Kathryn Joosten, Emmy award-winning star of stage and screen, is volunteering her time at the Southwest Las Vegas HQ this week as the Obama campaign in Nevada prepares to head into the final stretch before the caucus on January 19th, 2008. Before attending a Women for Obama house party, Kathryn put on a comfortable pair of walking shoes and went out on a canvass. Here's a video from the day: Join Kathryn and Stand for Change. Sign up to volunteer.
Students for Barack Obama at UNR and UNLV have built the largest grassroots organizations of any of the other Democratic presidential candidates at their respective schools. The student-run newspapers for both universities recently highlighted the achievements of each SFBO chapters.
Nevada Sagebrush
Barack Obama’s 200 versus Hillary Clinton’s 26. ... These numbers, representing members of official University of Nevada, Reno student clubs, fall out of line with national polls, where Clinton is ahead of Obama by nearly 20 percent...... UNR political science professor Eric Herzik said Clinton is a diverse candidate too, but her ties to previous administration dismay students from supporting her. Students tend to distrust Washington, D.C., and are looking for a completely new face, Herzik said. "... Obama calls for a steady withdrawal of troops. This attracts students who want a practical solution to end the war, said Marysa Falk, president of Students for Barack Obama."
Barack Obama’s 200 versus Hillary Clinton’s 26.
... These numbers, representing members of official University of Nevada, Reno student clubs, fall out of line with national polls, where Clinton is ahead of Obama by nearly 20 percent...
... UNR political science professor Eric Herzik said Clinton is a diverse candidate too, but her ties to previous administration dismay students from supporting her.
Students tend to distrust Washington, D.C., and are looking for a completely new face, Herzik said.
"... Obama calls for a steady withdrawal of troops. This attracts students who want a practical solution to end the war, said Marysa Falk, president of Students for Barack Obama."
Rebel Yell
"I've been pleasantly surprised by the student outcome," [Sara Arthrell, junior international business major and campus representative for Barack Obama] said. "As an organization, we’re very excited about it." The main topic students have asked Arthrell about is Obama's stance on Iraq, which has caused the official Obama headquarters to create a specific pamphlet for students and a pamphlet on Iraq. "We are offering them a tool," Arthrell said. Meanwhile, apart from Paul and Obama no other presidential candidate has campus representatives campaigning for them. For Obama representatives that means the student pool is more open for conversion. They currently have 300 signed supporters. Arthrell said it’s the undecided potential voters that she is trying to reach. Her main goal is to notify students of their power to vote. "Our main focus is to inform students on Nevada as a caucus state," Arthrell said. "You have just as much an impact as everyone."
"I've been pleasantly surprised by the student outcome," [Sara Arthrell, junior international business major and campus representative for Barack Obama] said. "As an organization, we’re very excited about it."
The main topic students have asked Arthrell about is Obama's stance on Iraq, which has caused the official Obama headquarters to create a specific pamphlet for students and a pamphlet on Iraq.
"We are offering them a tool," Arthrell said.
Meanwhile, apart from Paul and Obama no other presidential candidate has campus representatives campaigning for them.
For Obama representatives that means the student pool is more open for conversion. They currently have 300 signed supporters. Arthrell said it’s the undecided potential voters that she is trying to reach. Her main goal is to notify students of their power to vote.
"Our main focus is to inform students on Nevada as a caucus state," Arthrell said. "You have just as much an impact as everyone."
There is still time to join your school's Students for Barack Obama group. Click here to find your chapter. If you are interested in interning in Nevada with the Obama campaign during the winter break you can click here to apply.
Congressman Adam Smith was in Nevada last week and I for his thoughts on the youth vote.
Rep. Smith told me he jumped right into community service and politics early in his life. At twenty-five years old, he was elected as a state senator in his home state of Washington. "I won that election by going door-to-door and talking with people about the issues that they faced on a daily basis." He continues, "This is what Barack is doing all across the country right now. He's listening to people and offering them something more then the status quo." Rep. Smith believes young people will be a huge part of winning here in Nevada. "Young people get fired up when they think about an Obama presidency."
Watch this video of Rep. Smith discussing what makes Barack Obama appealing to young people:
This is the fourth post in a series featuring Obama supporters from the Nevada Rurals. Barack released his plan for Rural Nevada today. You can listen to it here or download a .PDF file here.
A few months ago, Dona Hall from Austin, Nevada heard Barack Obama was going to be in Elko. Much like Nyla, Dona has never been involved in a presidential campaign before however she wanted to give Barack Obama a listen. She saw him speak, shook his hand, and the rest is history. “He’s a combination of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King,” she says excitedly. “He’s so honest, so smart, and he’s going to do what must be done.” Dona echoes the sentiment of urgency that voters have expressed about the mounting problems this country is facing. “I’ve never felt an election has been so important as this one. This election is sink or swim.” She senses something different in Barack. “They all have it wrong. Barack has it right. He’s not a politician’s politician.” She finds Barack refusal to accept a dime from lobbyists and PACs refreshing.
