Together, we the people see a tidal wave of positive press coverage for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama…the historic possibility of the first black president…the derailing of the Clinton inevitability train…Presidential Candidate Barack Obama`s phenomenal ability to bring new people into the Democratic fold…the huge national momentum. It is remarkable to think that someone who addressed the 2004 Democratic convention as a state senator is now likely to be doing so as the party’s presidential nominee in 2008 www.barackobama.com . Together we are one great nation!
There are some folks who are going to buy the viral smears, and the negative soundbites, and the campaign can't afford to ignore them. As a member of the "Obama Rapid Response" group my responses, and those of the group, include both reporting and countering the alleged facts before they grow into problems, but we can also get beyond the allegations by proactively presenting the positives. Sure, the email(s) will still circulate and surface. Such tactics may even help opponents identify a few supporters of their own who resonate with the style and/or the substance. There is, nonetheless, a wealth of interesting, compelling, real information that's a whole lot more effective in expanding the understanding of voters, who are largely aware of the down-low tactics which visible politicians must endure.
Here's an entry at DIGG.COM, for instance, that points at an article from February 2007 demonstrating Senator Obama's non-partisan diplomacy in action dealing with John McCain, who had just issued a highly confrontational, critical assessment of the "Freshman Senator." Bringing documented cases of the candidate's exemplary actions to light helps build a context resilient enough to withstand the character assaults that outrageous tacticians, for better or worse, are bound and determined to launch.
Senator Barack Obama eyed the crowd on Wednesday at a rally at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City.
OMAHA, NE – Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) today endorsed Barack Obama www.barackobama.com for President, citing Obama's ability to bridge the partisan divide and to carry Democratic candidates across the country to victory in 2008. "Those of us on both sides of the aisle who have made it our purpose to set aside partisanship to address some of the important issues of the day want a president that will join the effort, not foil it. Barack Obama, to me, represents the best hope for our own political reconciliation and a future where the cogs of government are working smoothly for progress instead of being gummed up by partisanship," said Senator Nelson. "Barack Obama will be the strongest candidate in the heartland, because he puts solutions and consensus fist and he inspires great crossover appeal among Republicans and independents." "Senator Nelson represents how Washington should work – he reaches across the aisle to make progress where there is common ground," said Senator Obama. "Senator Nelson understands that Americans in the heartland do not believe the country is divided into red states and blue states, they are ready to unite around a common purpose to bring the change we so desperately need. As a Governor and a Senator, Ben Nelson led the fight to bridge the divide between urban and rural communities, to expand health care for children, to boost the production of renewable fuels, and to strengthen our military. Independent-minded leaders across the country are joining my campaign because they know we'll need to unite Americans of all ideologies and from all walks of life to bring change we can believe in." Ben Nelson, serving in his second term in the U.S. Senate, also served as the two-term Governor of Nebraska. As Governor, Nelson expanded health care for children, produced balanced budgets, cut taxes for the middle class, expanded ethanol production, and launched a "One Nebraska" initiative to combat disparities between urban and rural communities. As Nebraska's Senator, Nelson has been a consensus builder who has worked to strengthen our homeland security, keep our promise to our veterans, and to support our agricultural economy.
Nelson, McCaskill Backing Obama
By ANNA JO BRATTON and SAM HANANEL – 13 hours ago
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama www.barackobama.com has won the endorsement of two fellow Democratic senators from the heartland — Ben Nelson, a popular moderate in largely Republican Nebraska and Claire McCaskill from Missouri, historically a bellwether in presidential contests.
Nelson said Saturday he believes Obama has ability to bridge the partisan divide and to carry Democratic candidates across the country to victory in 2008. Nelson, pledging his support for his Illinois colleague, said Obama has "the greatest potential to ending the bitterness and poisonous atmosphere in Washington."
McCaskill plans to announce her support for the Illinois senator Sunday, according to an Obama aide and a McCaskill staffer who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage the announcement.
Her endorsement is expected to be a major boost for Obama in Missouri, one of nearly two dozen states holding primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5, and could help Obama woo female voters in his race against New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination.
