Organizing for America | Roseville Supports Obama

Roseville Supports Obama

Roseville/Granite Bay voters for Barack Obama. Let's work together locally and help build support for Senator Obama as he makes his run for President. Mr. Obama WILL change America for the better for all of us.

Republicans Defecting to Obama

By Erik Paterson - May 6th, 2007 at 5:19 am EDT

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From The Sunday Times May 6, 2007
Republicans defect to the Obama camp

Sarah Baxter, Washington

DISILLUSIONED supporters of President George W Bush are defecting to Barack
Obama, the Democratic senator for Illinois, as the White House candidate with the best chance of uniting a divided nation.
Tom Bernstein went to Yale University with Bush and co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team with him. In 2004 he donated the maximum $2,000 to the president’s reelection campaign and gave $50,000 to the Republican National Committee. This year he is switching his support to Obama. He is one of many former Bush admirers who find the Democrat newcomer appealing.
Matthew Dowd, Bush’s chief campaign strategist in 2004, announced last month that he was disillusioned with the war in Iraq and the president’s “my way or the highway” style of leadership – the first member of Bush’s inner circle to denounce the leader’s performance in office.
Although Dowd has yet to endorse a candidate, he said the only one he liked was Obama. “I think we should design campaigns that appeal, not to 51% of the people, but bring the country together as a whole,” Dowd said.

Bernstein is a champion of human rights, who admires Obama’s call for action on Darfur, while Dowd’s opposition to the war has been sharpened by the expected deployment to Iraq of his son, an Arabic-speaking Army intelligence specialist.
But last week a surprising new name joined the chorus of praise for the antiwar Obama – that of Robert Kagan, a leading neoconservative and co-founder of the Project for the New American Century in the late 1990s, which called for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Kagan is an informal foreign policy adviser to the Republican senator John McCain, who remains the favored neoconservative choice for the White House because of his backing for the troops in Iraq.
But in an article in the Washington Post, Kagan wrote approvingly that a keynote speech by
Obama at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs was “pure John Kennedy”, a neocon hero of the cold war.
In his speech, Obama called for an increase in defense spending and an extra 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 marines to “stay on the offense” against terrorism and ensure America had “the strongest, best-equipped military in the world”. He talked about building democracies, stopping weapons of mass destruction and the right to take unilateral action to protect US “vital interests” if necessary, as well as the importance of building alliances.
“Personally, I liked it,” Kagan wrote.
Disagreements on the war have not stopped John Martin, a Navy reservist and founder of the website Republicans for Obama, from supporting the antiwar senator. He joined the military after the Iraq war and is about to be deployed to Afghanistan.
“I disagree with Obama on the war but I don’t think it is a test of his patriotism,” Martin says. “Obama has a message of hope for the country.”
Financiers have also been oiling Obama’s campaign. In Chicago, his home town, John Canning, a “Bush pioneer” and investment banker who pledged to raise $100,000 for the president in 2004, has given up on the Republicans. “I know lots of my friends in this business are disenchanted and are definitely looking for something different,” he said.
Not to be outdone, Hillary Clinton has many Republican defectors of her own, including John Mack, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, who helped raise $200,000 for the president’s reelection, qualifying him as a “Bush ranger”. He said last week that he was impressed by Clinton’s expertise. “I know we’re associated mainly with the Republicans but we’ve always gone for the individual,” Mack said.
According to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, Obama and Clinton have vacuumed up more than $750,000 (£375,000) in individual contributions from former Bush donors.
Some of the donations reflect the natural tendency of those with power to shift to the likely White House winner. Penny Pritzker, the staggeringly successful head of fundraising for Obama, voted for John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate, but also donated that year to Bush. As she was a head of the family-run Hyatt hotel chain, it was considered a prudent move.
With the Democrats widely expected to win in 2008, Clinton’s status as frontrunner is encouraging Wall Street money to migrate to her, while Obama may be picking up some mischievous “Stop Hillary” donations from still-loyal Republicans. But there is plenty of genuine enthusiasm to go around.
A poll released by Rasmussen last week showed Obama overtaking Clinton for the first time by 32% to 30%, although another poll by Quinnipiac showed her with a 14-point lead over the Illinois senator, her nearest rival.
The current issue of the New Yorker contains a profile of Obama, which highlights his appeal to conservatives.
For his optimism about the future, Obama has been dubbed the “black Ronald Reagan”. He frequently challenges the black community to support two-parent families and encourage school students, instead of criticizing them for “acting white”.

