About 30 Iowans met at T-Bock's Sports Bar and Grill in Decorah to talk about health care. People at the meeting talked about the need to change the current health care system and President Obama’s principles of reform. They also spent time planning health care service projects, such as a food drive. The meeting was part of the health care organizing kickoff, and was one of thousands of neighborhood meetings in Iowa and around the country. The Decorah Journal reported:
Twenty-seven Decorah area residents met recently to discuss healthcare reform legislation as it is developing in Congress.In attendance were healthcare providers, representatives of the health insurance industry, and consumers of healthcare in a variety of its forms.The Organizing for America network encouraged such events nationwide and provided information and suggestions for consideration.Meeting in the back room of T-Bock's Sports Bar and Grill, local participants first looked at President Obama's principles for the plan that will emerge from Congress, including reduced costs, guaranteed choice and ensuring that all Americans have quality, affordable health care.Each attendee spoke of his or her own experiences with the current healthcare system and expressed views concerning the changes needed.Organizing for America asked each of its participating groups to become involved in healthcare service projects in their local communities in addition to lobbying their Congressional representatives for passage of reform legislation. Projects that Decorah attendees plan to aid include the local food pantries, the free clinic, and upcoming Habitat for Humanity builds.
Pictured below are residents of Ames, Iowa, discussing the need for healthcare reform. The meeting was hosted by local organizer Jan Bauer.
President Obama returned to Iowa yesterday, where he toured a wind production facility which now occupies part of a factory that had been shuttered in 2007. The factory, the President Obama noted, is "alive again with new industry," as a symbol of a new energy economy.
From WhiteHouse.gov:
The President placed what was happening in Iowa in the context of two centuries of energy innovation in America, but noted America’s leadership in innovation had always been coupled with an alarming rise consumption. The President ran down the all-too-familiar list of problems our energy consumption and oil dependence brings, from those people face every day like prices at the gas pump, to those that have a broader but equally serious impact like the trade deficit, constraints on foreign policy, and the prospect of irrevocable climate change left as a burden for out children. As the President has stated again and again, these problems also represent a fundamental weakness in our economy which will prevent long term stability as long as we refuse to address them. And while those interests who have profited off of this weakness have aligned to defend the status quo and paint change as a danger, the President forcefully framed what this choice is all about: "We can't afford that approach anymore -- not when the cost for our economy, for our country, and for our planet is so high. So on this Earth Day, it is time for us to lay a new foundation for economic growth by beginning a new era of energy exploration in America. That's why I'm here. Now, the choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world's leading importer of oil, or we can become the world's leading exporter of clean energy. We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc across the landscape, or we can create jobs working to prevent its worst effects. We can hand over the jobs of the 21st century to our competitors, or we can confront what countries in Europe and Asia have already recognized as both a challenge and an opportunity: The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st-century global economy. America can be that nation. America must be that nation."
Read the President's full remarks . . .
"What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you." -- Barack Obama, Election Night 2008
On Tuesday night in Carroll, Iowa, 15 people gathered at Sam's Sodas and Sandwiches to talk to OFA staffer Derek Eadon about their community, the issues that affect everyday life in Carroll, and what they can do to help realize the change they worked so hard for as part of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In many ways this small gathering echoed the same kinds of the meetings that took place in diners and homes in the early days of the Iowa Caucus campaign, over two years ago.
This time however, the focus was not on Barack Obama or the caucus, or any election at all. This time the focus was on how to build support both in Iowa and in Washington D.C for the President's agenda; how to make that change. They talked about health care, shared memories of meeting Senator Obama during the campaign, and discussed ways to build on the grassroots organization that grew out of that movement.
The Carroll meeting was the kick-off of the Iowa Listening Tour, one of many Listening Tours taking place across the country this summer. At these meetings, supporters are able to meet new state staff members, hear about some of the lessons learned during the election, and offer their thoughts on how best to organize in their communities. "We have just one goal for these events - to listen," Derek Eadon explained. "[Our supporters], more than anyone else, know what approaches will work best in Iowa and we're eager to hear their ideas."
