California 32nd Congressional District

Health Care Reform Now

Just in Time for 09 ! Obama/Biden 09-16 — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 01:47:28 EDT

Health care is such an important issue and we are proposing reform in a very important and crucial time. That is why it is imperative that those who care about what happens to reform come out and participate. Our President has always been clear about needing our help to get the job done.To bring the CHANGE that we all seek in this country. This is it folks. We need to come out and get to some townhalls, call our representatives and congress members, attend local events in support of reform, and reach out to our familiy member and friends. Health care reform cannot happen without us. We need a very strong presence in the next month to show our congress that we mean business and we want REAL reform NOW!!!!

Please volunteer with OFA now!!!! Get involved AGAIN!!! If President Obama ever needed your support for any of the issues it is Health Care. Your fellow Americans needs you! 46 million uninsured need you! We need you!

Relax, Obama Does Not Want to Kill Your Grandmother

mdelmuro — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:10:45 EDT

This is from my blog...

Barack Obama does not want to kill your grandmother or your unborn child.

Relax. Breathe. Repeat.

Barack Obama does NOT want to kill your grandmother or your unborn child.

The president also does not want to take over your current health coverage and replace it with a government-run plan.

I know. I know.

You’re saying, “But the guy on Fox News told me that he does!”

Or, “That guy giving the speech outside one of those town hall meetings said that Obama is the next Hitler or Stalin and he was wondering what the American holocaust would be called. He seemed so convincing!"

Unfortunately, if you believe these things, you’ve been lied to. You’ve been the pawn of special interest groups. You’ve been hoodwinked and bamboozled by the Republican lying machine.

If you don’t believe me, look at HR 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, which was recently introduced to Congress. I know it’s lawyer talk and can be confusing, but nowhere will you see the words “abortion” and “euthanasia.”

But more about this later.

Over the next few days, I’ll try to explain why this healthcare reform is actually a good thing, what this reform actually is, why fears regarding state-funded abortions and increased euthanizations for the elderly are unfounded scare tactics, and why liberal cries of “single-payer,” while well-meaning, are pipe dreams.

We will get to the lies and misconceptions, and actually look to see what “reform” means, but before that, it's important to discuss why reform is actually needed.

We’re No. 1 (in health expenditures)!

During the last few weeks, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard critics of health reform say, “They want to make the U.S. system look like those in Europe or Canada.”

Yes, please!

Unfortunately, this reform won’t go that far, but why wouldn’t the American politicians want to emulate the systems from Europe or Canada?

All of those mostly public systems are cheaper and more effective than the mostly private American system.

Reality is that the American healthcare system is broken. It’s been broken for years. It’s too expensive and excludes too many people.

In fact, the United States is the only developed country in the world that lacks universal coverage.

An estimated that 15 percent, or 45.7 million Americans lack coverage (link opens a PDF).

There are several reasons why so many Americans remain uninsured. The primary one being cost.

Most of the uninsured live in households that make less than $50,000 per year.

But at least 5 million Americans are uninsurable because of “pre-existing conditions.” In addition, there are an estimated 8 million uninsured children and an estimated 8 million uninsured young adults.

Healthcare reform should bridge this gap in coverage.

According to 2005 numbers from the World Health Organization, the United States spent 15.5 percent of its gross domestic product on health. Canada, which has mostly a publicly funded system, which covers all of its citizens, spent 9.7 percent of its GDP on health.

What? That has to be a mistake.

Let’s look at other publicly run systems. France? 11.2 percent of its GDP on health. The United Kingdom? 8.2 percent of its GDP. Sweden? 9.2 percent.

So the question that begs asking is why does it cost so much more in the United States?

It comes back to the uninsured, which leads to the excessive use of emergency care. The costs of these visits, which run into the thousands of dollars per hour, are then passed on to the American taxpayer.

In addition, lack of preventive care in this country and the failure of technological advancement to spread to the health industry, also increase to the troubled system.

A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit organization with the goal of “working toward a high performance health system,” ranked the United States last among 18 developed countries in healthcare.

In a smaller survey of six countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, and Australia—the U.S. system ranked last or next to last in quality care, access, efficiency, equity, healthy lives, and cost.

The steps taken in the House bill would do much to alleviate these problems and substantially improve the American system.

Tomorrow. The lies and misconceptions about reform.

National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse

Marguerita — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:09:28 EDT

http://nasga-stopguardianabuse.blogspot.com/

http://www.stopguardianabuse.org/

Stop Abusive Guardianships......Now!

Marguerita — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:45:12 EDT

http://www.sac-now.com/index.html

Thousands of adults are currently under Conservatorship. In California there are over 500 Conservators overseeing 4.5 BILLION DOLLARS in assets and 5,600 Conservatorship petitions filed each year. In 2000, the number of people in California who were 65 years of age or older was 3.7 million. By 2020, the number will have grown to 6.3 million. SAC, NOW is dedicated to the individuals who neither need nor require such drastic action and is working to protect everyone from abusive Conservatorships.