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Obama Wins First Debate

By Erik Paterson - Apr 30th, 2007 at 4:19 pm EDT

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Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Obama Wins First Democratic Debate

Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
Saturday, April 28, 2007

Sen. Barack Obama emerged as the big winner at Thursday's first Democratic presidential debate.

It's not so much that he scored a knockout punch, or that he was head and shoulders above any of the other candidates — in fact, it's the opposite.

Obama held his own with the others, particularly vis-à-vis his chief rival, Hillary Clinton. He clearly showed that he belonged on the stage with his longer-serving rivals. In doing so, he helped vanquish his leading negative: inexperience.

The polls indicate that experience is Hillary Clinton's leading virtue in the eyes of her supporters; her experience is clearly derivative of her husband's and has been, at times, a decidedly mixed bag. It looks good in contrast with the Illinois state senator, who, with a smattering of time in the U.S. Senate, is running for president.

Once Obama overcomes his inexperienced perception, he'll gain quickly in the polls, and continue the surge that has animated his candidacy ever since 2007 began. The debate also helped to clear some of the obstacles in his path.

Hillary's advantage over Obama is rooted in the experience issue. But, as Nixon found out in his debate with John F. Kennedy in 1960, experience is a quickly vanishing asset in a presidential race. Having capitalized on his eight-year tenure as Eisenhower's vice president, Nixon's slogan was "experience counts." By the time his debate with Kennedy was over, it didn't.

The young senator had shown himself to be just as adept, equally well informed and even more articulate than his more experienced rival.

So it was with Thursday's debate.

Hillary was her usual well informed and well prepared (but perhaps too scripted), and Obama showed that he was her equal. In fact, debating with a distinguished field that included his vastly more experienced elders — Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Chris Dodd, former Energy Secretary and U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson and Hillary — Obama proved that he could hold his own.

Hillary's worst moment in the debate came when she had to "take responsibility" for her vote in support of the Iraq war in 2002. It was not that she had voted wrong in the opinion of most Democrats; it was that she was obviously refusing to apologize — a sharp contrast to the honesty of John Edwards, who asked those who had joined him in backing the war to "search their consciences." But Hillary's best moment was when she criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the congressional ban on partial-birth abortion.

She clearly demonstrated that, as the only woman candidate, the resurrection of the abortion issue would become her strong suit in the Democratic primaries to come.

The other beneficiary of the debate was Dennis (the Menace) Kucinich, who showed the sharp differences between his brand of anti-war sentiment and that of the other more moderate candidates (except for former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska).

Kucinich staked out the far left as his own and even directly challenged the other candidates for supporting, in effect, a longer war. Kucinich's critique will echo louder when the other candidates, predictably, cave in to Bush in voting for a clean war-funding resolution after the attempt to override his veto fails. And, after Kucinich is defeated, his banner will likely be carried in the general election by that bête noire of Democrats: Ralph Nader.

This second tier in this Democratic field is unusually talented.

To have a former National Committee chairman (Dodd), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Biden), and a former U.N. ambassador (Richardson) in the running is unusual and it gives the field a faster pace.

Since the equal time format of the debate gave them each an opportunity to show their skills to great advantage, we should expect "other" to rise in the polls and for the front-running trio of Clinton, Obama, and Edwards to drop down a bit. But the central point of the debate is that Obama passed his rite of passage and made the cut.

He came across as able, spontaneous, above partisanship, and decent. His virtues shine in contrast to the perception of Hillary as a strident partisan and heavily scripted candidate.

This contrast was obvious on Thursday night.

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Barack Obama and David Letterman

By Gayland Morris - Apr 10th, 2007 at 2:31 pm EDT

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Personally, I thought Barack was brilliant last on night on Letterman and as always I watched with a critical eye from the standpoint of a "typical undecided voter."

Everything he covered was spectacular and the crowd response was excellent. The one aspect of the interview that I was most impressed was Letterman's seriousness about Barack's campaign. On several occasions, Letterman insinuated in so may words that it is not out of the question that Barack would be sitting in the White House in 2009. I think it was also very apparent where Letterman stands in his choice. The only jokes and jabs he made was really "with" the Senator and not about him... Which as we know, is not how Ol' Dave generally rolls!

