I'm posting an email which grew out of a discussion Rik Flynn and I had on one of the many drives home from PA about how we can continue to work for change in our own community. Rik was a Vista volunteer back in the day and we're hoping President-elect Obama is introducing a similar project on change.gov with America Serves (see below). We'd love your ideas & suggestions.
Change.gov excerpt:
The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
Our thoughts:
One, "first blush" thought that might be to include in the conversation(s) is how to tap into existing, well-functioning organizations (I'm thinking of a simile of Barack's notion with the federal budget, working with it, with a scalpel rather than an axe) such as United Way of Ulster County. I had a modest bit of dealings with it and Stacey Rein (head of United Way, Ulster County) when I was a School to Work Coordinator with BOCES. To my knowledge United Way does a great, very cost-efficient job of raising money for various non-profit organizations. But I don't know that there is a parallel effort for identifying and soliciting volunteers needed for these organizations. Perhaps one of the things to explore is some kind of coordinated networking with such an organization that would put the "human capitol", a volunteer base, into the mix along with the monetary channeling and networking? Perhaps maintaining a database of needs correlated with identified volunteers and their availability including occasional as well as more scheduled, routine efforts. Sorta like a "Red Cross" that dealt with non-profit organizations in a non-crisis mode? Maybe also bringing in leading politicos and administrators in such an effort, e.g. the new County Administrator; the U.C. Legislature to promote and work with other organizations?
...
I'm so glad to hear many of you express interest in continuing to work for change, because as President-Elect Obama makes clear on his new website, change.gov, he still needs our help. I'm hoping we can use this forum to begin a discussion of how we can further effect change in our own community and beyond. One idea I'd like to suggest is an UlsterCorps, sort of a local PeaceCorps, to facilitate community service here in Ulster County. I know many of you already volunteer your time regularly, and I would love you suggestions on specific projects and programs to help out with, and how we can motivate others to get & stay involved. Perhaps we could coordinate Service Saturdays working with different organizations each week, or a Thanksgiving Day Drive for Change/ Meals on Wheels to spread the joy & gratitude we are all feeling??
If you plan to be in PA on Election Day, stop by the Board of Elections at 284 Wall Street, Kingston this week 9am-5pm, Thursday 9am-7pm, or Saturday 9am to noon to fill out an Application in person & pick up your Absentee Ballot! You can download the application here but the deadline for mailing it in has past so it must be hand delivered by Monday Nov 3rd: http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/elections/absenteeapp.pdf
Rally flyer:
http://www.ucdw.org/ucdw_pdfs/HV_Rally.pdf
Hudson Valley MOBILE RALLY Sunday, November 2
RALLY SCHEDULE: Kingston 11am, Dietz Stadium New Paltz Noon, Peace Park Ellenville 1:45pm, Liberty Square Woodstock 3pm, Village Green Party at the Boiceville Inn 4pm SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Maurice Hinchey, Kevin Cahill, Mike Hein, Elliot Auerbach & Hudson Valley for Obama Volunteers
Flyer:
More Information: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gshxfx
Canvassing for Obama: A day in Wilkes-Barre, PA
By Susan Hamovitch
The sky was still dark when Al – my husband – and I pulled up to the Park and Ride in Kingston to sprint for a Trailways bus that had been chartered for our trip. We were the last to pile on to this nearly full bus, headed for Wilkes-Barre, a once thriving coal mining city in Northern Pennsylvania, now a typical post-industrial, not so thriving town.
We were maybe 50 strong, all psyched about canvassing in behalf of Obama. By canvassing we mean, of course, trying to persuade dozens of strangers in Wilkes-Barre of the importance of voting for Obama. It’s chutzpah to do this I thought, and so out of character for me, I thought, but we were a busload of chutzpah, prepped for knocking on dozens of strangers’ doors that gray and damp day to persuade, listen, engage our neighbors. What was it that emboldened us to do this? It was our fervent enthusiastic support for Obama, of course. But what it also signified was that we felt some kinship with our “fellow Americans” (a phrase I realize that’s been co-opted by the Republican campaign) but here it was , proof that we were all neighbors, able to tap on each others’ doors and say, ‘hey, I live in the next door state, and I gotto talk to you. I’m in trouble! And I think you’re in trouble too!’