The backing from Nelson and McCaskill caps a slew of big-name endorsements for Obama over the past week, including former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.
McCaskill has praised Obama often and was widely believed to favor the Illinois senator over Clinton. But the Senate freshman had resisted openly supporting a candidate until now, saying she wanted to preserve working relationships with Senate colleagues.
She said last week that she identifies with the desire for change that Obama supporters have reported to pollsters.
Nelson said Obama's victory speech after winning Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses was an effort to reach out to Democrats, independents and "enlightened Republicans," and that Obama's campaign epitomizes what Nelson has tried to do in Washington.
Obama is the "prototype of what we need today," said Nelson, who served two terms as governor.
Nebraska Democrats will choose a presidential candidate Feb. 9.
Nelson often votes with his GOP colleagues, and in 2005 won praise from President Bush, who called Nelson "a man with whom I can work."
Republicans hold all statewide offices in Nebraska except Nelson's seat, and enjoy a heavy majority among voters.
Anna Jo Bratton reported from Omaha, Neb., Sam Hananel from Washington.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/sarahramey/CjPd
Arizona and California -- two crucial Feb. 5th voting states -- began airing two ads for Barack Obama today.
You can watch the ad "Mother" currently airing in Arizona here:
And here's the ad, "Quiet" which is currently on the air in California:
For more happening in these Feb. 5th voting states, visit AZ.BarackObama.com and CA.BarackObama.com.
"You know, a few weeks ago no one imagined that we'd have accomplished what we did here tonight in New Hampshire," he told supporters. "For most of this campaign, we were far behind. We always knew our climb would be steep.
"But, in record numbers, you came out and you spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes you made it clear that at this moment in this election there is something happening in America."
He congratulated Hillary Rodham Clinton on a hard-fought victory and asked the crowd to give her a round of applause.
Four years ago, when ballots were cast in New Hampshire's presidential primary, hardly anyone in the United States knew the name Barack Obama. This time, bidding to become the first black president, he was in the thick of the fight with the most famous name in Democratic politics.
Obama had hoped that a victory in Iowa would create a bandwagon that would take him through the nomination. But Tuesday night's results caught his campaign off guard.
It was hard to tell that from the cheers that went up when he and his wife, Michelle, walked into the room to loud chants of "Obama, Obama."
They approached the platform holding hands. Both applauded and waved to the crowd, then hugged and kissed briefly.
"We know the battle ahead may be long. But always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change," Obama said.
"I am still fired up and ready to go," he said.
Building on Iowa's momentum, Obama had the feel of a winner in the days leading up to New Hampshire's primary. People lined up for blocks in towns across the state to hear him speak. Those who attended often talked about the chance to see history being made.
"I want to tell my grandkids about how I saw this campaign," said 22-year-old Emily Webster, among those at a rally at Dartmouth College on Thursday.
The excitement couldn't overcome Clinton's organization, and she revived talk of another Clinton presidency with her victory on Tuesday night. The New York senator and her husband worked to keep Obama's train from rolling to the nomination; she got choked up talking about the choice facing voters, and former President Clinton sniffed that his campaign was a "fairy tale."
Obama's life could be described that way. It was not without hardships _ his father left the family when he was 2 years old to return to his native Kenya, and Obama struggled as a fatherless black child growing up in Hawaii.
"If you think about it, the odds of me being here standing before you as a presidential candidate are very slim," Obama often tells voters. "I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents, and we weren't born into money or privilege. What they gave me was love and an education and hope."
He got an Ivy League education and eventually a career in politics _ but he never had a serious Republican opponent.
Obama stopped by a polling site in Manchester on Tuesday, shaking hands with his supporters and those holding signs for other candidates. Three burly supporters of John Edwards were beaming as they shook the front-runner's hand and wished him luck. Obama correctly calculated they were from the Steelworkers union that endorsed Edwards four months ago.
