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NE Iowans who will work to elect Barack Obama to the Presedency

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See my DC Blog here.

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jan 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm EST

Also listed in: 9 groups

I dont have pictures up yet because I am not home. But they will be up soon.

http://todcandback.blogspot.com/

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The Obamacart is coming, The Obamacart is coming!

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Aug 15th, 2008 at 11:38 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

I have been asked to host the makers of the "OBAMACART" in my home over night during their trip across the country from Division, MT to Unity, NH. A man named Bill Johnson from Montana made this cart and decorated it with paint resembling the Obama trademark "rainbow" symbol before the primaries were held in Montana and decided that a way for people to come together in unity was to make a big statement and take us all from Division to Unity...literally! Bill and his wife will begin their trip in a few days and will make stops in small towns along the way. I e-mailed them and asked if they would like to stop here. They were all for it! So we are the lucky recipients of a piece of history. The Obama campaign is involved in this and we are getting the press here to get it all on tape and in the papers. We hope to have a surrogate for the Obama campaign here as well. This will be the biggest rally Cresco has ever seen! I am proud have been considered for this event. They will be collecting donations for Obama AS WELL as LOCAL candidates before heading out to Milwaukee in the morning.

We plan to be at Beadle park (train park) on HWY 9 in Cresco at 7pm on the 25th of August. Bring your friends and neighbors.

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McCains resume

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Aug 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In his frivolous Paris and Britney ad, Sen. John McCain
has asked the right question: Is Barack Obama ready to lead this country?

Since last January, Sen. Obama's fitness for the presidency has been the only
question that matters in American politics. The pollsters and pundits agree that if
Obama can show the voters that he's up to the job, he'll win. If not, he won't.

But that begs another question: Is McCain fit to lead America?

That question hasn't been asked, nor has it been answered.

The assumption seems to be that McCain's years of experience in the military and in
Congress of course give him the background and tools he'd need in the White House. As
Britney might say, "Duh! For sure he's qualified!!! He's Mac!!!"

But is that true? Does McCain have the right stuff?

A careful look at McCain's biography shows that he isn't prepared for the job. His
resume is much thinner than most people think.

Here are some reasons why McCain would be a mediocre president.

Lack of accomplishments

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Like the current occupant of the White House, McCain got his first career breaks
from the connections and money of his family, not from hard work.

The son and grandson of Navy admirals, he attended Annapolis where he did poorly.
Nevertheless, he was commissioned as a pilot, where he performed poorly, crashing
three planes before he failed to evade a North Vietnamese missile that destroyed his
plane. McCain spent more than five years in a prison camp.

After his release, McCain knew his weak military record meant he'd never make
admiral, so he turned his sights to a career in politics. With the help of his new
wife's wealth, his new father-in-law's business connections and some powerful friends
had made as a lobbyist for the Navy, he was elected in 1982 to a Congress in a
district that he didn't reside in until the day the seat opened up. A few years
later, he succeeded Barry Goldwater as a senator.

McCain hasn't accomplished much in the Senate. Even his own campaign doesn't trumpet
his successes, probably because the few victories he's had still rankle Republicans.

His campaign finance law failed to significantly reduce the role of money in
politics. He failed to get a big tobacco bill through the Senate. He's failed to
change the way Congress spends money; his bill to give the president a line-item veto
was declared unconstitutional, and the system of pork and earmarks continues
unabated. He failed to reform the immigration system.

Every senator who runs for president misses votes back in Washington, so it's no
surprise that McCain and all the others who ran in the primaries have missed a lot of
votes in the past year. But between the beginning of 2005 and mid-2007, no senator
missed more roll-call votes than McCain did, except Tim Johnson, who was recovering
from a near-fatal brain aneurysm.

Shallow

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

McCain says he doesn't understand the economy. He's demonstrated that he doesn't
understand the workings of Social Security, or the political history of the Middle
East. He doesn't know who our enemies are. He says he wants to reduce global warming,
but then proposes ideas that would stimulate -- not reduce -- demand for fossil
fuels.

McCain has done one thing well -- self promotion. Instead of working on legislation
or boning up on the issues, he's been on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" more than
any other guest. He's been on the Sunday talk shows more than any other guest in the
past 10 years. He's hosted "Saturday Night Live" and even announced his candidacy in
2007 on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

McCain has not articulated any lofty goals. So far, his campaign theme has mostly
been "McCain: He's None of the Above."

In the primaries, he campaigned on "I'm not that robotic businessman, I'm not that
sanctimonious hick, I'm not that crazy libertarian, I'm not that washed-up actor, I'm
not that delusional 9/11 guy." In the general election, he's emphasized that he's not
that treasonous dreamer.

No leadership

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

McCain has frequently taken on near-impossible missions that go against the grain of
his party. It's the basis of his reputation as a maverick. But McCain has never been
able to bring more than a handful of Republicans along with him on issues such as
campaign finance reform or immigration. Democrats on the Hill have accepted McCain's
help on some issues, but except for a few exceptions (John Kerry and Joe Lieberman),
they've never warmed to him.

To achieve anything as president, McCain would have to win over two hostile parties:
The Democrats and the Republicans.

Living in the Sixties

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

McCain is still fighting the Vietnam War. But he's not fighting the real historic
war, which taught us the folly of injecting ourselves into a civil war that was none
of our business. We learned that, in a world where even peasants have guns,
explosives and radios, a determined and popular guerrilla force can defeat a modern
army equipped with the mightiest technology if that army has no vital national
interest to protect.

Instead, McCain is fighting an imaginary Vietnam War, where a sure victory could
have been achieved with just a little more bombing, just a little more
"pacification," just a little more will to win at home. This fantasy clouds McCain's
judgment on foreign policy.