I'm noticing reports from all the various news agencies this morning stating things like "Obama not interested in running for VP." Of course he isn't, as he clearly indicated, coming in second really doesn't mean a whole lot in a Presidential race. Or as he phrased it, "It's not horse shoes."

The blogs I have been looking over this morning are for the most part very favorable with the exception of those who take the opportunity to point out everything but his ideology, vision and stance on the issues... I read comments on his tie, hair and one blog even asked if he was "politically potty-trained." LOL - Ah the creative bloggers....

But hey, if that's all they can come up with after a nationally televised, high profile outing... We're looking exceptionally well! As we continue to live in an American idol society, where 30 million vote each week on their favorite Idol star - we should certainly expect meaningless comments on clothing or hair styles.

As we all know, appearing on a talk show can always be a trick bag and many quotes can be taken out of context - Certainly not the case with the Senator and I personally applaud his decision to make himself available for this kind of entertainment programing. By granting these non-political interviews, the American people get a taste and true sense of the man we already know and support. His character, vision, sense of humor and intellect certainly speaks for itself.... Overall a job well done!!!

Our New member Committee Chair - Jennie Calvin hit me on an email this morning saying, "My opinion of him last night was "easy, breezy." He was hilarious, easygoing, confident, fun, fantastic!"

I agree with her comments wholeheartedly. I know many of us get caught up inside our bubble as we put in a minimum of 25+ hours a week working on this campaign... But with every passing day, it is becoming very apparent that America is finally waking up and realizing that Barack Obama is in it to win it, has massive support and brings forth a vision that our country has not seen in decades! I also love the fact that Barack himself indicated that America in general is also becoming more interested in our political process than in recent decades.

The momentum is seriously gaining folks! Hold on to your hats because this ride will continue to be wild! We are gpoised to make a difference along with millions of other people ready to usher in the much needed change in our country under the leadership of a Barack Obama Administration!!!!!

In case you missed it... Below is the link from YouTube - there are parts one and two. Enjoy!

Link

See you all on the campaign trail!

Gayland Morris, Co-Chair
Sacramento for Obama
sacramentoforobama.com

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A Note From Iraq

By Kim Mack - Mar 20th, 2007 at 10:29 am EDT

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My son is an Army medic stationed in Balad, Iraq. I sent him an email to share my experience of the Oakland rally and meeting Senator Obama. His reply gave me the "warm fuzzies" and I thought I would share.

Madre -

I got the Obama E-mail that you sent out to everyone and I honestly almost started to cry, if you ever get a chance to talk to him again tell him he's got my vote. It's funny that I got that today because I've been doing my research and I was starting to get excited about Obama and was thinking about something I could do out here, It wouldn't be anything huge but more of a token thing.

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My Obama Mania and the Oakland Rally

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Mar 19th, 2007 at 12:26 am EDT

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I can't believe it has been only a month since Barack Obama officially proclaimed his candidacy for president on February 10th. That's the day I went to his website and signed up for the Sacramento for Obama Group. Since then we had our first organizing meeting on February 22 where 55 of us introduced ourselves, formed committees and broke up into our respective committees to make plans for our future actions.

I'm on the Communications Committee for our group. We had a day-long meeting at Richard and Suzanne-Marie's house the following weekend in Placerville and determined who our targeted audience was going to be for our communications effort and how best to reach them.

Our campaign website was up and running and we produced our first Update newsletter which was emailed to 137 members on March 6th. Our first local gathering of Obama supporters at the Blue Cue in Sacramento on March 10th had more than 200 people in attendance, along with media from 3 local news stations.

The second Update newsletter was produced as a special edition for the upcoming Rally with Obama in Oakland on the 17th. That one was emailed to 234 members on March 14th.

Our Sacramento group had our own t-shirts made but they didn't yet have any in my size so I ordered one, cut out the logo then sewed it onto one of my own red shirts. It turned out great and I was quite proud of my handiwork.

I was so excited the night before that I could not sleep. I finally got up at 3 am to read email hoping that would make me sleepy. After a 3 hour nap, I was up again at 7am preparing to head down to Natomas to meet up with the rest of our caravan. The first shift of 35 volunteers from our Sacramento group left Natomas earlier at 8am. Our group of 15 people departed at 10:30. We were sure glad we did!