The Quad City Times reported:
The successor to President Barack Obama’s groundbreaking grassroots campaign has opened up shop in Iowa, and over the next two weeks it will host more than a dozen forums, including one next week in Davenport....“These listening tours will be one of our first major undertakings as we ramp up across the country,” said Natalie Wyeth, a spokesperson.Already, the group has a paid staffer in the state.This kind of an effort isn’t the norm in Iowa, particularly so far from an election, according to a party veteran.“It’s very unusual that it would happen this early,” said Dave Nagle, former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party....The paid staffer in Iowa is Derek Eadon, who began work about a month ago. Eadon was a regional field director in eastern Iowa during the presidential election, and he’s now working out of the Iowa Democratic Party office in Des Moines....The group intends to continue relying heavily on volunteers.Seventeen meetings have been scheduled across the state through the end of the month by Organizing for America.In the Quad-Cities, the director of the QCA for Change group is a point of contact, Eadon said. That group has already undertaken some volunteer efforts. The group has about 50 members.“We’re going to be a vital part of the organization,” said Roland Lamantia, director of QCA for Change.
In addition to Iowa, Listening Tours have already begun in Georgia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, and Texas. These events will be taking place throughout the summer, and we'll have updates in the coming weeks as more staff are deployed across the country. If you've attended an event this week or are planning on being at one, let us know in the comments below.
From Derek Eadon, the new Iowa State Director for Organizing for America:
Since Inauguration Day, Organizing for America has been dedicated to making real the change we fought for during the election. But to be successful, we need to hear from you -- your effort and commitment are the backbone of this movement and this organization. That's why I'm so excited to announce that we're back on the ground in Iowa and, starting this week, we'll be hosting Listening Tour Town Halls across the state. Will you make your voice heard and join us on the Listening Tour? At Listening Tour meetings, you'll get a chance to meet new state staff members, hear about some lessons learned during the general election, and offer your thoughts on how we can organize Iowa going forward. Your ideas will be used to write an Iowa-specific plan for Organizing for America in 2009 and beyond. The campaign brought an unprecedented number of new voices into the process -- we need to make sure those voices remain at the center of the debate as the President and Congress work on providing solutions for our economy. But these meetings are not just for folks who were involved in the campaign -- we're hopeful that every Iowan will get involved. We can't stop growing our movement now. We've never had a better opportunity to shape our future -- and just like during the election, we'll do it from the bottom up. Sign up now to attend a Listening Tour event.I look forward to seeing you, Derek Derek Eadon Iowa State Director Organizing for America P.S. -- If you can't make it to a Listening Tour event, you can still get involved with Organizing for America in Iowa. Let us know how you'd like to see Iowa organized.
On Thursday President Obama delivered his budget outline to Congress, a document that represents the ideas he campaigned on and millions of supporters fought for. "Because it represents real and dramatic change," the President explained, "it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington." He acknowledged the fight ahead to bring this budget plan from outline to final legislation, but he also sent a clear message:
Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works. We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families. In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks. That is the change I promised as a candidate for president. It is the change the American people voted for in November. And it is the change represented by the budget I sent to Congress this week.... I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families. I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries. In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:So am I. The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don’t. I work for the American people. I didn’t come here to do the same thing we’ve been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November. That is the change this budget starts to make, and that is the change I’ll be fighting for in the weeks ahead – change that will grow our economy, expand our middle-class, and keep the American Dream alive for all those men and women who have believed in this journey from the day it began.
Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works. We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families. In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks. That is the change I promised as a candidate for president. It is the change the American people voted for in November. And it is the change represented by the budget I sent to Congress this week.
... I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families. I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries.
In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:So am I. The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don’t. I work for the American people. I didn’t come here to do the same thing we’ve been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November. That is the change this budget starts to make, and that is the change I’ll be fighting for in the weeks ahead – change that will grow our economy, expand our middle-class, and keep the American Dream alive for all those men and women who have believed in this journey from the day it began.
Read the full text of the President's address . . .