Most of the other high-profile politicians who fought in Vietnam -- Colin Powell,
Chuck Hegel, John Kerry, and Jim Webb -- aren't stuck in the past, and they don't
view the Iraq War as a chance to get Vietnam right.

No principles

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

After years of honing a reputation as a guy who'll say the truth regardless of the
political consequences, McCain has crashed the Straight Talk Express. On almost every
issue where he took a principled stand against the Republican line -- taxes,
immigration, oil drilling, the Religious Right -- he's changed his views.

We ought to like politicians who change their mind when the facts change; it shows
maturity, judgment and flexibility. But politicians who change their mind to suit the
prevailing winds show the opposite.

The bottom line

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Successful presidents come from two molds: visionaries, or mechanics. The
visionaries -- think Reagan or FDR -- see what others can't and say 'Why not?" to
inspire the country. The mechanics -- think LBJ or Eisenhower -- know the ins and
outs of government and are able to harness the power of millions of humans to
accomplish great things, or at least keep the wheels from coming off.

McCain fits neither style. He's neither a dreamer, nor a detail guy. His major
accomplishment, in Vietnam and in the Senate, has been merely to survive.

Just surviving doesn't make you're a hero, or a decent president. America needs to
do more than survive the next four years.

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Narcissism v. Cynicism

By Stephen N - Aug 5th, 2008 at 1:26 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Happy Belated Birthday to the next POTUS! With that out of the way, I’ll start now…

Narcisism: A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem

Cynicism: An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others

Ever since Senator Obama’s globetrotting diplomacy tour (whoops, fact-finding) the media's coverage of the campaigns has taken a turn for a fairly broad focus… depending on what you consider the focus. The two main lenses you can look at the media’s playing of the past week and a half is that Obama is narcissistic (McCain’s narrative) or McCain is cynical (Obama’s “other” narrative). The strange thing about both of these narratives focus on Obama. It’s as if there is no Republican candidate in the race. And with ads like this or this, I don’t know what exactly there would be to be proud of.

Let’s look at the hoopla surrounding both of these now infamous official McCain advertisements. On the plus side (for McCain), they… uh… well… they get people talking about the McCain campaign, which doesn’t happen a lot (so much so that on the Obama world tour, McCain gave out press passes that compared them to the JV Squad). I guess the presumptive Republican nominee is ready to go into the fall cycle with the old mantra that “any publicity is good publicity”. The strange thing to me is that McCain seemed to be so confident that he would run a “clean” campaign against Obama – certainly John “the maverick” McCain wouldn’t let his handlers control this part of his campaign… would he?

It’s understandable for a candidate to point out differences on policy and even have a little fun pointing out some changes in a candidate’s positions because that’s just politics. The line that Obama (and I) have drawn is on attacking your competition. Maliciously calling out a rival for drawing big crowds and being a celebrity or calling for the best in our nation and seeming messianic is not a “clean” campaign.

I was very involved in the John Edwards campaign in Iowa, and even led as a precinct captain on caucus night (Obama kicked our butt, I’ll admit it). Being on a college campus, I was in the perfect environment to see this supposed narcissistic celebrity, Barack Obama (and his Obamaniacs, for that matter), and I did, and I was envious. When Obama came to our fairly liberal campus of about 2,500 students in a small town in northeast Iowa, he drew a crowd of about 3,000 people. It was the biggest I saw to see a single candidate throughout the whole season. I thought of the message as “shallow” and was a little disappointed in the hype that surrounded this wonderful speaker, because I didn’t find much in his speech that was that great (other than the soaring rhetoric). Over time, and especially following January 3rd, I realized that this was not just a superficial movement about pumping up this politician who could give a great speech. It was a bottom-up movement that a lot of people have a right to be envious of, because it’s very hard to make this kind of an organization form and work so efficiently like it has. I am proud to now be a part of this campaign, and don’t really view it as narcissistic at all.

The cynical McCain narrative that Obama “fired back” with was one that I leveled at a lot of the people I encountered when campaigning for Edwards. Johnny, like Barack, was calling for some major change in people’s perception of government, and change in the American government we love so much itself - a tough pill to swallow for a lot of people who weren’t impacted as directly as others by the current occupant. Even my own father was pretty jaded at first, even though he knew he would support the Democratic nominee. For him, the cynicism stemmed from how it seemed nearly impossible for one candidate to be able to sweep through and clean out all the corruption in Washington. “Sure, you found Edwards, and he seems clean, but how’s he gonna convince the 535 other crooks in that town out east,” was one of the quotes from my dad that stuck with me throughout the past year or so.

McCain’s cynicism is different though. It's like a bad comedian who keeps trying to tell bad jokes about the fame of someone else he's competing with. A commenter somewhere else said, "When you have nothing left, humor is the best refuge." The thing is: no one is laughing. McCain’s thrives on questioning whether someone as young as Barack Obama can run this country (to which I ask if someone as old as John McCain can run this country), whether Obama has enough experience to rid the world of terrorism and end the war right (in 100 years, right, John?), or whether Obama really thinks these pie-in-the-sky ideas about health care, energy, and the economy can really work. Almost every Democrat believes in this campaign’s ability to enact change from the bottom up, but it seems only natural for a Senator who’s been in Washington for 26 years to be a little skeptical. It’s different. The candidate is different. The energy around this is different.

And this election is different. I think the fight between the perceptions of a cynical old man and a narcissistic young man will eventually be won by the American people deciding that the young Democrat is not so narcissistic and the old Republican is indeed just a little too cynical.