We were giddy, as the bus chugged through the breaking dawn, down into a part of the country I imagine none of us had ever been, trading polling statistics as though we were MSNBC talk show hosts, finding out about each other. We all silently took note of our demographics. We were among the mostly white, women over 40 – 50ish Obama supporters the polls are so fond of reporting. But there were some exceptions -- two young African American woman, a 40ish black man. A young, sleepy kid -- I imagine a volunteer from the local college. We had two guides – inspiring men who were veterans of grassroots organizing – assigned to orient us to our upcoming day. As expected, they handed out sheets of campaign literature, divided by topic: The economy taking up most of them, healthcare a distant second. But their advice caused me to glance only briefly at all the talking points, and then stash them in my tote. Not that I don’t think that Obama’s platforms are vital to the understanding of this campaign. Increasing taxes on the wealthiest to pay for some of the programs, particularly health insurance, needed desparately by those of us who are middle class seems to me like pure, unarguable logic. But what Rick told us seemed even more key to the task we’d assumed for ourselves. Ultimately (and I paraphrase wildly) Rick said, you are trying to convey to your undecided voter that your candidate is more worthy of being president. He is more trustworthy in the largest sense. That’s what you ultimately want them to feel, because that’s how people vote.
Ahh – it’s about selling character more than ideas. By the end of our assigned travels up and down the pretty, ramshackle streets of this struggling town, I had learned that Rick couldn’t have been more right.
Some of the conversations: One took place on a porch I hadn’t wanted to climb onto. It was littered with stuff – butt-filled ashtrays, dishes, empty bottles – but Beth was the name on my list of “those to contact,” so I climbed the steps, ushered by her husband and their four month old baby. When Beth emerged from the house, my reservations melted. She couldn’t have been much older than 20, sweet face, dark hair in a tousled mass, indicating I had probably gotten her out of bed. “Did she know who she would be voting for?” I asked, as instructed, and was astonished to learn that she didn’t. We read about “undecideds,” but don’t really believe they exist. The choice seems too stark. But Beth smiled softly while I launched into a litany of Obama’s economic proposals, interrupting at one point to tell me their own economic woes. Her husband was a painter, she said, who had recently lost his $25/hour job and was forced to take another, paying just slightly above the minimum wage. We let a moment pass for us both to be weighed down by this impossible reality. She kindly let me go on about Obama’s promise of millions of new jobs, the promise to keep jobs from flying overseas. She seemed pleased to hear these things, but sort of the way you’re pleased to hear that someone in the news has recovered from a potentially fatal disease. It’s nice, but it’s an irrelevant detail in the flotsam of news and information. But when I mentioned that Obama had plans to bring Hillary Clinton onto his health care team, she brightened, and for the first time, smiled warmly. I suddenly understood Beth’s indecision. She, perhaps like many of the folks we were encountering here, had been a Hillary supporter! (full disclosure. I had been too.) And I may have found the one line that would have her head to the polls next week and pull the lever for Obama.
Another encounter held the same sense of the importance of talking one-on-one. Al was speaking with an older woman. She too was undecided. But, she said, she was so impressed by one thing. Yes? When Obama took time off from his campaign to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii. (full disclosure. Al was a dutiful son, visiting his mother every week, kosher chicken in hand) Al could reassure her that, yes, this was surely an indication of Obama’s innate compassion.
Then there was the young African American who closed the door behind him as he came onto the porch. I wanna ask you something, he said, hesitating. He paused a long time, then asked quietly, I wonder – can I register to vote? To the dismay of both of us, the deadline for registration had passed two weeks earlier. I was confused for a moment -- he had told me before coming out onto the porch that his whole family was for Obama. Hen then confided: “I have a record.” I didn’t think it was necessary to follow our instructions and tell him I’d get back on the point of who among those who’d been convicted of a crime could still register in Pennsylvania. So I just said that it was definitely too late for this election, and added that he could help out with the campaign in some other eway way – perhaps by helping his parents and grandparents get to the polls and most importantly telling his other friends and neighbors.
Standing on this young man’s porch may have been the moment of epiphany for me about the fundamental necessity for this country of electing Barack Obama. The unspoken issue in this campaign is not Obama’s race – but the plight of black men in our inner cities. The stats are horrible, and don’t seem to be improving. Roughly 25% winding up doing some kind of time. Under-educated, under-employed, or employed in the drug trade, higher disease and mortality rates…the list is endless and shameful. Obama doesn’t mention anything on this list, and we all know why he can’t. It would make him unelectable. But the issues are there – the elephant in the living room. So, standing on this small porch in Wilkes-Barre, I came to understand that solely by his running, and conveying that aura of calm and profound seriousness, and yes, compassion, Obama had given this individual, who seemed to me so unsure, so without a real mooring, like so many young African American men in this country, something positive he could identify with. A set of problems we have not been really able to figure out how to affect may be dented by Obama’s election, and that in my book, and millions of other I’m sure, would be close to miraculous.