"See you in the general," Obama said, hoping they would eventually be with him.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQFeature/CGTN
http://www.obamacampaigner.com/2008/01/08/presidential-candidate-barack-obama-together-we-are-one-great-nation/
CHECK OUT THIS NEW MINNESOTA OBAMA SUPPORT PAGE
http://www.myspace.com/obamamn08
LETS GET FIRED UP!!!
Okay, it's only tiny Dixville Notch, N.H., the town that votes at midnight on primary morning, in order to call itself "first in the nation" to vote in each presidential election. But with all seventeen (!) Dixville Notch votes counted, the Democratic primary currently stands at Obama 7, Edwards 2, Richardson 1, Clinton 0. (In related news, on the Republican side it's McCain 4, Romney 2, Giuliani 1.)
How does winning New Hampshire by 50 points sound to you?
Okay, I fearlessly predict that Obama's lead will shrink. But it would be pretty cool if Obama continued to collect as many votes as all of the Republicans put together!
Update: There's one other tiny New Hampshire hamlet that votes in the middle of the night, a town called Hart's Location. With those 13 Democratic votes added in, the election now stands at Obama 16, Clinton 3, Edwards 3, Richardson 1. So Obama's lead has actually grown from 50% to 56.5%--woo-hoo!
I know that plenty of folks are opposed to poll-watching, because (theoretically) it takes our eye off the ball.
I understand the sentiment... but for the moment I say nuts to that, because the news out of New Hampshire is looking stunningly good for our guy--and it's the post-Iowa polls that show him with a big lead:
Obama 39%, Clinton 29%, Edwards 19%, margin of error 3.4%.
Obama 39%, Clinton 28%, Edwards 22%, margin of error 4%.
Obama 39%, Clinton 29%, Edwards 16%, margin of error 5%.
Obama 41%, Clinton 28%, Edwards 19%, margin of error 4%.
Obama 39%, Clinton 27%, Edwards 18%, margin of error 3%.
Obama 33%, Clinton 31%, Edwards 17%, margin of error 5%.
Okay, now back to work!
(Update: I fixed two clerical errors in the Rasmussen item and added the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll.)
Among the nuances that get glossed over amid the fervor of this process is precisely what the campaign reveals and/or doesn't about the aspirants. The attributes voters admired in the previous general elections gave us George W. Bush, resulting in a series of policy decisions that at best leave the economy and our standing in the world in a shambles for whoever is elected to clean up. Nobody can deny that he was an effective campaigner.
In the current race Senator Clinton, too, is running a polished, effective campaign. She's got good people, effective fund-raisers, and reacts adeptly to adversity, having preserved plausible deniability when a viral smear linked back to her organization emerges.
The challenge is to help voters see that while Senator Obama is undeniably a politician, he uses politics as a means to demonstrably noble goals, which is why so many believe he will wield the power of the Presidency in pursuit of bettering the country.
Unfortunately the qualities we need in our next President are not simply those of the veteran campaigner; being effective in the race is neither sufficient, nor inherently synonymous with being worthy of our votes.
Senator Clinton is as aware of what's going on with progressive voters as the rest of us are, likely more so. Naturally she's disappointed and doing all she can to regain the spotlight and momentum in the fight for delegates. I was stunned to hear her in the New Hampshire debate claiming 35 years of experience yet finding fault with John Edwards when his patient bill of rights stalled in the House of Representatives despite being passed by the Senate. The two are same sort of "experience," working hard on something you believe in which flounders - and ultimately sometimes fails, as was the case with her laudable health care initiative while First Lady. Yes, that's experience, and doubtless Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards both learned from the process.
Ironically, every experienced Democrat persisting after Iowa has taken up Obama's message, each claiming to be an Agent of Change. Yet Senator Clinton, for example, has resorted to very old-school ad hominem sound bite politics as her inevitability has evaporated.
In fact, if all we needed in the White House could be summed up as "effective campaigner" she might be the best. What we need, however, is not somebody who smiles and orchestrates a slick, effective campaign, but rather a visionary capable of reversing the disenfranchisement of the citizens of this country while restoring the integrity of the office of the President.