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Unite for Change Party Decorah Iowa

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jun 30th, 2008 at 8:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

I was unable to hold a Unite for Change party of my own this weekend due to prior engagements. But I decided to check out what events were coming to my area (there are usually none, I live in such a rural area) I was happy and excited to see that in the neighboring town of Decorah there was a Unite For Change party scheduled for Sunday.

Kathy was gracious and had a wonderful home acreage. The area was carved out neatly from the surrounding corn fields and seemed like everything Iowa should be.

As people began to show up it was nice to see people I had talked with on the blog as well as people I had seen through the campaign back in Jan. Even though this party was out of my county I was happy to be involved with supporters who were proud to be helping out and excited to get things started. It gave me some great ideas for my upcoming party on July 19th.

We all introduced ourselves and told our stories about how we became "hope-mongers". Sometimes I forget that I was not involved in politics before this campaign until I tell my story and hear myself speaking the words. That "LBB" Life Before Barack seems like a million years ago.

There were people there that were close to 90 and the young and up and coming. One of the younger people there brought up the idea of a "happy hour" for Barack every week at a local bar/restaurant as an opportunity for people to get together in a "less organized" and "less threatening" way. Although calling it happy hour is out of the question she thought of calling it "Barack Hour" but thought that sounded like an evangelical "hour of power" kind of thing. I am not sure what the final name will be but what a wonderful idea to get people to be comfortable and talk about Barack and for those who may not know him to get to know him.

We decided that the biggest problem for most people is that they just have not spent enough time getting to know Barack and what he stands for, especially some of the supporters of other candidates. There were woman there that struggled themselves with the choice between the first woman and Barack as well as Edwards supporters that have all come to read up on Barack and fully support him.

I know I have not spent a ton of time researching Hillary or McCain so I assume that of others and their lack of information on Barack. We are hoping that we may, by being in a public place, pull others into the conversation or at least get the information in their ears from across the room.

There is a huge 4th of July celebration in a neighboring town and some of the people are going to set up a table with information and hope to get some attention there. I think that the opportunity we have on such a patriotic holiday, the one in which we celebrate the biggest CHANGE America ever struggled through, is a great starting point for getting ourselves out their and introducing the biggest force of change this country has seen in 40 years!

I know this is not my normal "exciting" post, but I thought the ideas we had might be shared.

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/laurahubka/?action=view¤t=DSC01872.jpg

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/laurahubka/?action=view¤t=DSC01871.jpg

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r13/laurahubka/?action=view¤t=DSC01870.jpg

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How Barack Obama helped me become a democrat.

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jun 1st, 2008 at 12:54 pm EDT

Also listed in: 8 groups

Many of you may know me from the blogs. Lately I have been absent. Mostly because the atmosphere had become negative, but lately just because I love to be outside and the children have also had many things going on at the end of the school year. (Plus my house is a wreck now that I am looking at it and not the computer or TV! I had to clean it up! lol)

I started out over a year ago as just another carbon producing, world populating, world polluting human. I did not belong to any particular "party" let alone to any type of organization that was taking a view, stance or opinion on anything besides the normal things that parents do for their children in school..Band boosters, sports boosters ect.

Like most of the world Baracks candidacy was as surprising to me as it was to the world. When I heard Barack speak, he was speaking TO me not AT me. I realized that I had missed out on so many things in my life, chances to speak up and speak out. I missed the point so many times that I had that right to speak out. No one made me feel like I was important to the my local government let alone the US government. This one man, Sen. Barack Obama was letting me know that I was important. His life a testament to real change and hope. I know those words get used a lot in all sorts of circles. But they are the things that we need right now.

We need change in a real and decisive way. We need hope to get us there. Barack Obama will give us the tools we need, but we have to step up and take them AND use them. The real world is not a sweet and lovely place. There are people crying, starving, hurting, killing and dying all around us. We can not sit back and ignore this because it is not in most of our backyards. If we do that for much longer it will be in our back yards and it will be much harder to get ourselves right again.

Barack Obama has brought out in me the person I should have always been. Maybe you say, that if I had been active all along I would not have been drawn to such a candidate, that I would have gone right to Sen. Clinton. I think that in my heart I know for a fact that Sen. Clinton has done a lot of good for this country and during this campaign I have tried to stay mercilessly positive about her and her husband. I was not aware of the many things they had done because I was not paying attention. They did not want me to pay attention because there were also a lot of things they did that hurt the country. I think that they really did try in their time to do what they thought was right. I know that Barack will make mistakes too. I think that he will own up to them and not try to hide them. I think that he will fix the problem and not sweep it under the rug or try to blame someone else. That is the difference between the two candidates to me.

Barack Obama as asked me to do something. To be responsible for my own change and my own hope. Because if we take the responsibility of ourselves and pass it on to others the world will begin to make real changes. We have waited to long for our president and congress to do it for us. We have to be the ones standing up, we must stand up with our new president and let the world know that America is back. We are a democratic nation of hope mongers and change agents. We have always been, but sometimes it was being beaten out of us by the fear mongering they we were sold.

We have a real chance this time. There can be a landslide victory for Sen. Obama in the fall. We just have to get the people to the polls. We have to continue the excitement and the hope mongering. We have to continue to believe that we as Americans are better than what the world sees us as right now.

John Mcain is really just George W. Bush in older and stiffer clothing. He tends to fly off the handle when questioned and has changed his mind on so many things since 2001 that it is incredible for anyone to think that Barack Obama could not win against him in the fall. We must be diligent in our knowledge and in our persistence to make sure things are done right during the general election right up to the voting booths and counters. We need to volunteer to be a part of the process, we need to get in there and make sure our votes are counted. We will not be denied the White House because we had something better to do that day than make sure everyone that wants to vote, gets to vote. Take the day off work, sit at your local voting station. Get your friends to come. If you are not outspoken enough, find someone who is. We must STAND UP. Stand up and not be held down. We are the people! I can not say that enough. It is in our hands, win or lose it is in our hands.