We wound our way among a half dozen streets, contacting between us more than 50 people directly, leaving literature at another 50 homes where no one was home. The vast majority were Obama supporters, and with little else to convey we were able to leave them some crucial information in the form a handsomely designed outsized post card. The front proclaimed “You Have the Right to Vote” in bold red and blue type, while the back offered polling information, and most importantly phone numbers to call if “anyone tries to prevent you from voting, or if you have any questions about your rights.”
We had traveled far, given up a day, endured nasty, rainy weather, and in the process, we believe we added two votes for Obama, But aside from this small accomplishment, we established something far more intangible – I believe for all of us -- about being American, and what our citizenship is really about. We really are all in it together. And we can knock on our neighbor’s door in an emergency.
October 22, 2008
To the Editor:
Re: One Person’s Vote
In less than two weeks I will exercise my privilege to vote for my government’s representatives.
I will vote for Barack Obama, because he is the only presidential candidate I find truthful, sincere, and a person who is looking to our nation’s future, a future which requires remediation of many problems we are currently facing. Obama is optimistic we can fix this mess and has a visible wealth of extraordinary experts giving him guidance in all areas of conflict. I am drawn to that stance like a person dieing of thirst to a glass of water. Mr. McCain has presented his case of lackluster experience and an amazing array of negativity and desperation to be elected regardless of his offering real, comprehensive plans that would address our current problems. His only partner in his vision is an inexperienced Governor from a state of 600,000 people, who also seems to enjoy spreading negativity and falsehoods in an attempt to garner favor from an ill-advised following.
I will also vote for Maurice Hinchey, a true “maverick” who was one of several in the Congress who voted against an Iraqi war with no reason that has cost us trillions of dollars to date. He also happens to be an advocate for any positive growth for our community. I found Mr. Phillip’s statements published on his website juvenile and sophomoric, with no real job experience to weather the financial hardships our area will face over the next 5-10 years. Phillip’s serving as a congressional aide to a senator in New Jersey for three years, while he was also tutoring children, is not the real, accountable background I need in my congressman.
I will also vote for Mike Hein as county administrator because he is the most experienced person for the job having been Ulster County Administrator.
I will also vote for Elliott Auerbach because his tenured history of job performance in Ellenville speaks volumes towards appropriate government.
The stock market will take 5-10 years to regain the positioning that we enjoyed during and on the tailend of the Clinton era. Bush and his cabinet of perceived experts have allowed for that ruin and waste and we are now all looking at IRA and 401K statements that have lost at least 40% of our savings (if we were brave enough to look).
I want leaders in the White House and in my community that have my interests as their “base” not what Mr. Bush said: "This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores," quipped the GOP standard-bearer. Some people call you the elites; I call you my base."
Kris S
From Dan Torres in New Paltz:
It is seven o’clock on a chilly Saturday morning at SUNY New Paltz. There are about twenty college students, and one high school stowaway getting ready to partake in a day that is bigger then them. They have all gladly given up a Saturday to go canvass for Barack Obama. Now they eagerly await a bus to take them to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. But why Wilkes-Barre? Well it is a key county in a state that is still up for grabs during this Presidential election, and a state that is keen for the Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama.
The bus came two hours late, but every student was more then willing to wait. It arrived on campus with students from Marist, Vassar, and a few other colleges scattered in. Soon the students got to know each other as they paired up to go door to door upon arrival. When we landed in Wilkes-Barre we were greeted by volunteers who gave us the “run down” of what we would be doing. They also reminded us that “without Pennsylvania Barack cannot win” this may have been seen as a hyperbole statement but its message was not lost on the students. We would simply be going door to door in a poorer community and ask undecided voters who they are leaning towards, and possibly hand out literature. We were advised not to go into any house or take any food or water from people. This of course is for safety reasons. Lastly we were told “don’t forget this is a gun loving community.”