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The Oakland California Rally

By Erik Paterson - Mar 18th, 2007 at 2:19 pm EDT

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What an amazing event!!! My wife Nancy and I had attended the Friday night Volunteer meeting, getting ourselves assigned to the Campaign Store, along with several of the fantastic young men and women from "Students for Obama." Our task was to organize, and hand out the different size T-shirts to the cashiers at the tables. How hard could that be? Nan and I spent the night at the Marriott, had a nice breakfast and walked the four blocks to the City Hall Plaza, arriving at about 10:00am to help set things up. Things were crazy from the start, opening the multitudes of boxes, folding and organizing shirts by size and color, setting out the buttons and bumper-stickers by the hundreds. Our store was in the center of the Plaza behind the huge oak tree that dominates the lawn area, shades the amphitheater, and was a prime location for sales. Little did I realize at the time, that damn oak tree would prevent those of us working that booth to see future President Obama give his speech. That would be the only negative of the day for me.

The crowd was incredible. From our vantage point, during the progress of the day, we watched as the news crews arrived and set up, watched the vendors, and crowds grow outside the fences. We had not even finished setting up before throngs of the volunteers were wanting to make purchases, and it became evident to all of us at the store that we would become very popular that day. Once the gates were opened to the varying ticket holders, our customers came in cycles, and the excitement grew as Max, one of our young students, and a walking vendor at Wrigley Field Baseball games; started barking out "TEE_SHIRTS, BUUUUTTONNS, BUMPAH STICKAAHHHS!!". I figured I’d give it a try as well, so using a voice that had been trained on the drill fields of the United States Marine Corps, I belted out the same phrase, causing all heads at the table to stop, turn and look at me in amazement from the volume alone. Okay, so I pat myself on the back a little bit, I never was into the humility thing..... Many kudos to those outstanding young people for their effort and enthusiasm, they worked their tails off, and we all had a blast.

Sales at our table were continuous. Even while Senator Obama was speaking, there were enough customers to prevent us from leaving the table and trying to catch a glimpse of him on stage. After the Senator had finished, the insanity began. Throngs of people descended on our little store, each demanding our wares. We sold out our inventory twice, eventually being resupplied by our sister store located outside of the plaza with a very small amount of stock. We ended the day with only a few buttons and bumper stickers, brought over too late to sell. A few of us remained for the tear down and clean up finishing up around 6:00pm. We were to find out just before leaving that our tables alone generated over $17,000.00 in campaign contributions.

So here I sit this morning, recounting the events of yesterday with aching muscles, remembering the cheers of the crowd, the electricity in the air, the incredible words from Senator Obama, the joy of new friendships, and the honor I feel at being part of such a historic event. These memories are priceless.

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My Obama Experience

By Kim Mack - Mar 18th, 2007 at 1:26 pm EDT

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Saturday March 17th Presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke at a rally in Oakland. The diverse crowd of 12,000 was rearing to go and the atmosphere was rock concert electric. Senator Obama spoke about universal health care, taking care of our veterans, getting out of Iraq and many other issues that drew enthusiastic responses from the crowd. It was an experience to remember. I will not forget watching my step-daughters, 14 and 16, clapping and nodding their heads in agreement - it made me pray that this was a first step in getting them involved in the process. Sharing this experience with the wonderful members of Sacramento for Obama who have already worked so hard and having my family with me it was, well, AWESOME!

Yes, I do have many good memories from March 17, 2007, but there is one I know I will never forget. Gayland, Cirian, Anthony and I were fortunate enough to be asked to have our picture taken with the Senator and about 20 other volunteers. Senator Obama walked into the room with a big smile on his face and said, "Here are my volunteers". There was a huge cheer and clapping, people saying thank you to the Senator and he countered, "No, thank you". He started shaking hands, smiling that big smile the whole time. Then the moment came when he grabbed my hand to shake it, he said, "Thank you for your hard work" and I replied, "Thank you for working to bring my son home from Iraq". He paused, with one hand in my right hand, the other on my left shoulder and looked into my eyes. It was the look in his eyes that I will always remember. I saw pain, sympathy and understanding in his eyes. I saw the eyes of a fellow parent and a human being. Then he gave me a strong hug, nodded his head, and the same look he had previously. You don't fake that - you can't pretend that. It was at that instant that my respect for him grew ten times larger than it already was. I knew without a doubt that I made the right decision to support Barack Obama, and I knew that I HAVE to do everything that I can do to get this man elected as the next President of the United States of America.

We NEED Senator Obama to lead this country. We cannot slow down our activities to get support for him, we cannot slack, we absoutely have to work harder and harder to ensure that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President and is subsequently elected President of the United States.