Today David Plouffe sent out the following message to supporters, inviting them to attend one the many grassroots house meetings taking place throughout the country later this month:
Exactly one month ago, you made history by giving all Americans a real opportunity for change. Now it's time to start preparing and working for change in our communities. On December 13th and 14th, supporters are coming together in every part of the country to reflect on what we've accomplished and plan the future of this movement. Your ideas and feedback will be collected and used to guide this movement in the months and years ahead. Join your friends and neighbors -- sign up to host or attend a Change is Coming house meeting near you. Since the election, the challenges we face -- and our responsibility to take action -- have only gotten more urgent. You can connect with fellow supporters, make progress on the issues you care about, and help shape the future of your community and our country. Learn what you can do now to support President-elect Obama's agenda for change and continue to make a difference in your community. Take the first important step by hosting or attending a Change is Coming house meeting. Sign up right now. To get our country back on track, it will take all of us working together. Barack and Joe have a clear agenda and an unprecedented opportunity for change. But they can't do it alone. Will you join us at a house meeting and help plan the next steps for this movement? Thanks, David David Plouffe Campaign Manager Obama for America
"I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you." - Barack Obama, Election Night 2008
Read the full speech, as prepared for delivery . . .
Iowa is where this campaign started, and we need to make sure we finish it here.
Check out this quick video of Barack’s trip here last week and then MAKE CALLS RIGHT NOW.
If you haven’t voted yet, you have until 9 PM to cast your ballot. Click here to find your polling location. If you are in line by 9 PM, you have the right to vote.
There are still a few hours to make a big difference in this election. Before the polls close in Iowa -- a crucial battleground state -- here's what you can do:
1. If you haven't already -- VOTE RIGHT NOW—you have until 9:00 PM: Find out where to vote
2. Call or email everyone you know and make sure they've voted.
3. Help turn out voters at a volunteer event near you: Find the closest event
4. Go back to your polling location and encourage everyone to stay in line until they vote. Anyone who is in line before the polls close can cast their ballot, no matter how long the line.
5. If you can't leave your house, get out the vote by calling voters: Choose the state you'd like to call
The election in your state is going to be close -- and you can help bring the change we need. Make history right now by voting and helping others vote.
This is your last chance to take part in this historic election. Polls are open right now in Iowa until 9:00 p.m.
Find your polling place and vote now.
After you've voted, talk to your fellow Iowans.
Pick up the phone, go door-to-door, and help your neighbors get to the polls.
Find your nearest staging location and get involved.
One person can make the difference in this election and that person could be you.
Last night in Des Moines, Obama supporters held a Get Out the Vote Rally with special guests Governor Chet Culver, Senator Tom Harkin, Congressman Leonard Boswell, Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge and other elected officials.
Well over 100 people joined in the rally to get fired up before we start getting out the vote today and everyone was ready for the prospect of turning Iowa blue. If you’d like to join your local neighborhood team to help get Iowans to the polls, click here.
Here are a few details to help ensure that you have a smooth Election Day—and make sure to pass these on anyone you meet during your Get Out the Vote efforts .
Remember – if you have already voted early, we need your help Getting Out the Vote. Find your neighborhood get out the vote operation right now.
There is only one day left before we vote for a new President.
There is only one day left to make a difference in this election.
Today is the final day to vote early.
Today in Iowa, hundreds of volunteers will be knocking on doors, and making phone calls.
On November 5th, will you be wishing you had done more?
Find your neighborhood canvass, and help Get out the Vote.
Click here to find where to vote early today, and help get out the vote tomorrow!
Here in Iowa, hundreds of our supporters will be meeting at locations across the state to go out knocking on doors and talking with their neighbors about Barack and voting for the change we need.We need to reach out to tens of thousands of voters over the next two days to make sure they know their polling location, and we are going to need your help.
Click here to join your neighborhood team, and help us Get Out the Vote.
The Iowa state director, Jackie Norris, just sent out this email asking for your help to Get Out the Vote. Please consider getting involved in this final push in Iowa-- we won't be able to turn Iowa blue without your help.