I then started on a five hour walking adventure with my canvassing partner Adrian Ponce, a SUNY Binghamton student studying biology. “I really just think Barack is a stand up character…I have a lot of respect for McCain but our country really needs change, and I know Obama can provide that” said Adrian. We were handed a map and a list of a few hundred people. We met a wide variety of people going house to house. Adrian having duel citizenship with Mexico and the United States was even able to speak with Spanish speaking voters as well. Some houses we were scheduled to go to were boarded up with a large yellow bank notices on the front door that soon became too familiar. I suppose it made a lot of sense we were handing out booklets on Barack’s stance on the Economy. We were also handing out invitations to an Obama rally in Scranton, with guests Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential choice Senator Joe Biden a Scranton native.
Many people were very warm and receptive to our presence. Quite a few houses even proudly had Obama-Biden signs in there yard as well. But it wasn’t lost on me how quiet the neighborhood was. For a Saturday I saw almost no children playing and only a few cars driving by. There were certainly a few McCain signs, but as I jokingly said maybe they were just Halloween decorations. I did encounter one man who seemed less then willing to talk about the election. He wore a baseball cap and appeared to be in his late twenties and said “I don’t care if he is black or white as long as he fixes this damn country” in an election where everything that is said is so well scripted, it was almost refreshing to hear a real uncensored thought by a concerned American. It didn’t go unnoticed by me or Adrian how the community of Wilkes-Barre certainly struggles economically. To me it was also an example of the times we live in, people are really just trying to make ends meat. At times I felt
almost guilty coming from the bubble known as New Paltz, I can go to sleep knowing that I won’t have to pack my bags because the bank is coming, but I wonder if these people can.
We ended the day calling more undecided voters. You could hear the quiver of concern, and the genuine excitement in the many people’s voices I spoke to. At the end of our day we received a “good job, and come back soon” from a member at the Wilkes-Barre, Obama Headquarters. As we got on the bus for what was to be a two hour plus drive home after five hours going door to door, and another two hours making phone calls. I realized that for the first time in my life I had just seen America.
Camp Obama Express
We are having training for all those that are canvassing in PA or phone banking to PA by an Obama Campaign Representative. No conribution needed.Camp Obama Training: For Canvassing in PA Date and Time:October 7th (Tuesday night) 5pm to 7pmLocation:Morton Memorial Library and Community HouseRhinecliff NYLibrary website:http://morton.rhinecliff.lib.ny.us/rsvp for training to m.whaley@verizon.net
Debate Parties Tuesday, October 7th:
New Paltz, NY - Please join us Tuesday October 7th at the Gilded Otter in New Paltz, NY for a Presidential Debate Watch Party, 8-11pm (debate begins at 9pm). Happy Hour prices on bar drinks, beer & wine. Learn how you can get involved in this historic Campaign for Change! Hosted by MariAnn & Jonathan Sennett, New Paltz & Vicinity for Obama and Hudson Valley for Obama.
Rhinecliff, NY -$25 at the Rhinecliff Hotel. Bountiful hor d'oeuvres and cash bar. Limited to first 80 people. rsvp for debate party to buckley@buckleypell.com
Saugerties, NY - Come to Saugerties Tuesday night to watch Barack clean McCain's clock.Where: Stella's Station, Partition Street, Saugerties.What: Free Buffet( wings, poppers, fries, calamari), other food items available for sale. Cash Bar. 5 TVs, Surround sound, High powered heaters if needed, wonderful friends. This is not a fund raiser! This is a party for everyone supporting Obama and the Democratic ticket in Ulster County and the United States.RSVP to erinralph so I can give the cook(Victor) an idea about food requirements. The bartender(Josh) will have everything you want!
Pennsylvania is a battle ground state in the general election and the campaign needs as many volunteers as possible to get out the vote. We must win PA.
We need people on the ground in Pennsylvania every day, so please commit to any and all days that you can!
Once you arrive in Pennsylvania our field staff will train you and provide you with the materials you need to register voters, canvass door-to-door, and make important phone calls to voters.
Your efforts will truly make a difference in this election.