So yes, Barack Obama took a woman who had no way of knowing what the political world meant and made me look it up, become involved and yes, save the world. I am a democrat, I am a proud democrat.

Thank You Sen. Barack Obama. I was almost lost to the world. You helped save me. And for this I am eternally greatful. I will repay you with my help in securing you the highest office in the land. President Barack Obama.

Now doesn't that sound great?

Laura

Laura

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We are the bridge.

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - May 8th, 2008 at 9:24 am EDT

Also listed in: 8 groups

I know I am gonna get jumped on but here it is.

I really think that Hillary Clinton really really thinks that she is the best. I do not think that she holds any real contempt for Barack except for the fact that he is young, exciting and is winning right now.
She believes that she has the knowlege, connections and experience to get the job done. She believes that out of all the people that were running for president, she really is the one who can get things done.
I used to believe that she hated Barack. But I think this does not come from contempt, but just from the fact that she feels in her heart that she has worked for this most of her life. And she has.
She and Bill can not understand why others just cant see that, and it makes them mad. They only know how to fight this fight politically and the people they are trying to reach out to are not politicians so thier arguement falls flat. Barack is talking to a new audience, one that is immune to the political process and really is new to it all together for the most part. Barack has a hard time getting his arguement to stick with those who are politial because they can not and do no want to believe that someone can change things and that Hillary is the one who knows the ropes and is the best bet.

These two groups of people have a large divide and somehow we have to get a bridge there. Hillary and Barack can not do it. We have to. We have to be the bridge. We need to stop the divide and stop harping on one another.

If anyone can bring this together is it us. And it only can be WE THE PEOPLE.

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Site for update on Iowa delegates

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Apr 27th, 2008 at 11:05 am EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

Here is the site to Iowa state conventions: Looks like Edwards got one from CD1. I think they fell for the Clinton "deal".

http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/04/iowa-update.html

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District 4 convention: Boone Iowa

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Apr 27th, 2008 at 9:32 am EDT

Also listed in: 9 groups

Back from the district convention yesterday!

Day started at 5 AM for me, in the shower and ready to go by 530. Waited for the two peole riding with me.

In the car and on the road at 6AM. It takes about 3 hours to get to Boone from where I am. As we drove we talked about everything you can think of...(ME TALK???lol)

After enjoying a week of 70 degree weather it was actually spitting flurries this morning~ But it went away as we were driving. We got there about 830 (so we did good on time~~fast driving!)

Waited in a short line and checked in, several of the people running for congress where there passing out water and coffee(no cream and sugar~~my complaint!) as we went into the room and people were checking us in by alphabet(last name) I noticed that a majority of the people checking in folks were wearing Obama shirts and buttons (yay). I of course had lost my letter to get in (I have EVERY OTHER piece of paper from this campaign, but not that) I used my voter registration and drivers licence, they let me in. the next table we spent 7 dollars on a box lunch, to be decided later, so we got a ticket.

As we walked in the main room, it looked like a mini National convention. Our counties were up high on signs, alphabetical. I found Howard Co. and we set our things down. We then were approached one by one as the morning went on by the people running for national delegates from both sides. Mostly Obama people. They need to have at least 6 signatures from delegates to be recognized. You can sign any sheet, but do not need to vote for that person in the end, so I signed them all.

There was a young girl with a mini booth set up with her picture and other pictures of her doing her Obama thing, setting up students for Obama in her school, canvassing, calling, meeting Obama and the like. Some people had business cards and one woman had a very elegant long card with "I Believe" and the Obama "circle" on the back and her story on the front. some had flyers. All would need to give a speech after the alignments were final and we knew how many delegates we were sending. Some of those peole were so impressive. A 50 something woman with the last name Miller was there, she is the first elected woman and the first elected black woman to represent any county in Iowa! She was awesome. I voted for her in the end. I hope she went. I left before it was over.

Here in district 4 it was 3 delegates for Barck 2 for Clinton and 1 for Edwards. We had 507 people there, all alternates were seated because of missing delegates for each side.

there were 274 people for Barack 187 for Clinton and 56 for Edwards.

As the day went on we heard from representatives for both candidates and voted on special platform groups. People that wanted to go on to nationals had flyers and cards, free cookies and pens to give away (it was pretty cool)

By 130 in the afternoon we were ready to spit into groups.

Then we split into preference groups and cast our first vote on a ballot after one hour of deliberation(not needed). The votes were counted.

The people in the Edwards group went into a special room. The chosen few from Obama and Clinton went in to talk to these people. There were rumors flying everywhere as to the deals. Then the Clinton group on the other side of the room cheered and we were a bit dejected as a few Edwards people came to them. We thought thru the rumor mill that they had accepted a deal that Clinton then offered them 12 delegates to make them viable. That was all the talk! We were dejected, but knew that we at least would not lose a delegate.

The story that came out from the Edwards people was that indeed the Clinton people had offered them 12 delegate to keep them viable, but that was only if they choose one of those people to go to nationals! Then the Edwards people asked if they would stay with them at the state level to keep them viable and the Hillary people would not do that. We offerd them 5 of the 6 platform committee spots at state since our platforms are the same essentially and that the reason they were there for Edwards is because they want him to have a voice. We gave it to them, and they came to us.

As time went on suddenly the doors flew open the Edwards people came out and all the rest came to us! We only needed 25 people to get to another delegate, we got it as we recieved 32 of them! They were gladly received and were smiling, I of course hugged all that would be hugged!