Zach -- With only 3 days left until Election Day, we have a choice. We can get to work right now making sure that Iowa's pivotal electoral votes go to Barack Obama. Or we can sit back, relax, and risk facing four more years of the same failed Bush-McCain economic policies. I don't think it's a hard decision. Now is the time to help get out the vote in Iowa. The next 72 hours are our chance to make change a reality. Take a moment right now to sign up and help get out the vote. Iowa voters need to know where and when to vote. This campaign began 21 months ago here in Iowa, and if it wasn't for Iowa, the campaign wouldn't be here today. We'd like to extend our thanks for the effort supporters like you have devoted to Barack. We've asked a lot of you during this historic race, and your efforts have made success possible -- but we're not there yet. In these final, crucial days, letting up is simply not an option. This is our chance for a brighter future. Can you give a few hours or an afternoon to Barack to help get out the vote? http://iowa.barackobama.com/november Thanks for everything you're doing, Jackie Jackie Norris Iowa State Director Obama for America
One of our best and most inspirational supporters here in Iowa is Lavery. He’s 82 and comes in everyday to make phone calls for at least 3-4 hours. And the only reason he leaves the office is because his oxygen tank runs low. He’s signed up to volunteer for everyday of GOTV and well as all day on Election Day--- and he will bring extra oxygen tanks so he can stay all day.
How are you helping to get out the vote?
We asked him what was inspiring him to get involved in this election:
“Barack is young, intelligent, with new ideas. I saw him in Le Claire Park and something told me this is the man I should vote for.I cannot keep supporting him financially so I needed another way to do it. I am 82 and retired. I have done everything I have wanted to do in life. This campaign has given me new purpose in life. Also, I can tell people I worked for the President.”
“Barack is young, intelligent, with new ideas. I saw him in Le Claire Park and something told me this is the man I should vote for.
I cannot keep supporting him financially so I needed another way to do it. I am 82 and retired. I have done everything I have wanted to do in life. This campaign has given me new purpose in life. Also, I can tell people I worked for the President.”
There are hundreds of inspiring stories and leaders across the state working for the change we need. Over the next four days, we are going to be knocking on doors, making phone calls, and helping Iowans find out where they can vote on Tuesday. Sign up now to help Get Out the Vote.
Here are a few more pictures from the rally today in Des Moines.
We've got a big weekend ahead of us, and Barack made it clear that we all need to pitch in to help Get Out the Vote. Click here to find a location near you, and join us to work for change.
Barack traveled back to Iowa today, the place where the American people first voiced their need for change in Washington this past January.
Barack told Iowa why, even after 21 months of campaigning, we cannot let up now because our opponent will do everything he can in the next four days to tear us down.
Now, Senator McCain has served this country honorably. And he can point to a few moments over the past eight years where he has broken from George Bush. Just this morning, the McCain campaign put out an ad that showed me praising him and Senator Lieberman for their work on global warming – as if there’s something wrong with acknowledging when an opponent has said or done something that makes sense. I think we need more of that in Washington. I don’t disagree with Senator McCain on everything, and I respect his occasional displays of independence. ...We’ve tried it John McCain’s way. We’ve tried it George Bush’s way. Deep down, Senator McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” That’s why he’s spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book. Because that’s how you play the game in Washington. When you can’t win on the strength of your ideas, you make a big election about small things. So I expect we’re going to see a lot more of that over the next four days. More of the slash and burn, say-anything, do-anything politics that’s calculated to divide and distract; to tear us apart instead of bringing us together. A couple of elections ago, there was a presidential candidate who decried this kind of politics and condemned these kinds of tactics. And I admired him for it – we all did. He said, “I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land.” Those words were spoken eight years ago by my opponent, John McCain. But the high road didn’t lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route. Now, I know campaigns are tough. Because we’ve got real differences about big issues and we care passionately about this country’s future. And make no mistake, we will respond swiftly and forcefully with the truth to whatever falsehoods they throw our way. The stakes are too high to do anything less. But Iowa, at this moment, in this election, we have the chance to do more than just beat back this kind of politics – we have the chance to end it once and for all. We have the chance to prove that the one thing more powerful than the politics of anything-goes – the one thing the cynics didn’t count on – is the will of the American people. We have the chance to prove that we are more than a collection of Red States and Blue States – we are the United States of America. That’s how we’ll steer ourselves out of this crisis – with a new politics for a new time. That’s how we’ll build the future we know is possible – as one people, as one nation. And that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.Read Barack's full remarks, as prepared for delivery...