At 1 30 pm, the bar at Abilene was bare. I ordered a hard cider (a tribute to the ale's long running history with American polity),grabbed some chips + salsa and a seat...to sit in. As 2 pm rolled around, the saturday morning couples has thinned and gave way to a packed house of Obama supporters. The crowd was very enthusiastic and very well informed about Obama. Most everyone I spoke with was stronlgy supporting Barack. A lot fo folks had returned from wa, and really highlighted how the Obama campaign obviously stood apart form the rest. The brilliance of teh candidate and the grace of his organization really pay off. volunteers are excietd and work hard for our candidate.This trend will surely continue, and i have no doubt that Obama will garner immense support as learn more and more about the man. I've always been a bit obsessive politically, but i have never really trusted any politician as much as i trust Barack Obama. And that what gives me hope. The effect he's had on me will undoubtedly win over many many more people, and i know that every other fervent Obama supporter does the exact same thing, everyday. We have a great candidate and a great campaign to contribute to. And i will do everything i can until feb 5 to make sure that Minnesota is stronlgy supporting Barack Obama on Super Tuesday
This weekend ill post some contact info for the Twin Cities campiag. Office site and volunteer opps, etc.
but possibly more exciting is tonight!
The NH primary is just next Tuesday, jan 8, only 3-4 days to some more votes are cast. Tonight is the last time eahc candidate will be put on the spot and televised to the world before those NH primaries begin.
Ill be LIVE BLOGGING tonight form 7-10 pm EST. Ill repsond to the debate, include some cool links, and provide JJ's .02 Republicans, BEWARE, i'm watching you too (and i like MCCain). Tune in and you'll find out my true feelings for Hillary Clinton. :)
Stray shots and tidbits:
NYT - The Obama Phenomenon: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/opinion/05herbert.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
now listening: Goldfrapp - A&E - new single
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/47774-goldfrapp-a-e-stream
(check out their playlist on the right hand side: tracks from grizzly bear, radiohead, iron and wine, stephen malkmus, courtney tidwell)
peace, have a safe and sound weekend
joe jr.
I've just come back from Iowa totally inspired.....
It's great to win an election, but even better when it's done in a way that brings people together. Those of us who have spent a lot of time in politics know that too often people win by ripping others apart. Barack and the campaign, from the start, have been about something much more...about finding a way to unify a deeply divided country....and we saw that repeatedly in Iowa.
There was the lifelong Republican precinct captain who showed up at the Obama rally on election eve....he turned in his caucus materials to the Republicans and went to his first Democratic caucus for Barack. There were people who hadn't voted before. And there were scores and scores of young voters who have been told over and over again that they won't matter because they won't show up...
I even had one conversation that started bad, but got better: At a senior center I walked up to a woman named Pearl. She said she was going to the caucus but "wasn't sure about Obama.....I'm a little worried about his name." When I asked her want she meant she was embarassed to say it but thought with a name like his he could be a terrorist. I was pretty upset to hear this, especially because there were emails going around later traced to the Clinton camp that alleged he was a Muslim terrorist...and apparently those rumors got to Pearl.
I stumbled around for a response for a while but finally said: "Pearl, do you remember that in World War 1 and World War 2 people suspected Americans with German names could be spies...but they ended up fighting for and dying for our country." She thought about that an eventally came around.
As the results came in and the hall began to fill, you heard these wonderful stories about how Barack brought them into politics, or about how they saw this campaign as the hope to change the way poltiics happen in this country.
I could go on with great stories from down there but the better news is they mirror what I've been seeing here in Minnesota for months as the campaign has built. A year ago there were a handful of us marching in Uptown to try to convince Obama to run...and month after month more and more people got on board....coming from all parts of the state and politics. Now we get a few weeks to make it a real movement.
So let's keep it rolling. We should all be thinking right now about people we know who haven't gone to caucuses, including people who are independents and Republicans. Talk to them in the wake of this big Iowa win about coming with you to the Minnesota caucuses on Feb. 5. Wear your button around, especially in unlikely places, and talk to strangers about the chance we will have in a few weeks to pick a president.
I really look forward to seeing you all on the campaign these next few weeks. History is really being made in America right now, and Minnesota is about to get its chance.