The final count 306 for Obama, 199 for Clinton and 2 for Edwards (non viable)

SO now district 4(there are 5 districts in Iowa) is Obama 4 Clinton 2!!!!

Pictures here:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563227563CUrRuS?vhost=good-times

I am dying to know how the other 4 districts went? I heard rumors that Hillary picked up a delegate? But from what district?

FIRED UP!

I am not going on to nationals,,,but to state. There were people MUCH MORE deserving and qualified than me to go I can assure you! Let me tell you something. Be careful who you send to nationals. Study those people and assure yourself that they will not be swayed. If there is any chance they can be swayed and I am sure the national convention will be much more contintious than this district was, there will be some dirty deeds trying to be delt there. Make sure you send your strongest!

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Iowa Democratic Party

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Apr 22nd, 2008 at 7:09 pm EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

This is the address to the Iowa Democratic Party:

http://www.iowademocrats.org/ht/d/Home/pid/315115

here you can click on your county and print off your convention information (mine was 57 pages long!) and get other information on how to get more involved with your county and state.

Lets do this for Senator Obama( President Obama) lets join, get our "activist" on and make some changes! It will take all of us to be a part of this movement of taking America back!

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!! (not pushy am I? lol)

Cant wait to meet you all!!!

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PA Debate watching party Mason City Iowa

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Apr 17th, 2008 at 1:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: 5 groups

Here are some pictures from the PA debate watching party. We were joined by a few of those running for office in the 4th district. And the local news.

Although it was a unsatisfactory debate, something I would hardly call a debate, we had a good time connecting with everyone. I was so happy to see Sandi Lincoln, and Native there! Everyone was so nice and it was just as I imagined it would be if all of us got together. I still think the campaign should send the top 200 people on here somewhere to meet.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2746047490101683170hRKdKV?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2308154540101683170VLbWHC?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2336935580101683170UBeHmA?vhost=good-times

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http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2370792660101683170NhCiyi?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2105417290101683170AEFYXV?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2639035370101683170FjAZHs?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2170939700101683170IslGzx?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2986645210101683170UGeCEF?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2819519820101683170xEQknQ?vhost=good-times

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2601790010101683170JiUnLO?vhost=good-times

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District Convention sites, and contact information

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Apr 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 am EDT

Also listed in: 10 groups

Let us know you're attending your Congressional District Convention

On Saturday, April 26th, Iowa's five congressional districts will each hold a Congressional District Convention. We need as many Obama supporters as possible to attend and help make sure we win as many delegates as possible.

Convention locations are below.

Please note: by signing up below, you are NOT registering for your Congressional District Convention.

Iowa Congressional District Convention Locations

Congressional District 1
Dubuque Senior High School
1800 Clarke Dr.
Dubuque, IA 52001
Contact: Nathan Blake
515-783-6190
nblake@barackobama.com

Congressional District 2
Mt. Vernon High School
731 Palisades Rd SW
Mt. Vernon, IA 52314
Contact: Kevin Geiken
515-745-4969
kgeiken@gmail.com

Congressional District 3
Valley High School
3650 Woodland Avenue
West Des Moines, IA 50266
Contact: Nathan Blake
515-783-6190
nblake@barackobama.com

Congressional District 4
Boone County Fairgrounds
Community Building
Boone, IA 50036
Contact: Kevin Geiken
515-745-4969
kgeiken@gmail.com

Congressional District 5
Mid-America Center
1 Arena Way
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
Contact: Kevin Geiken
515-745-4969
kgeiken@gmail.com
RSVP to let us know you are coming

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Hope Warrior!

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jan 19th, 2008 at 11:34 am EST

Also listed in: 10 groups

NOW is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. If we're going to be more cheerful in the future, it's because of our aspiration to be cheerful in the present. The future is the result of what we do right now.

"if we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher."

"We think the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. The healing comes from letting there be room for it all to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy"

"Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over again to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us"

"Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us"

"We work on ourselves in orger to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves"

"The truth you cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new"

"A sign of health is that we don't become undone by fear and trembling, but take it as a message that it's TIME TO STOP STRUGGLING AND LOOK DIRECTLY AT WHAT TREATENS US."

"Rejoicing in ordinary things takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior's world"

Lets be totally positive today on this site. Lets fill those who would look on here to get a last look before they go caucus and make up thier mind that we are a good group of people, People they would like to be a part of.

NO POLLS, NO FIGHTING, Let them make fun of us because we are inspired by a MAN NAMED OBAMA. That names do not scare us, that the MSM does not scare us, that being behind in the polls does not sway our support of BARRACK OBAMA.

There are days I have my gut wrentching, and feelings of dispair. But coming here reminds me I AM NOT ALONE! WE ARE RIGHT. I HAVE LOOKED INTO THE FACE OF OUR COMPETITOR, I HAVE SHAKEN HER HAND, I HAVE HEARD HER SPEAK.

I AM NOT AFRAID. I AM AN OBAMA HOPE WARRIOR!

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Delegate Explainer

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jan 9th, 2008 at 8:21 pm EST

Also listed in: 10 groups

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/02/delegate.explainer/index.html

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Fundraising!

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jan 9th, 2008 at 8:05 pm EST

Also listed in: 10 groups

YES WE CAN ~~ HOPE LIVES!

I became involved with this campaign not knowing how much this experience would touch me so personally. I have been so taken, not only with Barack Obama and his family but the extended family I have found at each and every event I have attended and on this site.

