) at a caucus in every county in Idaho for the first time in history, (3) resulting in a larger percentage win for Barack Obama here than in any other state. Needless to say, this has been a very exciting time to be involved in politics in Idaho and to be involved in the Idaho Democratic Party. (Kudos must go to Kassie Cerami, TJ Thomson, Katie Whittier, Shelly Landry, Randy Johnson, and all other Idahoans that made caucuses appear in every county.)
When the general election began to heat up again, I knew that I had to reprise my role in the campaign, because I believe too strongly in the opportunity placed before us. I believe too strongly in the need for CHANGE in the direction of our country on so many fronts - from the economy, to our place in the international arena, to the irresponsible use of our brave men and women in the armed forces, to the future of energy production and use, to the risks confronting our beautiful environment in the next several years... need I continue? So when we all started to get underway, the campaign staff asked me to expand the Young Lawyers group to become a chapter of the GO movement. Again, after careful consideration about various factors in my own life, I accepted the challenge.
What a lot of people don't know, however, is that this isn't my job. I do what I can during my lunch hours, my evenings, and my weekends. I still have a 40+ hour/week job as a practicing attorney at a firm in downtown Boise. For something this important, it isn't about having time; it is about MAKING time.
And the success of our campaign is entirely dependent upon volunteer contributions of time, energy, and ideas. Not that this message isn't long enough already, I want to share two brief stories. Just the other day, we were doing voter registration drives at the Saturday Market and at Art in the Park in Boise. During the morning Market session, I had a new volunteer show up, Anna, who had been convinced to come along by another volunteer, Kelsey. Doing what we do can be intimidating, so I let the two of them pair up to add a bit of comfort for Anna in the new experience. By the end of the drive, Anna was completely into it and loving it. It's things like Anna's smile after two and a half hours of voter registration that reassure me we're doing the right thing here.
Just a couple of hours later, we'd moved our drive to the outskirts of the Art in the Park festival, and we were seeing some more great success. After about an hour or two, I had a gentleman come up to me because he'd been told by some other volunteers that I was the one in charge. He introduced himself as Jim and asked what he could do to help out. I interpreted that as a general question about volunteering overall, and began to give him my standard answer about coming into the office, joining our myspace pages, etc. Recognizing that I'd misunderstood his question, Jim cut me off saying, "No no no... I mean NOW. How can I help you right now?" Shocked, and inspired, I handed him a clipboard with voter registration cards and he went to work. Jim stayed that day for over two hours, having just happened to have been passing us on the street.
I tell these stories to emphasize that volunteering for this campaign is not something you should be afraid of doing; everyone... EVERYONE... has skills that we can utilize, but we need you to step up. We can't find the volunteer power on our own to turn this state and country around, but together WE CAN.
So I've asked before, but I want to encourage you to reach out to me to let me know how you think you can help in your community. Since this isn't a real job for me, I am somewhat bound to the Boise area. I can't travel around the state organizing younger volunteers because I like my paycheck! But if you're in Pocatello, or Moscow, or Idaho Falls, or Twin Falls, or Couer D'Alene, or Salmon, or McCall, or Lewiston, or Rigby, or Challis, or Rexburg... OR ANYWHERE and you think you can host some events (debate watching parties, etc.), organize some voter registration drives (at your local tailgate party for example), or just get a few volunteers to dawn some Obama gear and head out to do some community service, please let me know! And if you don't know where to start, but want to be involved, I will always be here as your resource. We have some really good ideas, we just need people who are willing to step up to make them happen. (Oh, and we also have a lot of fun, even though I haven't made that a real emphasis of this call to action. I should still say it!)
I've now made this message a bit longer than perhaps originally intended, but I want you to recognize that we want, need, and deeply appreciate your involvement. To conclude, in case you haven't seen or really considered it, I'm including the GO-IDAHO Mission Statement:
As the next generation of civic, political, and social leaders in Idaho, we between the ages of 18 and 35 have the unique responsibility of framing the future of our remarkable state. The mission of the Idaho chapter of Generation Obama (GO-IDAHO) is to harness the enthusiasm and awareness that Barack Obama has brought to the young people of Idaho, and to translate that passion into active engagement of our peers, service to our community, and new voter turnout in November. Although we are often dismissed by our predecessors as being uninvolved, apathetic, and inexperienced idealists, the truth is that we wield an awe-inspiring power to effect real change throughout Idaho. GO-IDAHO intends to impact the 2008 election with a youth and new voter turnout that has not been seen before during our lifetimes, and to do so by demonstrating that our generation will no longer acquiesce to the negative politics of the past several decades. We will work positively and with all of the vigor and energy of our youth to ensure that Barack Obama is elected the next President of the United States of America.
Take care everyone, and I hope to hear from you very soon! In the meantime, I've got a few upcoming events I'll be posting in the next day or so.