Senator Obama continues to pick up endorsements around the Country as our leaders begin to visualize Senator Obama's audacity of HOPE...
North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad announced this morning that he is endorsing Barack Obama`s presidential campaign.Conrad has been a senator since 1986, and says he hasn`t endorsed anyone in a Democratic presidential primary before. But Conrad says he believes Obama has the greatest potential among the Democratic presidential candidates to unite the country and inspire people.He says Obama also has a good understanding of the challenges the country faces and will move the country in the right direction."I also think he`ll help bring the change that our country requires. He absolutely understands the imperative to reform health care, to reduce our dependence on foreign energy, restore fiscal discipline, and to conduct a foreign policy that rebuilds respect for America," says Conrad.He also says he`ll be campaigning with Obama this weekend in Iowa.
http://www.kqcd.com/News_Stories.asp?news=14491
Former Alaska Governor Tony Knowles says he's backing Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president.
Knowles says Obama is electable.
The two-term governor says Obama has a vision for tackling America's toughest challenges at home and abroad.
Knowles says that includes ending the war in Iraq, keeping promises to military veterans and making health care affordable.
Knowles also says Obama can reach across party lines and unite people to bring change.
Knowles served two terms as governor of Alaska from 1994 to 2002.
http://www.ktva.com/topstory/ci_7831730
Des Moines, IA -- Citing his "openness" and "common sense approach" on issues such as health care and energy, the Marshalltown Times-Republican today endorsed U.S. Senator Barack Obama www.barackobama.com for President.
Obama has also been endorsed by the Sioux City Journal, Iowa City Press Citizen, Ottumwa Courier, Woodbine Twiner/Logan Herald-Observer, Daily Iowan, Iowa State Daily, Des Moines' El Latino, and Sioux City's Mundo Latino.
See below for excerpts of the editorial:
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In an age where closed doors, secret military posts and middle-of-the-night pork barrel votes are all too common, Obama believes we can still come together as a country, we can work together to build a better America.
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Obama also understands that a universal healthcare plan must be practical and achievable, not a pipe dream used only to gain momentum on the campaign trail. His plan doesn't ram a national health insurance program down our throats, rather it merely guarantees access to health insurance for all Americans.
Obama offers a new path, one filled with hope and change. We think it's a path worth traveling down.
You can read the entire editorial below:
Obama brings message of hope, changeOpen the doors and let the American people in.Marshalltown Times-Republican
With a philosophy of openness - from education to the economy, government to military actions - Barack Obama has based his message of hope and change on the belief that Americans want to be involved in their government.
We couldn't agree more.
It's true, his experience in running a country may not be as lengthy as that of his opponents, but perhaps that is a good thing.
Too many of the candidates already have too much "experience" in our eyes - too much "experience" manipulating the system, too much "experience" bowing to special interests and too much "experience" during a previous White House stint.
Obama has what we would call more "down to earth" experience: helping in his community working as a civil rights activist, and, of course, his time in the Illinois State Senate.
The argument has also been made that Obama lacks experience dealing with foreign policy and foreign leaders. Perhaps that "lack of experience" will translate into some bold, decisive actions that actually deal with foreign issues, rather than the typical "nod and smile" philosophy.
And while many Democratic candidates have called for an immediate troop withdrawal in Iraq, Obama understands that such action would be detrimental to foreign relations, the people of Iraq and our own troops. Instead, he proposes a controlled and responsible withdrawal from Iraq that would take a couple of years to properly complete.
His common sense approach carries through to other issues as well: a sensible energy plan that helps reduce environmental impacts without shutting off everyone's electricity and a teacher pay program that rewards those who work hard to teach our children and doesn't reward those who don't.
The races in both parties have developed along very unexpected lines, making this probably the most fascinating presidential election in decades. Let's start with the Republicans. Here we have the most unpopular sitting president since Richard Nixon. Significant majorities of his countrymen have long since concluded that they made a mistake in electing him; that he isn't up to the job; that he basically lied us into a war; that his domestic policies have been at best no great shakes; and that the conservative ideology to which he has been in thrall has not served the country well, to put it mildly.