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Driving Directions, Public Transit Options for Oakland Rally

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Mar 15th, 2007 at 2:49 am EDT

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The atmosphere in Northern California is full of excitement as Rally time draws closer.

If you're headed to Oakland to join up and show some California spirit to Senator Obama, here are some details you may wish to know:

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Heads Up

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Mar 15th, 2007 at 1:31 am EDT

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Just letting everyone know a Special Edition of our UPDATE newsletter was just sent out. It contains last minute details, maps and driving directions for the caravan to and rally in Oakland on the 17th. We also added a rondevu spot in Oakland so we can all invade City Hall Plaza as a group. Look for it in your in-boxes.

If you're not subscribed, and need a copy for the maps and directions, leave a reply with an email address and I'll forward a copy to you.

A few more details will follow in another post for the entire region.

Lynn

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Northern California Unites for Obama

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Mar 11th, 2007 at 1:50 am EST

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Just a short 15 days ago we had our very first meeting of 55 people to meet each other and organize into committees.

Tonight, we broke all records with more than 200 people from around Northern California meeting to network and celebrate the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama for president. We also had cameras from three local news stations there interviewing members of the gathering crowd.

If you'd like details of tonight's event, subscribe to our UPDATE newsletter. A short video of the event is here on youtube. A special edition for the Rally with Senator Obama will be published on March 14.

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March 17 Rally - Oakland City Hall Plaza 3pm

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Mar 9th, 2007 at 2:54 pm EST

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It's official now. We're on the barackobama.com event calendar and ticket sign-ups are now available at Oakland Rally RSVP and Ticket Sign Up.

When: Saturday March 17 -- Gates open at 3:00 PM

Where: Oakland City Hall Plaza, One Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, California

How: The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below to obtain your ticket.

Oakland Rally RSVP and Ticket Sign Up.

Once you sign up, an e-ticket will be sent to you for printing. You'll need to bring that e-ticket with you to the Rally.

As a reminder to you in the Sacramento Valley Region, we're carpooling in a huge caravan for the 2 hour drive to Oakland. If you wish to join up with us, coordinate rides in our forums at our website sacramentoforobama.com and meet up with us in Natomas at the designated starting point for our caravan.

Meet up in Natomas between 10am and 11 am on the 17th for the caravan.

•Nearest BART station to the Rally: 12th Street Station

•Parking: The closest parking structures are the following garages - 14th Street & Clay Street; City Center Parking garage (across from City Hall); 14th Street & Broadway (behind City Hall)

Special Edition of our UPDATE newsletter coming out on the 14th with maps and driving directions from Natomas to Oakland and from Oakland to San Francisco Mark Hopkins Hotel for anyone going to the evening's fundraiser.

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Song for Oakland's March 17 Rally for Obama

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Mar 8th, 2007 at 5:45 pm EST

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A bunch of us are carpooling, forming a long caravan of vehicles for the 2 hour drive from the Sacramento Valley to Oakland for the Rally on March 17.

We'll have a lot of time for talking and singing and I thought I'd invite people to come up with some lyrics for a rally song we can sing along the way.

For more details on the event, check out our website at SacramentoForObama.com and register to receive our newsletter so you can stay in touch with our activities. If you'd like to receive a copy of our current newsletter, add your email address in the comments and I'll send you one.

Here's what we know so far:

You may or may not have heard that Senator Obama will be in the Bay Area on March 17th. He will be at a fundraiser in San Francisco and a rally in Oakland.

Information on the March 17th rally is coming out bit by bit. Senator Obama's rallys have been very well attended - to get into some you have to have a ticket. The Bay Area Dems are the group sponsoring this event and are asking that people RSVP. Please go to this link, if you haven't already, and sign up. When you get there click on RSVP on the left hand side, as you are prompted pick the "grass roots" event, when it asked for the name of the person who invited you please write in "via Sacramento for Obama". RSVP for Oakland Rally here.

If you need a ride or can offer one please go to the forums at www.sacramentoforobama.com there is a thread started to help you coordinate a ride there. We are going to meet up at the Natomas Target Shopping Center in the parking lot by the street in the area in front of Linens N Things/Sports Authority - there is always parking there so we won't be disturbing anybody. Soon available on the website will be Sacramento for Obama logos that you can print out and put in your windows for the drive down. Also, on a first come first serve basis, Sacramento for Obama tshirts will be available at the Target parking lot. If there is a need we will make a stop at the Park and Ride in Davis to pick up extra people to join our caravan to Oakland. Note: We will be inviting the media to stop by as we assemble in Natomas, give them a local angle to the rally that they will most likely be covering in Oakland.