I met my first goal of 1000 dollars with great support from others. As the days passed and the fight got harder, I decided that 1000 dollars was not enough of an effort. I see people donating 5,10,15 or more dollars regularly on this site. I thought to myself. Why not set a BIG goal and make some noise about it! So here I go.

All these politicians have many millions of dollars just "floating" around in space it seems, ready to "fall" into thier laps as needed. I dont need a politican that doesnt need us! We each can have a real say in what happens in this country if we can get this genuine and wonderful man in the White House. We all know how it happens, it is not magic. A lot of us dont like the idea that we have to "give" money, but every candidate is getting donations from all over the place in this country. Sone of them are getting MILLIONS! from low places. I want to be a big piece of the REAL PEOPLE that give for him.

I am asking you to DIG DEEP in those pockets because the real race is just starting. We had two tests and he is ready to go the distance, he is ready if we give him the funds on which he can make it to the END!

I want to hear YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN.

SO, go to my page and help me make history!

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superdelegate story

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jan 6th, 2008 at 2:28 pm EST

Also listed in: 9 groups

Superdelegates are delegates to a presidential nominating convention in the United States who are not bound by the decisions of party primaries or caucuses. Superdelegates are elected officeholders and party officials.

Superdelegates were first appointed in the 1970s, after control of the nomination process in the Democratic Party effectively moved out of the hands of party officials into the primary and caucus process. The aim was to accord some say in the process to people who had been playing roles in the party before the election year.

As of the 2008 nominating cycle, the Republican Party does not have superdelegates. It does, however, have 463 unpledged delegates, 123 of whom are Republican National Committee members.[1]

In the Democratic primary phase of the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, Howard Dean acquired an early lead in delegate counts by obtaining the support of a number of superdelegates before even the first primaries were held.

[edit] The Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention, where the Democratic presidential ticket is formally agreed upon, has 796 superdelegates. Superdelegates to the Democratic Convention include all Democratic members of the United States Congress, various additional elected officials, as well as members of the Democratic National Committee.

A candidate needs a simple majority of the combined delegate and superdelegate votes to secure the nomination. Democratic delegates from state caucuses and primaries number 3,253. This means that the total number of votes is 4,049. The total number of delegate votes needed to win the nomination is 2,025. Superdelegates account for approximately one fifth (19.7%) of all votes at the convention. Delegates chosen in the Democratic caucuses and primaries account for about four fifths (80.3%) of the Democratic convention delegates.[2]

[edit] References

This is a good one to follow, it should update regularly:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/scorecard/#D

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A caucus experience: Standing with Barack

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Jan 5th, 2008 at 3:47 pm EST

Also listed in: 10 groups

Its 10 AM. I am wandering around my house, checking and double checking my supplies for tonight. Yup, they are still in my BIG purse. NO problems. 12AM I go out to get the brownie mix for this evening, some how I let myself run out. I have my car completly covered with Obama signs, I have my shirt on, buttons on my jacket and my scarf. I am by all accounts a polictical buttetin board. I am full of nerves, but really not bad. I keep a big smile on my face everywhere I go. I am happy, I am confident.

I call my field director Million and I pick up some last minute supplies for another precinct caption. I go to drop them off in his store and only his wife is there, she says with out looking at me, oh he cant make it tonight. I start to freak a little. But I now of another great supporter in the area and tell million I will give it to her. She is not home, so I ask in town where it is she works, they say she runs her own business fixing computers out of her home, but does things at peoples homes too. I give up and decided I will catch her just before the caucus! OH MY wont she be surprised! poor thing.

I look through the stuff in the OBAMA TUBE, there are signs with UNITY and a little piece of paper with the call in numbers on it and a string attached to hang around your neck, I decide I WILL NOT WEAR this. ha ha.

I leave my house at 5 PM, stop by the other supporters house and give her the information. I tell her that I will help her when we get there. She is shocked but OK with it. Basically just hanginig up the signs and standing there to welcome supporters.

I told my people to get there at 645, Some of them needed extra time because of milking cows and work. I figured this would be a great strategy anyway. I was still praying.

I got there and set up my signs by 615 and there was a room filled with Edwards and Hillary supporters looking at me with pittiful looks. Asking me if I was ok. yeah I was ok! I smiled, no one seemed to be greating anyone, so I took over and spread the signin sheets out, helped people find thier names, gave them voter registration sheets if they needed them., still no one was there by 640. just me and my kids... Then suddenly here they came, I smiled helped them sign in and one by one stuck my stickers on them. I am not being mean here, but one Hillary supporter was staring me down so hard, but I kept smiling.

We counted the room 2 times and came up with different numbers. I decided that we should just count off, which worked well. We had 47 people. In a caucus that usually gets 1-5 particpants this was amazing! Then we seperated into prefrence groups and I was amazed at my number I had 16, Hillary 16 and Edwards 14 and Richrdson 1. The Richardson guy left. But we still had to count him as a participant. so out of 5 delegates OBAMA got 2 Hillary 2 and Edwards 1.

I cried, I was shaking and I gave every single person standing with me a hug, thinking of Auntie B and all the others on BarackObama.com that have inspired me. I thought of Barack and his wonderful family. I felt like I was a big winner. I kept my promise. I was asked to get 10 to stand up I got 16. One less phone call, one less door knock...would have made a difference. People showed up for Barack that have never ever caucused before. Out of the 16 people I had 12 NEW voters and caucus goers. I was shaking and shaking and the people that were there for me were smiling. I looked every single one of them in the eye and thanked them over and over, I told them that without them Barack would not have ever gotten close in this tiny precinct. I felt like a good friend to them. And I feel like I am.