Read More About Dona >>
Pahrump was the place to be this weekend. On Saturday, ten carloads of Obama supporters went out to spread the word about Barack Obama. Here's a bit of a recap of the day's events.
The first pair of canvassers I spent time with were Jack from Pahrump and Mya from Arizona. Jack, a self-described “populist Democrat,” believes canvassing is the premier way of grassroots organizing. Mya added, “there’s power in numbers and canvassing helps us to build the organization necessary to win the Caucus.”
After a lunch break at a supporter’s house, I teamed up with another pair of canvassers: Lelar and Emphraim. Lelar is a precinct captain in Pahrump and was a rookie to the canvassing experience but Ephraim was her guiding light during the day. Ephraim is a student at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona and said he was pumped to spread Barack's message - throughout the day he said we were "Barack-ing in Pahrump". He is heavily active in his college's Students for Barack Obama chapter and spoke at a rally there in early October.
At the end of the day, Lelar said she felt much better about organizing her precinct and that "Ephraim has a room at my house" anytime he wants to come out for another canvass. After Lelar and Ephraim knocked on their last door we headed back for the now infamous Mock Caucus Pot Lockus at a local supporter's house.
To prepare our supporters for the Democratic Caucus on January 19, 2008, the Obama campaign has been holding Mock Caucus Pot Luckus events all around the state. People cook, bake, fry, and sizzle their best meals and house party guests caucus for their favorite dish. As night fell on Pahrump, Nevada, a Mock Caucus took place on the patio of an Obama supporter.
Adrienne Lever, the field organizer for Pahrump, was proud of her volunteers' hard work throughout the whole day. "When everyone returned from the evening canvass, they were ecstatic about the response they had from voters," said Lever. Thanks to all the folks to came out to the Canvass and Mock Caucus Pot Luckus. For more information about getting involved in the Obama campaign in Pahrump please contact Adrienne (email).
Last night, the University of Nevada, Reno, hosted an educational meeting to discuss the upcoming Democratic Caucus, otherwise known as a Mock Caucus. Nevada Democrats have less than ninety days to pick their candidate and turn out to caucus sites on January 19, 2008. The UNR chapter of Students for Barack Obama were present at yesterday's Mock Caucus. Here's a report from SFBO president Marysa Falk.
The University of Nevada, Reno was home to a major event tonight - UNR held it's first Mock Caucus! The "mockus", as it's sometimes referred to, was sponsored by the UNR Young Democrats and local and state Democratic leaders. We set up a table at the event and it attracted a significant amount of people asking questions and joining the campaign. We'll usually have a sign up sheet or two filled with names and email addresses. Tonight we had a few people sign pledge cards. Each one is like gold to the campaign.The Mockus was designed to get university students prepared for the early Nevada Caucus to be held on January 19, 2008. Several UNR clubs and campaigns participated to spread more knowledge of their cause. Rachel Miller, President of the UNR Young Democrats (voted number one club on campus for 2006-2007), said, "I think it's really great that the candidates who have campaigns in Reno were able to attend. I saw a lot of interaction with students and as always the Obama table seemed to have a lot of interest and people always surrounding their table."Overall the Mockus added another ten members to the club as well as four pledge cards! "It's a grassroots campaign. We attend as many events as possible, get a small amount of students registered for the SFBO club and get a few people to sign a pledge card and we build this group one member at a time." said Vice-President of the club Maritza Perez.
Zach blogged about the Nevada Launch for the African Americans constituency group last Tuesday night. In case you were unable to attend check out the videos from two of our amazing Nevada supporters: Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson and Obama Nevada Leadership Member Rose McKinney-James. Michael Strautmanis, a senior adviser to Obama for America, also spoke at the Ice House in Las Vegas Wednesday evening.
Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson gives his pledge card pitch:
Rose McKinney-James talks about why she is involved in Barack's campaign:
Michael Strautmanis tells the audience to not be filled with fear but with hope.
To join African Americans for Barack Obama contact Stephen Brokaw (email) for more information.
Chapters of Students for Barack Obama are forming in high schools and colleges all across the country. Students here in Nevada are eager to organize and spread the word about Barack. The University of Nevada, Reno has been featured on the Nevada blog before and has a fantastic grassroots presence on campus. Their bretheren and sisters in the south are organizing the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Sara Arthrell, president of Students for Barack Obama at UNLV, spoke with me for a few minutes after a meeting the group held in the Student Union. Check out some of our interview below:
This past weekend, Federico Peña, the first Hispanic Mayor of Denver (1983-1991) and former Secretary of Energy (1993-1997) and Transportation (1997-1998) under President Bill Clinton, spoke at the inauguration of the Southwest Las Vegas HQ.