Now, Senator McCain has served this country honorably. And he can point to a few moments over the past eight years where he has broken from George Bush. Just this morning, the McCain campaign put out an ad that showed me praising him and Senator Lieberman for their work on global warming – as if there’s something wrong with acknowledging when an opponent has said or done something that makes sense. I think we need more of that in Washington. I don’t disagree with Senator McCain on everything, and I respect his occasional displays of independence.
...We’ve tried it John McCain’s way. We’ve tried it George Bush’s way. Deep down, Senator McCain knows that, which is why his campaign said that “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” That’s why he’s spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book. Because that’s how you play the game in Washington. When you can’t win on the strength of your ideas, you make a big election about small things.
So I expect we’re going to see a lot more of that over the next four days. More of the slash and burn, say-anything, do-anything politics that’s calculated to divide and distract; to tear us apart instead of bringing us together.
A couple of elections ago, there was a presidential candidate who decried this kind of politics and condemned these kinds of tactics. And I admired him for it – we all did. He said, “I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land.” Those words were spoken eight years ago by my opponent, John McCain. But the high road didn’t lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route.
Now, I know campaigns are tough. Because we’ve got real differences about big issues and we care passionately about this country’s future. And make no mistake, we will respond swiftly and forcefully with the truth to whatever falsehoods they throw our way. The stakes are too high to do anything less.
But Iowa, at this moment, in this election, we have the chance to do more than just beat back this kind of politics – we have the chance to end it once and for all.
We have the chance to prove that the one thing more powerful than the politics of anything-goes – the one thing the cynics didn’t count on – is the will of the American people.
We have the chance to prove that we are more than a collection of Red States and Blue States – we are the United States of America.
That’s how we’ll steer ourselves out of this crisis – with a new politics for a new time. That’s how we’ll build the future we know is possible – as one people, as one nation. And that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.
Read Barack's full remarks, as prepared for delivery...
We have only four days to Get Out The Vote. And only four days to fight back against the negative ads. Make a donation today and sign up to volunteer for this weekend.
The event has started with a performance by the Lincoln High school Marching Band. People are still lined up down the streets trying to get in, and their music is helping to keep everyone in high spirits.
Throughout this election, we’ve seen something special from young people getting involved—even if they are too young to vote. Just a few minutes ago, Secretary of State Michael A. Mauro released the results of the 2008 Iowa Student Mock Election. This year was a record breaking turnout with a total of 56,000 students taking part—and Barack Obama won the Election with 58% of the vote!
Now these Mock Election results won’t directly translate into turning Iowa blue, but we’ve seen thousands of Iowa students, in High school and College, put in tens of thousands of volunteer hours. It’s these efforts that are going to ensure our success on Election Day, and we need everyone out there signing up to get involved. Click here to help these students bring the change we need.
The event is heating up… more pictures coming soon.
Hundreds of volunteers have already poured into the event and Get Out the Vote signup sheets are passing through the crowd. Music is being pumped in through several large sets of speaks placed strategically around the park and we’re hearing chants of Fired Up! Ready to Go!
There is a great atmosphere here, and some of the groups in these pictures are of Obama Organizing Teams. Here in Iowa, because of the intense organizing during the caucuses, tens of thousands of volunteers already knew each other, and these grassroots groups have formed as the foundation of our Get out the Vote efforts. If you’d like to join them, just sign up at your nearest “staging location” by clicking here.
Several weeks ago, we held the “Iowa Call Challenge” and hundreds of Iowans used our Neighbor to Neighbor online call tool to talk with Iowans about Barack and the change we need. We are happy to announce that the top five callers will be here at the rally today meeting Senator Obama. They are:
Gail Dietrich; Victor, Iowa Kevin Healy; Ames, Iowa Dennis Lee; Sergeant Bluff, Iowa Sheryl McNew; Indianola, Iowa Tim O'Neill; Hedrick, Iowa
There is still time to get down here to see Barack here in Des Moines. Click here for details.