Here's my rally song. Add yours in the comments!

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Sacramento for Obama - First Meeting 2-22-07

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Feb 23rd, 2007 at 1:42 pm EST

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The Sacramento for Obama Group met face to face last night with 55 people showing up for our first meeting. After brief introductions we broke into committees, selected a person to head each committee and then gathered in committee groups to sign up and get to work on electing Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.

We had quite a diverse group in attendance. Some drove from San Francisco, others from the Sierra Foothills. Some are attorneys, retired engineers, entertainment promoters, moms and their kids, teachers, college students, secretaries, software programmers and much more.

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Sacramento Area Event Ideas

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Feb 16th, 2007 at 5:54 am EST

Also listed in: 5 groups

I've been looking through the Sacramento Parks and Rec websites and found several things that would make great events for our group to work on during the upcoming spring and summer months. I'll give links to the various pages and talk about the idea that was inspired by seeing the page:

Idea #1

City Parks welcomes individuals, families, and groups to participate in one day, short term, and ongoing volunteer stewardship activities in our parks, trails, and nature areas. We have a wide variety of activities for the outdoor enthusiast, including youth and other special populations. Volunteers under age 18 need adult supervision. We provide training, tools and supplies.

Group activities can be scheduled during our regular parks hours, 6am to 2:30pm, Monday through Friday, and on occasional Saturdays or Sundays.

The Idea:

Obama's Gardeners - Growing America's Future

We can have a group event while working on a park. Everyone wear their Obama campaign gear for high visibility and have a box of literature, voter registration cards, etc. to hand out to people in the park. Could play recordings of Obama's speeches while we work.

Idea #2

Off-leash Dog Parks

There are five such parks open in Sacramento.

The Idea:

Pets Walk for Obama Day

We could have a Pets Walk for Obama Day with pets wearing Obama campaign gear such as hats, t-shirts and sign sandwich boards. Pet owners wearing matching gear and hand out campaign literature in the park.

Idea #3

A Walk in the Park

Want to experience a City park in a whole new way? A new pilot project, A Walk in the Park provides walking directions, distance and points of interest to make your walking experience in City parks more enjoyable!

The initial Walk in the Park series provides information for the following walkable parks: Southside Park Downtown Sacramento, McKinely Park in East Sacramento, and William Land Park in Land Park. Additional parks will be added in the future.

The Idea:

Neighbors for Obama - A Walk in the Park

Are you interested in walking in your neighborhood park but don’t want to walk alone? Join your Neighbors for Obama and take a walk around the park and get to know your neighbors and Barack Obama. Gather walkers along the trail as the group swells. Have a brown bag lunch (everyone brings one for themselves and one other person from the neighborhood) in the park afterwards. Everyone wears their Obama campaign gear for high visibility and have a supply of literature, voter registration cards, etc. to hand out to people in the park.

Idea #4

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE ON THIS ONE - FEB. 20

Bicycle race and festival coming to town on Feb. 20 – Sacramento County is co-sponsoring the second annual AMGEN Tour of California. This tour will bring the world's top professional bicycle teams to the California coast. The race will come through Sacramento on Feb. 20. Don’t miss the Regional Parks booth at event.

The Idea:

Obama Is All About You!

Get out there as a group in various locations to cheer on the bikers in Obama campaign gear for high visibility and television exposure.

For more route details and bike race info

Here's the Route through Sacramento:

Entering Sacramento
Tower Bridge - Watch as the riders cross the Sacramento River across the Tower Bridge. Have lunch and stroll the shops of Historic Old Sacramento.

Capitol Mall - One of the most picturesque areas of the stage. View the riders as they head towards the beautiful State Capitol. Plenty of space on the open grassy areas to view the riders as the approach the ending circuit.

10th St / N St - Check out the Lifestyle festival before and after the race on 10th St between L St and N St. Vendors, food, displays, and exhibitions will be featured before and after the race. Along the West Steps of the State Capitol.

15th St –16th St / P St - This area is where the riders make a hard left turn on a tricky portion of the course. Relax in Fremont Park, have a hot cup of coffee at one of several unique coffee shops, or have lunch at several wonderful restaurants that surround this residential area. Light rail stops are just 1 block away!

