Dear United States Citizens and citizens of the world,
We knew healthcare reform would face fierce opposition -- and it's begun. As we speak, the same people behind the notorious "swift boat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads. Their plan is simple: torpedo healthcare reform before it sees the light of day by scaring the public and distorting the President's approach. We need the resources to take them head on with an urgent, grassroots campaign to pass real healthcare reform in 2009. When the swift boaters flood the airwaves with distortions, we'll flood the streets with volunteers armed with facts. When they send lobbyists to tell Congress to back down, we'll send millions of calls, letters, and stories from real Americans asking them to stand up. Please donate $5 or more by midnight Sunday to fight back against these phony attacks and take our message of reform to the American people.
The swift boaters are once again trying to sell the American people short. As during the election, we deserve a serious conversation -- not fear-mongering and deceit. You and I see the importance of healthcare reform every day. We can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to face one of America's greatest challenges head on. Passing real healthcare reform will be the toughest, most important challenge we've faced together since electing Barack Obama President. But it's also a big reason we fought so hard to get here. I know that by working together, and speaking with one, determined voice, we can prevail over the cynics and defenders of the status quo. America's families are counting on us to do just that. Donate $5 or more to defend healthcare reform today: https://donate.barackobama.com/defendhealthcare Thank you, David Plouffe
It's Sunday morning (early - ugh - even with daylight savings, when you're supposed to get an extra hour of sleep, and my body says "nope - I'm awake now!") and I'm excited - I've been volunteering at the campaign headquarters since the beginning of September, and have somehow ended up running the front office for the last couple of weeks. Yesterday was an amazing day, as the efforts to build a giant volunteer GOTV movement started coming together. we had thousands of people out on the street yesterday knocking on doors, with hundreds more in the call centers making calls. I took a phone call yesterday from the phone bank coordinator in Santa Monica, CA who wanted to make sure that her phone-bankers had the right number for the Wisconsin voter hotline when they were phoning people back in my state!
We are out of most of our merchandise at the office - buttons have been gone for a few days; yard signs were cleaned out Friday night (although I heard a rumor from one staffer that there may be another truckload rolling in before Tuesday). A few t-shirts in limited sizes still available; a handful of bumper stickers out on the counters. But the one thing that is not in short supply is excitement. The staffers are all running on caffeine and adrenilan now - putting in twenty-plus hour days. The volunteers are pumped. The people walking in off the street are smiling and hopeful. But we know the job isn't done until Tuesday night. Barack told the volunteers and staff last night in a conference call that "This election is ours to lose . . . we can't let it slip away"
I got an email from moveon.org last week asking to let them send recruitment emails to other Milwaukeeans in my name to help build the GOTV efforts. I wrote up a brief testimony on why I was supporting Obama, and why I was asking them to volunteer. (Ironically, I got a generated email from 'Marc A.' on Thursday asking me to volunteer! Moveon needs to work just a bit on their exclusion algorhythm!). Here's what I wrote:
I've had people ask me recently why I'm volunteering for the Obama campaign. I tell them that I didn't volunteer at all for Gore in 2000, and felt that I should have done more when he lost. So I did some phone banking and some canvassing for Kerry in 2004, but not with any regularity or conviction. Again, I felt I should have done more when he lost. This year, I knew that after the last eight years of the worst presidency in our nation's history, I absolutely had to do everything I possibly could to make sure that Obama won this election. I hope you are as excited and committed as I am to working this final week to make sure we don't wake up to four more years of regrets on November 5th.
I've had people ask me recently why I'm volunteering for the Obama campaign. I tell them that I didn't volunteer at all for Gore in 2000, and felt that I should have done more when he lost. So I did some phone banking and some canvassing for Kerry in 2004, but not with any regularity or conviction. Again, I felt I should have done more when he lost.
This year, I knew that after the last eight years of the worst presidency in our nation's history, I absolutely had to do everything I possibly could to make sure that Obama won this election. I hope you are as excited and committed as I am to working this final week to make sure we don't wake up to four more years of regrets on November 5th.
We had a local photographer that stopped in yesterday. He had taken a shot of the Milwaukee Courthouse back in the 1970's when they were doing massive renovations on the building. The shot showed a neo-classical doorway with the word "Truth" carved in the lintel. Construction fencing ran in front of the door with a large "Closed" sign on the fence. Very ironic and beautiful picture. He updated it now with a text imprint: "Grand Reopening: Jan. 20, 2009"
Today, we kick off day two of the massive GOTV drive. There were 1600 plus volunteer shifts worked yesterday in Milwaukee - more today. More phone calls. More voters reached out to and confirmed for voting on Tuesday. More lessons learned on smoothing out the bumps in the process for the staff who are running the operations. All in preparation for Tuesday. The big day. E-day. The day we witness something truly historic.
The distinctly different challenges the United States faces today demand a deliberative, steady and thoughtful leader who will guide our nation through what are sure to be a very perilous next four years. Barack Obama is the man for that job. [...] We base our endorsement not just upon Obama's promise of hope and change, but also upon his positions on issues of importance to Americans.
We strongly encourage readers to vote for Barack Obama for president. [...] By contrast [to McCain's campaign], Obama has been steady, thoughtful and inspirational. His "change-we-can-believe-in" campaign inspired thousands of people to get involved in politics for the first time. He's a Harvard lawyer, but he worked as a community organizer and consumer advocate before he went to law school. He has risen from humble beginnings to run for president. In this brilliant campaign, he has earned our vote.
The La Crosse Tribune endorses Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat from Illinois, to provide the change in leadership, hope and vision we need to restore faith in our future and restore trust among our world partners. [...] Obama combines the discipline of pay-as-you-go budgeting with plans to reinvest in our crumbling national infrastructure and reduce our carbon emissions by 80 percent by the middle of this century -- a more thoughtful, visionary approach to an energy policy than simply crying, "Drill, Baby, Drill." [...] We believe Barack Obama will provide the leadership and inspiration we need.