Rhinebeck for Obama and Hudson Valley for Obama are sponsoring buses to PA every Saturday from Oct 11th through the election. The schedule is as follows:
Oct 11th - Students for Obama, Bard & SUNY New Paltz
Oct 18th - Rhinebeck, Poughkeepsie, Beacon
Oct 25th - Kingston & New Paltz
Nov 1st - Poughkeepsie & New Paltz
Traveling from Ulster County? Please contact Nan at nan3000@yahoo.com, 845-331-7369
Traveling from Dutchess County? Please contact Melanie at m.whaley@verizon.net, 845 677-2201
For travel to PA to reach out to Latino Voters contact: Angela Valles at anvalles01@aol.com, 845 797-9810
Thanks to everyone who came out for the Debate Watch Parties last Friday! Please join us again this Thursday for the VP Debate. There will be a party in New Paltz at the Gilded Otter -
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs72jj
as well as a screening at Bard College at the Campus Center. Prior to the Bard screening is our Education to Action Forum - learn more about the issues, how to get involved in the campaign, and buses from campus, New Paltz, & Rhinebeck to PA!!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/organizing/gpgvss
Education to Action Forum on Responsible Energy Policy at Bard College 6-8pm, Thu., Oct. 2, Multipurpose Room at the Bard College Bertelsmann Campus Center. Join the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Professors Gautam Sethi and Kristin Scheible and fellow Barack supporters in an interactive forum on responsible energy policy and what Sen. Obama can do as president on this critical issue. The Bard Center for Environmental Policy will lead a roundtable discussion of initiatives to reverse the environmental crisis and chart a path toward green technology, sustainability, and economic vitality. We'll break out into a brief training afterward for Voter Registration & Outreach Team Leaders as we launch the Bard campaign for Barack into these last critical weeks before the election. This event is sponsored by Hudson Valley for Obama and the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. Following the event there will be a live screening of the Vice Presidential debate. For more information call Paul Collins at 845-758-7856.
More info: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/organizing/gpgvss
AP reports that McCain will attend tonight's debate. Hope to see you all tonight in Rosendale!!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpgkjc
Join us at 7pm Fri., Sep. 26th for an exclusive showing of "Full Battle Rattle", a film about life inside the US Army's Iraq simulation in California's Mojave Desert. A Q&A session with award-winning director Tony Gerber and Presidential Debate Watch Party will follow. The Debate Watch will be across the street at the Bywater Bistro, 419 Main St, 9pm. Please bring items for care packages for soldiers that we will be assembling for shipment to our servicemembers in Iraq. $20 admission. Hosted by Hudson Valley for Obama and the Marbletown Democratic Committee. For more info, call 687-7374 or email smgnyc@yahoo.com. Suggested Care Package contents: a personalized message of support from the you, an AT&T prepaid international phone card, snacks/candy, playing cards, reading material, shampoo/conditioner, tooth paste/tooth brush, sunscreen, hand sanitizer
Beth
rsvp: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpgkjc
flyer: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=F.91a16ea4-9de3-4b3f-af58-3ee1fa590306
review: ”Full Battle Rattle,” a new documentary by Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss, gives a remarkably thorough and detailed account of the difficult conditions facing American soldiers in Iraq. The filmmakers follow an Army battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Robert McLaughlin as it tries to bring a semblance of order and stability to a fractious Iraqi town menaced by violence. The soldiers must adjudicate disputes between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, prop up the local authorities and fight off insurgents, who are hidden in plain sight in the middle of town and carry out roadside bomb and rocket attacks at the worst possible moments. -- A. O. Scott, The New York Times
Deputy Field Organizer training this weekend in the Hudson ValleyCommit to moving to a swing state for the next five weeks--there will be a training in the Hudson Valley area (location to be determined) this weekend, Sep. 20th-21st. Goal is to get 120 people to come to the Hudson Valley Camp Obama and relocate to PA. Campaign can provide housing and food but not transportation.
The NY Field team will be conducting Camp Obama Hudson Valley trainings this weekend. As part of our Camp Obama training, we place time in our schedule to get a phone call from a regional field director/field organizer in PA to do a live conference call with our campers on site to walk through a “day-in-the-life” of an Obama field organizer in a battleground state. Location:Indian Rock Shopping Center128 Route 59Suffern NY 10901 www.loopnet.com/property/15007741/1-28-Route-59/Saturday and Sunday from 9am – 3/4pm.
Breakfast will be provided both mornings. We are looking first and foremost for those ready to be deployed for five weeks to a battleground state, preferably Pennsylvania. We will also take those who are ready to go out for four weekends. If you are not sure about someone’s eligibility definitely just pass them on
Contact: Moira Kelley, 917-273-2837, mkelley@barackobama.com