Best,
Tom
Greetings! Just wanted to drop a note and share with you my excitement over yet another successful day canvassing. It was a rainy, dreary day here in central MInnesota, but a group of us got out there and did some door knockin' anyway. We met alot of very nice people and identified quite a few undecided voters. I am confident that our efforts today helped to sway some votes Obama's way.
We will be out there every day possible from now until November doing our part to make this thing happen. Please, won't you join us in some door knockin?? For every 4 doors knocked, another vote is swayed. It truly does make a difference. For those of you that are intimidated about the idea, please just give it a chance. You will find out that once you are out there talking to people, it is fun and people are actually very happy to have you at their door.
Peace to you all,
:-) PonyGirl
Michelle was as poised and eloquent as any First Lady in history. Kennedy made the scene resonate. There was more than enough emotion (and doubt) on the floor and in the press to lead me to one conclusion: in many ways we are just beginning this campaign. We have to sell and resell the candidate that captured our hearts a year or more ago. The Republicans will try to restart the race everyday and we have to match them step by step. Complacency is the enemy. We should allow celebration for hard won achievements thus far, but, the real battle has only just begun. And it really is good against evil. The Republicans will stop at nothing, inside and outsid the law, to take down our candidate. The only recourse is unflinching determination in pursuit of our goals of CHANGE: re-empowering the middle class and re-establishing the American dream--at the expense of the Republican pirates. This is one of those rare moments in American histiory when people really do have to take a stand or suffer the consequences. Perhaps one of the most formidable battles in American political history began tonight. Are we ready? Hearts of wrought steel!
If John McCain can't handle his personal finance matters would you trust him with the country finances? God for bid!!!
John McCain tripped over a question about how many houses he and his wife own because growing up his mother – not his father – handled the family finances, according to McCain’s younger brother. Likewise, John McCain’s wife Cindy McCain takes the lead when it comes to the couples’ finances, confirmed Joe McCain, after an interview with NewsChannel 8, a Washington 24-hour local cable news station owned by the same company as Politico.
Here is William Greider’s solution to stop poor people from getting more poor and rich people getting more rich: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are part of a bigger problem, caused by Republicans and Democrats for the last 25 years.
This is a complicated problem about investments. The solution is up to us. Our legislators are not solving the problem. We need to change our legislators, state and federal.
Watch the whole interview here.
I'm sure you've seen a lot of negative smears and lies about Obama on the internet and other media outlets. Let's work together to overwhelm these lies with truth and drown out the divisions with HOPE!
People all over the country are writing one blog post per week about Obama for the next 10 weeks. We have 55+ bloggers in 25 states, but we're missing IDAHO!!We want to have bloggers in all 50 states, so we can't do it without you!!
It would be great to get people who live in so-called "red states" involved with this project, since you may be most in need of Operation HOPE!.
If you're new to blogging, I can get you set up with you own blog in less than 5 minutes! so why not? Join Operation HOPE! One of the greatest things about Obama's campaign is the way that people whose voices have previously been silent are listened to and respected. Lots of folks have set up their first blog just to participate in this event, so we'd love to have you!!
If you are already an active blogger, it doesn't take any extra effort. and your blog will probably get more traffic, since I'll be linking all the bloggers and promoting the event.
Please check out the event details and sign up if you're interested in blogging for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/444wt I am coordinating the bloggers (with an interactive map and links to all the bloggers doing 10 posts in 10 weeks) on my "Crush on Obama" blog at: http://rubycrushonobama.blogspot.com Hope to see you in the blogosphere! -Ruby
The New Yorker described Barry Blitt's work as lampooning of "scare tactics and misinformation in the Presidential election to derail Barack Obama's campaign.""The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said."But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree," Burton added.
I think the idea that the Obamas are branded as unpatriotic [let alone as terrorists] in certain sectors is preposterous. It seemed to me that depicting the concept would show it as the fear-mongering ridiculousness that it is.
I've invited bloggers to commit to writing one post per week about Obama for the next 10 weeks. This will take us through the convention in Denver. Our guidelines are simply that the posts are positive and honest. The movement is building: already 25+ bloggers signed up, so that's at least 250 posts over the next 10 weeks, and more folks sign on everyday!
It would be great to get folks who live in so-called "red states" involved with this project, since you may be most in need of Operation HOPE!. I'm hoping to have bloggers from every single stats in the United States... so I'm reaching out to the "red" states first!
Especially if you are already an active blogger, it doesn't take any extra effort. and your blog will probably get more traffic, since I'll be linking all the bloggers and promoting the event.If you're new to blogging, I can get you set up with you own blog in less than 5 minutes! so why not? Join Operation HOPE!
Please check out the event details and sign up if you're interested in blogging for Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/44hfj I am coordinating the bloggers (and will have links to all the active bloggers doing 10 posts in 10 weeks) on my "Crush on Obama" blog at: http://rubycrushonobama.blogspot.com Hope to see you in the blogosphere! -Ruby