What this euphemistic language means is that whatever a candidate's previous positions on abortion and gay rights - Rudy Giuliani, for instance, has supported both - the leaders of the religious conservative movement have exacted commitments from all the Grand Old Party candidates to appoint the kind of judges they want, and that matters far more than past positions.
There's more. Healthcare is a priority in this election. But to hear these Republicans, you'd never know it. Their healthcare plans range from cynical to inadequate. Climate change? They barely acknowledge the problem and are particularly loath to acknowledge that human activity has contributed to it. They continue to insist, as Republicans since Ronald Reagan have, that the only real domestic enemy the American people face is the federal government, which they continue to want to starve.
It's pretty astonishing, really - we're at the tail end of a failed presidency, and the people running to succeed it are promising to continue its failed policies.
Now, many observers would say, well, they're just pandering to their party's rightwing base, and once one of them secures the nomination, he will tack to the centre. Undoubtedly, he will, for tactical reasons. But the real question is how the next Republican will govern should he happen to win. And the answer to that question is that there's every reason to assume that he will be just as a conservative as Bush for one simple reason: the interest groups that run the GOP will not brook much deviation from the standard line.
Those interest groups are three. The neocons run foreign policy - the Iraq disaster has not affected their influence in the GOP one whit. The theocons run social policy. And the radical anti-taxers run domestic policy. Until forces inside the GOP rise up to challenge these interests, any Republican administration will be roughly as conservative as Bush. The candidates have slightly different theories of stasis, they will tinker around this edge or that, but that's about all you can say.
On the Democratic side, there is far more divergence. Not so much on policy - they're all for universal or nearly universal healthcare, for getting out of Iraq, for doing more for unions, for bringing some equity and progressivity to our taxation system and so on. If you'd asked me a year ago what the major Democrats' positions on the leading issues would be, I would not have guessed that they'd be this uniformly liberal.
What they differ on is how they and the country will accomplish these things. The astute analyst and writer Mark Schmitt was the first to identify this phenomenon, naming the Democratic race the "theory of change" primary. John Edwards's theory of change is that the system is corrupt, spoiled by corporate greed, and so the way to get change is to wage a kind of class war against it. Barack Obama's theory of change is to ask independents and conservatives of good faith to work with him on encircling resistant forces and changing the system. Hillary Clinton's theory of change is that the system is failing Americans in certain particular respects and that it is best massaged by someone with years of experience working within it.
The Democratic caucus-goers of Iowa will tell us Thursday night which of these theories, retailed to them at close range for many months, they've embraced, although the outcome seems likely to be close, so the question won't yet be settled. Republican caucus-goers seem more likely to tell us that they like Mike Huckabee's version of stasis. But even that won't reveal much, because Iowa's GOP caucus-goers are heavily weighted toward religious conservatives like Huckabee.
Whichever theory of change Democratic voters nominate, and whichever theory of statis Republican voters select, the choice before Americans next November will be stark. In 2004, many Americans, particularly liberals fearful about a second Bush term, took to calling that election "the most important of my lifetime". And it was, for a while. Now this one is.
Michael Tomasky is editor of Guardian America
michael.tomasky@guardian.co.uk
I'm forwarding this letter from Chris Miller...it's such a good story of what we are all doing. Keep up the good work. Call me if you can come to Mason City, IA. We need more MN help!