The kids and I took down our signs. I shook the hands of the Edwards caption (it was my husbands cousin and his Aunt and Uncle were on the other side of the room) I just kept smiling! The Hillary caption came over and said, what is your name? I said Laura Hubka, he said ahhh yes you called me before. and I said, "not too much" We had you pegged as the Hillary caption about 3 months ago" and he said "oh yeah?" Yeah, so I left you alone. " He just laughed and said, you did really good. I am pretty impressed!" I think he thought that by the end of the night Hillary would be the winner. I'd like to talk to him today. ...well maybe not.

There was a little other business, I ended up getting voted in as delegate (I wanted it anyway) and then signed on for the platform committee (taking things to the county and state for the county...i.e. road work, hog confinments..ect)

We left and drove for an hour to get to the Decorah field office. I called into the Sirius channel 146 LEFT. I told them of our win and our energy. Someone called in from Des Moines saying that there is usually 100 people there, but there was 380 people there and 181 stood up for Barack 101 for Hillary and 75 for Edwards! In Decorah People were walking by, driving by honking and screaming! I parked and got in the office. I met Pete and his son from Michigan and Hugh again! We all hugged. We had the TV on and 2 computers with constant updates. WE were eating cake and talking laughing, telling our stories. It was like the blog would be if were all together on caucus or primary night! The energy was high.

We stuck around for the final numbers and all hugged Victoria for her hard work. I cried knowing they were leaving. I called Million who was in New Hampton he was all caught up in the evening and could not talk long.

I havent seen them since. I miss them already.

I am ready to be a delegate! Especially at the national convention. I have to talk to get my way to that, but I think I have the words! Especially if Barack is the nominee!

I Love you all!!

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I had to repost this from the blog. A "snapshot" from Iowa

By Laura Hubka ~From Iowa Where It Started and Will Continue~~~ - Dec 20th, 2007 at 10:45 am EST

Also listed in: 9 groups

I repost this from the blog. Great impression of some Iowa people and how they work.

So I’ve had a few glasses of wine so forgive me if I’m a little less diplomatic and circumspect than usual. I am naturally a fairly reserved person, though you might not know it since I am so FIRED UP! And Des Moines is such a small town. This really came home to me at the JJ, when the state chair came out and I thought, wow, his wife looks a lot like my son’s preschool teacher. And then I put the last name with her last name, and sure enough, it’s Mrs Brennan! Anyway, I was just at my husband’s organization’s holiday party. His organization focuses on a very progressive cause, so the sample might be a bit skewed. And being a spouse, I didn’t necessarily want to make my politics the center of the evening. I loved Aunt Becky’s video welcome, where she talks about how she Barack-ifies Jehovah’s Witnesses, wrong numbers, et al. I know others of you do the same, and I am so grateful to you for it. But that isn’t me. Once somebody makes a move, then I am all in, but generally speaking I am a bit more reserved. But I didn’t have to make the first move. I had given a fair number of them tickets to the Obama-Oprah rally. And they were eager to tell me not just how grateful they were to have gone, but how much it had affected them, how Obama had touched them, how they had realized the power of possibility, how FIRED UP they were by him. I had faith this would happen. I got on board as soon as I heard him speak, back in 2003. Many of you have gotten on board after hearing him speak. It isn’t just what he says, it’s the way he says it, and the fact that he has honored his words with action throughout his whole life. You aren’t just impressed, you’re inspired, and you want to get involved. Not just by caucusing for him, although that’s huge enough. You want to tell everyone you know about him, to give them the opportunity to believe and to act, too. And this happened with pretty much everyone I had given tickets to. (more to come, sorry this is so long) Re: Holiday party | Report to Admin Reply By IA for Obama Today at 1:44 am EST There was one holdout, a woman for whom I have all the respect in the world. She is exceptionally intelligent, and her field is political science. She is very involved with the caucus, in a non-partisan way. She, however, is personally for Edwards. This isn’t something she discusses publicly, due to the nature of her position. And it isn’t something she talks about much at work, given office politics. But I really like and respect her as a person. And I have to say, I am genuinely puzzled by Edwards support. And, as I said, I had a few glasses of wine. So I started to ask her questions about why she’s for JE and not BHO. This is a woman who could argue circles around pretty much anyone, but her arguments completely fell apart. First she said that she hasn’t heard anything substantial from BHO. I challenged her on his foreign policy forum from yesterday, his call to serve, and other examples. She basically said she didn’t know enough about them (and she knows more than 99.9% of the populace about everything that has to do with the caucus), or that there wasn’t anything terribly innovative about them. Trust me, I challenged her on that too, and she couldn’t really respond. Then she said that Edwards’ health care proposal was superior. Oh, how I took her to task for that, pointing out just a few of the problems with mandates and why BHO’s was not only more responsive to the needs of the people but was far more likely to get enacted. She agreed that that might be true, but then copped out by saying that there really wasn’t much difference between any of the democratic proposals. Then we discussed the Iraq war. She said BHO’s objection to the war didn’t really count because he wasn’t a US Senator at the time, and that senators need to honor the wishes of their constituents. I pointed out that JE did more than merely ride the tide (which would’ve been bad enough) but he was a co-sponsor of the resolution. She said that was due to public sentiment. I said that BHO spoke out forcefully and eloquently in the face of such public sentiment, and that that clearly pointed to sound judgment, solid understanding and a willingness to speak the truth when it was unpopular. (more to come) Re: Holiday party | Report to Admin Reply By IA for Obama Today at 1:47 am EST She again tried to dismiss it as irrelevant as he was not in a position to actually vote on the war. She said Barack has not shown how he would lead on any of the issues. I pointed to a number of laws and reforms he has helped enact as an IL Sen and as US Sen, such as health care, judicial issues, ethics, education, providing specific examples of how this affected his constituents. She copped out by saying that since I was from IL I had followed his career for much longer. After I had taken her to task for pretty much everything (in a reasonably polite, diplomatic way, as she is my husband’s co-worker and someone I respect), I challenged her on something that has long bothered me about Edwards, something extremely obvious, the huge gap between his rhetoric and his record. I have raised this issue in pro-Edwards forums before, and basically gotten no response. She responded that it was an unfair characterization, as he has fought consistently for health care reform and education reform, among other things. I pointed out that No Child Left Behind was yet another of his mistakes that he has apologized for, then asked for other specific examples of his reforms, but she provided none. As it was clear I think to both of us that she really wasn’t on solid ground as to why she supports JE and not BHO, I asked what was the single most important issue to her. She said electability, and that she couldn’t support someone who was not willing to go negative because they could not win. This is not a nasty person. But it is someone who is too immersed in politics as usual to appreciate politics as it can be, as it should be, as it is with Barack Obama. This person is probably not indicative of the vast majority of Iowans. But at the end of the discussion I had the feeling that she is probably fairly indicative of a lot of Edwards voters. Basically, he won her vote in 2004 and she just loves what he has to say. She is so jaded by politics as it has been that she is not bothered by what I see as blatant hypocrisy, the gap between Edwards’ record and his current rhetoric. (more) Re: Holiday party | Report to Admin Reply By IA for Obama Today at 1:50 am EST Realizing this, I excused myself from the conversation but others kept it up, even those whom I had not given O-O-O tickets to. The support Edwards already has might be his to keep, but other Iowans aren’t buying it. A couple of other things. The only way HRC was spoken of was as an agent of negativity, someone trying to claw a victory out of the corpses of her fellow Democrats, and how nasty and un-American that was. And I wasn’t even the one saying that! Also, I raised the issue of whether IA would be or should be first in the future. On the pro side, I am impressed by how seriously Iowans take the process, how thoroughly they vet the candidates before making up their minds, how solid their priorities are, and how genuinely decent and solid Iowans are, how less prone to negativity and partisanship they are (as I’ve said, I moved here from Chicago, and I’ve also lived in CA, CT, WY and UT). But on the con side, I think other states just might take it as seriously if they went first, as there is no inherent superiority in Iowans, and I find it somewhat disingenuous to argue that Iowans really take it all that seriously if only 6% of them caucus (though the numbers may well be higher this time around, though the highest number suggested by the gathering was 12%). The group, the vast majority of them lifelong Iowans, felt that Iowa should go first, basically because Iowa has handled the responsibility well, and was prepared to do so again. They said that pretty much come January 4 it would all be about 2012, to which I replied that we can then start planning Barack’s re-election. They laughed, but I told them I am so there, baby! Sorry for rambling on a bit (a lot!), but I thought that others might appreciate this snapshot from Iowa, especially as so many posters keep asking for updates from Iowa. This maybe should be filed under too much information, but I think it is useful for gauging the mood here, HRC has her supporters, but I hear from them less and less. Edwards has some pretty sincere commitment, but he’s not really winning over new supporters. Barack, however, inspires peoples imaginations and their confidence.