The Southwest Las Vegas office is the third Obama office to open in Las Vegas and the sixth office statewide in Nevada. The contact information is below:
Southwest Las Vegas HQ9640 W. Tropicana Ave., Suite 111Las Vegas, NV 89147 MAP(702) 308-3729For a full list of all six offices, click here.
Southwest Las Vegas HQ9640 W. Tropicana Ave., Suite 111Las Vegas, NV 89147 MAP(702) 308-3729
For a full list of all six offices, click here.
Obama supporters and staff gathered on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to reconnect and talk about the plans to organize and spread the word about Barack.
Precinct Captains Denise and Jessica take a break from inquiring about their delegate counts with Julie, a field organizer for the Southwest, to pose for a picture
Although the office was "officially" opened by a former-Cabinet level official, the Southwest office was completed with the addition of a cardboard cutout of the King. Ryan, an intern for the campaign, and Graves, a field organizer, seem to be thinking the same thing: "Are you ready to organize the Southwest for Barack?"
Post your favorite caption for the above picture in the Comments section.
My event will be held this Wed. (10/24). It will consist of a phone banking, followed by social hour at a local pub (The Imperial). Phone banking starts at 5PM at the Reno Barack HQ and goes for an hour. Then we'll be hanging out at the Imperial for a informal "house party" from 7PM-whenever we leave. I don't know.....should be fun. Barack HQ address is 141 E. Pueblo St. Reno, NV....and the Imperial is on Arlington between 1st and 2nd on the East side of the street.
Don't do it for me. Do it for Barack.
Thanks!!
Sonia
Zach blogged on Friday about Barack's town hall meetings in Reno and North Las Vegas. Check out some excerpts from his speech in North Las Vegas:
On not repeating the foreign policy mistakes of the past:
On talking with our adversaries:
After Barack finished up his first leg of his "One Day Two Cities" swing through Nevada, Obama supporters joined in the festivities on the UNLV campus.
It's Homecoming Week at UNLV and students, faculty, and administrators enjoyed some food and music on campus today.
Students for Barack Obama were busy signing up supporters and handing out tickets for the Las Vegas Community Event with Barack Obama tonight. Nathan from Las Vegas (above) manned the Obama table for an hour or two and answer questions about Barack's policies and positions.
I'm headed off to the Las Vegas event right now! I'll see you there!
Barack Obama will be visiting Nevada for the 8th time since announcing his decision to run for President. He will be in Reno AND Las Vegas on Thursday, October 18, 2007. Although we'd love Barack to be in two places at once, he'll be speaking at two free events on Thursday - one midday and one during the evening.
To find out more information about the events please click on the links below:
Reno - Town Hall Meeting with Barack Obama When: Thursday, October 18, 2007--Doors open at 11:00 AM Where: Grand Sierra Resort, Grand Theatre, 2500 E. Second St., Reno, NV
Las Vegas - Community Event with Barack Obama When: Thursday, October 18, 2007--Doors open at 6:30 PM Where: Cheyenne High School, 3200 W Alexander Rd., North Las Vegas, NV 89032
Reno and Vegas are FIRED UP for the events this Thursday. Let's turn out huge crowds! Send this along to anyone you know in Nevada.
More previews of the event to come. Stay logged.
The first University chapter of Students for Barack Obama has been founded in Nevada. Our newest addition is an SFBO group at the University of Nevada, Reno.
I spoke with Marysa, the Chapter President, about her goals for the group. A sophomore studying political science and public relations, Marysa says she'll focus on getting as many students to sign pledge cards and then turn them out to the Nevada Caucus on January 19, 2008.
Following in Barack's footsteps, Marysa also wants to run a voter registration drive at the university. (Barack was not much older then Marysa when he led a voter registration drive during his time as a community organizerin Chicago.)
Marysa was able to meet Barack when he stopped into Elko on August 06, 2007. She had the priviledge of introducing him and then speaking with him backstage. Marysa is second from left in the photo below. All four of the students in the photo were interns at the Elko campaign office last the summer. Obama Nevada Field Director Michael Moffo said they played a pivotal role in "driving the Elko Train" towards victory on Caucus Day.
If you attend the University of Nevada, Reno, and want to help organize the campus for Barack Obama, send an email with your Name, Year, and Major to Marysa (Email).Also, to learn more about SFBO at the University of Nevada, Reno, join the MyBO and Facebook groups that have been started:
If you are interested in setting up a SFBO chapter at your school please email the Nevada Youth Vote Director Justo Robles at jrobles@barackobama.com.