David Jensen, 651-260-3531
Subject: From Mason City: 5 days remaining... Now is our time Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:30:17 +0000
Obama Friends, I awoke today at 7:00 a.m. on a couch in a log cabin on State Road 300 outside of Mason City, Iowa. Much to my surprise, I was the last one awake: the six staffers and volunteers sharing the cabin with me were already up, dividing up walk lists of voters to visit, counting literature, and coordinating rides to our turf. The temperature was 16 degrees. I walked in to Coffee Cat, the local coffee shop, and found an Obama poster on the wall. At the Kum N’ Go, the attendant squealed with delight at my Obama pin. I sat in traffic on a snow-covered road behind a pick-up truck with an Obama bumper sticker. At 3:00 p.m. a camera from channel 3’s news team arrived in the office. We have a lot of work left to do but things feel good here. In Minnesota, Kansas, and North Dakota our campaign teams have generated over 2200 calls to Iowa voters each day for the last three days. Here in Iowa our teams have been knocking doors 8 hours a day and phone banking 4 hours a day since December 27. There are supporters here from as far away as California, Florida, and New York. We will knock our entire ID universe twice in these last 10 days. We are knocking doors of targeted Independents and Republicans, as well as Democrats. Melissa from Minneapolis and Sarah from New York, two volunteers in for the final 10 days, just returned from canvassing an area of 66 square miles. We are going to towns no campaign has knocked in before, and talking with voters that other campaigns will not talk to. This is an unprecedented field program. It is unmatched by any campaign in Iowa currently or previously. From North Dakota today great news: the endorsement of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad, an unprecedented show of support from North Dakota. In Minneapolis today Council Member Elizabeth Glidden pledged her support to Barack Obama. In 12 hours yesterday we worked together to generate 72 Iowa volunteer day commitments, and more are committing today. This morning in Mason City we were joined by 16 Minnesotans including Kim Ellison and her daughter Amira, Minneapolis Council Members Don Samuels and Paul Ostrow, and Paul’s son Matt. This past Wednesday St. Paul Congresswoman Betty McCollum joined Senator Obama in Mason City. On Sunday Council Member Glidden will join us to knock doors. On Wednesday Minneapolis Council Member Ralph Remington and his wife, and Minneapolis Mayor Rybak and his family will join us here in Mason City. This weekend Senator Cohen, Representative Jaros, and Duluth Council Member Elect Tony Cuneo will phone bank with us from Minnesota. Mayor Rybak, Minneapolis Council Member Ralph Remington, and St. Paul Council Member Elect Melvin Carter are doing online outreach for Senator Obama. With 5 days to go before the first contest in this election we are standing at a rare moment in time: a moment in which we can change the future. A moment in which we can help to decide the outcome of this election and the direction of our country for the next four years. This moment will be with us only briefly, and then forever it will be gone. Now is our time. Thanks for all that each of you has done. Thanks for all that you have given. That which you have left to give is that which will make the difference: it will make this moment happen. In the time that we have left, give the following: Come to Iowa to work with us: Call David at 651-260-3531 or go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vplp Work with us from your state or your home: Call Jared at (612) 801-0059 or go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vplp Reach out to folks you know. Ask them to support Senator Obama and to work with us in these next days http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vplp Thanks to each of you for all that you’ve done in the last year. Let’s make the most of this moment before it passes. Now is our time. -Chris 5 days remaining... Chris MillerMidwest Field DirectorObama for Americacmiller@barackobama.com312-533-0374
The Hawk Eye | December 28, 2007
By WILLIAM SMITH
Marjorie Marsh has been participating in caucuses since John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960. He remains her favorite president.
She hadn't seen a presidential candidate like Kennedy until she saw Barack Obama.
"I see many of Kennedy's attributes in Obama," she said.
A self-professed "die-hard" Democrat, Marsh has never voted for a Republican presidential candidate in her life.
Marsh, 94, is taking an even more active role this year drumming up support for Obama. The Fort Madison woman is a precinct captain for the Jan. 3 caucus and makes her way to Obama's Fort Madison headquarters three times a week to campaign.
Read the full article from The Hawk Eye
Often labeled “the greatest generation,” our senior citizens have seen a lot in their time. Many of them marched for equality beside Martin Luther King Jr., fought for justice with Bobby Kennedy, or answered a timeless call to service under President John F. Kennedy.
But now, many of them need help. They’re concerned about Social Security or dealing with the maze of coverage for Medicare Part D. They’re paying too much for prescription drugs and coping with rising costs on everything. More than anything, they’re worried about the country they’re leaving behind to their children and grandchildren.
Across New Hampshire, they’re ready for new leadership. They're ready for the torch to be passed to a new generation to bring about change we can believe in.