Americans feel the need for new leadership, a renewal of our national spirit, and a desperate need to pull together in tough times.This election is about such needs, not individual planks in a campaign platform. That's why the Herald endorses Barack Obama for president.[...]Restoring health to the nation's economy will be even more difficult considering the mess that the nation finds itself in at this point. It will likely require patience, sacrifice and a positive attitude from the American people. That will require inspirational leadership from the nation's president, and there is every reason to believe that is Obama's greatest strength.
Americans feel the need for new leadership, a renewal of our national spirit, and a desperate need to pull together in tough times.
This election is about such needs, not individual planks in a campaign platform. That's why the Herald endorses Barack Obama for president.
[...]
Restoring health to the nation's economy will be even more difficult considering the mess that the nation finds itself in at this point. It will likely require patience, sacrifice and a positive attitude from the American people. That will require inspirational leadership from the nation's president, and there is every reason to believe that is Obama's greatest strength.
The Bush administration has bumbled from crisis to crisis for nearly eight years, competence gone AWOL. The nation needs resuscitating change like a new baby needs that first breath of air. Two would-be successors pledge it. But Barack Obama is more believable. We recommend him to be the 44th president of the United States. Obama's vision and potential to be that change agent trump his relative lack of experience, though the experience he possesses is valuable. The maturity and calm demeanor he has exhibited these past two years in the public spotlight and earlier, speak to able, careful, inclusive leadership. And he is simply the better of the two on the issues.
You know when people are focused on something good, it's a momentous occasion. I've never seen anything like it in Baraboo before.
[Obama's] campaign is rooted in providing hope and inspiring Americans to find new solutions to combat problems in this new century. This philosophy is important considering the challenges the next president will face during the next four years, among them crafting a new strategy for Iraq and a financial system in tatters in part because of the skewing of wealth into fewer hands. Obama also has excited people about the democratic process like few candidates in recent memory. Millions of potential voters considered "on the fringe" -- young adults, African Americans and Latinos -- have been energized to become involved and active in government.
Our friend Joseph here at Wisconsin HQ is traveling around Wisconsin talking with some of the amazing volunteers who have made Barack's movement for change possible. Joseph will be filing reports from all over the Badger state during the next few days -- stop by for more great stories of remarkable people working for change.
I watched the primaries, and for Barack Obama to be our choice - I sat there in awe. I couldn't be more thrilled to do what it takes to get him elected.
But the place was packed -- overflowing onto the street, more than anyone could have imagined.
After asking her why, we talked and we talked. This kind of work is about people's stories. Lois is courageous to be open-minded to think of changing her life-long affiliation.
"I'm a lifelong Republican, but Senator Obama is the right leader for our country and will deliver the change we need," she says. "After taking a careful look at the qualities of both McCain and Obama and who would be best for our country, I found that Senator Obama's ability to bridge the partisan divide to work toward solid solutions that will get our nation back on the right track meant he is the right choice this November."
There are only two weeks until Election Day, but why wait? You can vote now if you're ready. An unprecedented number of people have already cast their ballot in Milwaukee. The city is seeing 500 early voters a day, and they're not alone. It's been busy at city halls and town halls all across the state.
[I]n my case, my two sons - one in his early thirties and one in his late twenties, along with my daughters-in-law - just kept after me to support (Obama)." Doyle noted that at first, he gave his children pat answers. "But then I decided I needed to look through their eyes, not necessarily my eyes," the governor recalled. "In their eyes, Barack Obama showed he was a candidate that could build a great future. He was a candidate that represented getting past political fights that have gone on for 40 years. The divisions that happened in the 1960s have been fighting for 40 years. With Obama, we had a candidate that was a candidate that showed us what the future could be."
[Gina] Smith, 56, of Janesville is among hundreds of volunteers across the state who are spending several hours each week making phone calls and going door-to-door in their communities, talking to voters about Obama. "(The local campaign headquarters) is the up-close and personal connection between the campaign and the community," said Phil Walzak, communications director for the Obama campaign in Wisconsin. "It's the vehicle by which our campaign talks to voters on a one-on-one basis. It's the home base for activity." The Obama campaign is "robust" in Wisconsin with 50 offices across the state, not only in areas that are Democratic strongholds but also in areas that are staunchly Republican, he said. And the success of the campaign in a battleground state such as Wisconsin depends on volunteers who week after week spread the word about Obama, he said.
Earlier, while waiting for [Gov.] Doyle to appear, Obama volunteer Brent Nance of Caledonia said the grass-roots organization working on Obama's behalf will be active even beyond Nov. 4. "Obama is taking his training (as a community political organizer) and spreading it nationwide," said Nance, an Obama "team member" for a segment of Caledonia. Each city has a set of teams, he explained, that work together and become acquainted with each other during the campaign. "When the election is over, we'll still have a network," Nance said. "So when the next election happens, we don't have to start all over. You will see them more active on local issues."
Democratic Governor Chet Culver spoke to nearly 50 people at the Rhinelander District Library this afternoon. Culver emphasized Barack Obama's concern for Wisconsin's agriculture, small communities and renewable energy. The Governor says the last 18 days of the election are important here in Wisconsin. "We've got work to do. And that's why I'm crisscrossing Iowa and criss crossing Wisconsina and working with my fellow Governors like Jim Doyle and others who are so excited about Barack Obama's candidacy." Obama supporters at today's event say it's important to have other politicians endorse the candidates in smaller communities. Alan Vanraalte, an Obama supporter, says, "I think it's absolutely vital that they do. if it weren't the candidates would be spread pretty thin and they need to go to where the population centers are."