18th St between Capitol and L St - One of Sacramento’s hottest restaurant sites. Choose from a multitude of various restaurants, including Zocalo's, Dragonfly's, Paesano's Pizza, Crepeville, and Java City. There is exceptional sidewalk dinning in this area.

16th St / L St - The East end of Capitol Park has some great restaurants and is a shaded viewing area. This site is also near several of the State of California ‘s War Memorials. Riders will most probably be starting to sprint to the finish from this area!

The Finish Line (11th St / L ST) - Viewing stands, covered areas, restaurants, and the State Capitol in the background. You may not find a more beautiful site to watch a fast, furious finish during the entire race! Visit the K Street pedestrian mall and Downtown Plaza or catch a movie at the IMAX Theatre. Regional Transit has several light rail stops two blocks from the finish and Lifestyle Festival!

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check out what Michelle Obama said

By dude12 - Feb 15th, 2007 at 1:19 am EST

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Michelle Obama deflects criticism of husband's presidential bid

February 14, 2007 - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has a staunch defender for his presidential bid in his wife, Michelle, who won't stand for any criticism of her husband.

Michelle Obama says it's his time to run, even though others have questioned whether a first-term senator is ready to be president.

"We've heard this spewed from the lips of rivals," the candidate's wife told about 1,000 donors at a Chicago fundraiser Sunday night. "Every phase of our journey, he is not experienced enough, he should wait his turn. He is too young, he is not black enough, he is not white enough ... he is too articulate.

"Don't be fooled by these claims because they are mere distractions," she continued. "Distractions to keep us focused once again on what is not possible. Distractions that keep us mired in fear so that we are unable to focus on the real issues that are dragging us down as a nation. What we need right now is a leader. And a leader is more than a set of finite experiences."

She said that only in politics would insiders look at her husband's resume -- a Harvard-trained lawyer, best-selling author and former state senator -- "and dare to have the audacity to say he is not ready."

Mrs. Obama said she is excited about the campaign and aware that "politics is a full contact sport."

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Calif. Primary Moving from June to February

By Lynn, Sacramento, CA - Feb 14th, 2007 at 10:49 am EST

Also listed in: 6 groups

Californians, Get Your Skates Ready! 55 Electoral Votes Await Us.

Looks as if the Bill to move up our primary date is sailing through. We have to be ready to hit the ground running and prepare ourselves for an organizational push much faster than the usual June primary season. Write your representatives and the governator, and let them know your views on the upcoming Assembly vote. Time to start planning your voter registration and get out the vote events.

That's the sweet thing about Senator Obama's campaign. With a lot of the effort being done on the internet, we can move quickly to adjust to the changing primary dates. It looks like quite a few other states are planning to change their vote dates to counter California's wealth of electoral votes.

Speculation is that the earlier primary date would be more favorable for Senator Clinton since she has a more readily recognized name. Let's prove them wrong!

Here are some excerpts from today's SF Chronicle article.

SACRAMENTO
Senate OKs presidential primary for February
Measure to ease term limits might be added to ballot
Greg Lucas, Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

(02-14) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- State senators approved a measure Tuesday to leap-frog California's 2008 presidential primary from June to the first Tuesday in February, a move supporters claim will give the Golden State more power in selecting the nation's next president.
...

The 40-member Senate sent the bill to the Assembly on a lopsided bipartisan vote of 31-5. Members of both parties in the lower house support moving the primary forward, as does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
...
If the bill is signed into law, as expected, California would become the fifth presidential primary behind New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina. Ten other states already hold Democratic primaries on the first Tuesday of February.
Twelve states hold Republican primaries on that date. Other states, including Texas and Florida -- are also weighing whether to move their primaries forward to February as well.
...
While the state Senate expedited passage of the presidential primary bill, the measure hit a minor speed bump in the Assembly as Republican lawmakers refused to waive rules that would expedite action on the measure.
The move by the Republicans imperiled meeting the timetable for action on the bill set earlier in the day by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. Núñez told the Sacramento Press Club that he wanted the bill on the governor's desk within 10 days.
But Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis (Fresno County) said there was no reason to hurry the process. Villines said many Assembly Republicans would not support the bill unless it guarantees reimbursement to counties for the costs of the primary, estimated at between $60 million and $90 million.

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