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We Need Volunteers!

By Carissa - Dec 9th, 2007 at 8:39 pm EST

Also listed in: NE Iowa for Obama

Hi everyone. I know you are all busy getting ready for the holidays, but we are gaining momentum and picking up speed in the race. We need your help, whether it be donating 5 minutes of your time to canvass, make phone calls, hosting house parties or caucusing. Get in touch with your local field office and lets GET FIRED UP AND READY TO GO!!!!!! Obama08!

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I am glad they are putting a stop to this

By Carissa - Dec 9th, 2007 at 8:33 pm EST

Also listed in: NE Iowa for Obama

I thought this was an interesting article I read tonight and decided to share. Thank God this person was asked to leave.

Clinton volunteer asked to resign

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 8 minutes ago

DES MOINES, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign on Sunday requested the resignation of a second Iowa volunteer coordinator who forwarded a hoax e-mail saying Barack Obama is a Muslim possibly intent on destroying the United States.

Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ and says he has never been a Muslim, but false rumors attempting to tie him to Islamic jihadists are circulating on the Internet.

"Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential Candidacy," read the e-mail. "Please forward to everyone you know. The Muslims have said they Plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at The highest level."

The Clinton campaign has decried the rumors as offensive and outrageous, and last week forced volunteer Jones County coordinator Judy Rose to resign after learning that she forwarded a such an e-mail on Nov. 21. But it turns out Rose wasn't the only one.

Linda Olson, a volunteer coordinator in Iowa County, had forwarded a similar version on Oct. 5, without comment, to 11 people. One of the recipients was Ben Young, a regional field director for Democrat Chris Dodd's campaign, who provided a copy to The Associated Press on Sunday.

The Clinton campaign responded by asking for Olson's resignation.

"We've made our position on this crystal clear," said Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee. "Our campaign does not tolerate this kind of activity or campaigning. As soon as it came to our attention, we asked this individual to step down."

Asked to explain why two people connected to the campaign would have forwarded similar e-mails and if the campaign was taking steps to find out if it's more widespread, Elleithee replied, "We communicated to all of our paid staff and volunteer leadership that the senator and the campaign have a zero tolerance policy for this type of activity."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded, "Iowans know garbage when they see it and it has no place in this race." Burton said Obama will focus on the debate over issues like health care, education and getting out of Iraq.

Rose has said she did not agree with the e-mail but was sending it to other area Democrats to show them how dirty politics was getting. Olson did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects dateline to Des Moines, Iowa)

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