THE TOUGH BATTLE: FIGHTING CONSERVATORSHIP

Why did the Los Angeles Times do a 3-year investigation on Conservators? If fair laws had been originally enacted, there would have been no need for an investigation.
Why did it take a series of articles about abusive Conservators in the Los Angeles Times to motivate the Judicial Council to form the Probate Investigator Task Force?
Why did Administrative Presiding Judge Roger W. Boren, publicly state that the elderly were targets for Conservatorship?
Why did Assemblyman Dave Jones along with other members of the Assembly believe it was necessary to enact new laws?
Why is the State giving the impression that reforms and new laws are protecting the rights of its citizens?
Why didn't the State originally mandate education for Judges and Court Investigators prior to the Omnibus Act?
Why didn't the State require strict regulations before allowing a stranger to legally control the life and finances of another person?
Why is it more difficult to get a license to run a 'hot dog stand' than it is to become a conservator?
Conservators must be bonded, but do you know that the Conservatee pays for that bond?

In November of 2005, Robin Fields, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, ran a four part series on the ramifications of seniors placed under Conservatorship. The stories of rampant abuse, neglect and outright theft were shocking. Assemblyman Dave Jones asked for tighter restraints on professional Conservators, realizing that 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS and the lives of Conservatees were at risk. Assemblyman Jones' bills resulted in new legislation by the California Legislature, known as the Omnibus Conservatorship and Guardianship Reform Act of 2006.

The Omnibus Act made new provisions in an attempt to protect Conservatees, which requires a review of a Conservatorship after six months, education for Judges and Court Investigators, licensing for Conservators, new procedures regarding the sale of the Conservatees residence and investigating Conservators if the Court finds it necessary.

The Omnibus Act DOES NOT PROVIDE for the protection of your Constitutional rights, individual freedom, how your money is spent, where you are to live, the right to make your own medical decisions and a standard for the Courts to follow defining "clear and convincing evidence" for Conservatorship.

In 2006, the Judicial Council, the policy making body of the California courts, formed a 29 member "Probate Investigator Task Force". After eighteen months, the Council provided 85 recommendations for the Courts and the State. Patricia McGinnis, a member of the Council, was quoted in the Task Forces' final report as saying "We had a number of consumers to address this task force. Unfortunately all of the consumers that I talked to were afraid to testify. They were either fearful of being caught up in the system again or being sued." During a press conference, Administrative Presiding Judge Roger W. Boren, who heads the Los Angeles Appellate Court and the Task Force was quoted as saying "the elderly have a target on them, and that target is their estate." The Judicial Council acknowledged that it may take years, if at all, along with increased funding to implement their recommendations.

To read the articles in the Los Angeles Times, please visit
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-conservators-series

To read the Omnibus Act in it entirety, please visit
http://ceb.com/lawalerts/guardianshipconservatorships.asp

For their Judicial Council's full report, please visit
www.courtinfo.ca.gov

For more information on Conservatorships, please visit
www.retirementnightmare.com

Requirements For a License

All Conservators must be licensed with the Statewide Registry, which is a division of the Department of Justice. The requirements for a license with the Statewide Registry is a fee and college education. The Statewide Registry has no authority to take any action against an abusive Conservator. Many Conservators belong to the Professional Fiduciary Association of America. They do not make membership mandatory nor do they have jurisdiction to investigate abusive Conservators. In July of 2008, the Department of Consumer Affairs will take responsibility from the Statewide Registry and will oversee and license Conservators.

If a family member agrees to become the Conservator, the only requirement is to be bondable, with no criminal history. According to the Professional Fiduciary Association, 60% of all abuses against Conservatees are by family members. Using the professional Fiduciary Association's statistics, does this mean that 40% of abuse is performed by professional Conservators? When is it ever acceptable for anyone to be abusive? When is someone going to step up and make a difference? When is someone going to stand up for the rights of beloved family members?

SAC, NOW knows that little has changed and people are as vulnerable today as they were prior to the new laws. All the previously mentioned abuses STILL EXIST TODAY.

SAC, NOW believes it is hypocritical that neither the Assembly nor the Judicial Council addressed any of the major issues; the Constitutional Rights, civil liberties and freedoms of Conservatees are still seized by the Court. It is a fact that convicted felons have more rights than those under Conservatorship. The Conservatee is still required to pay ALL attorneys' fees and Court costs. The Courts still allow testimony against the Conservatee without any proof or evidence.

If our elected officials won't seriously address these issues, it is incumbent upon SAC, NOW to inform the people that the new laws CHANGE NOTHING. If you believe this could never happen to you, think again. Once a Conservatorship is started, it's already too late.

Is Conservatorship Fair?

Don't let someone you love become the next victim of unwarranted Conservatorship.

If you support SAC, NOW please join us in our fight. The time for waiting is over.

What your tax deductible donation will do:

Keep the public informed with the truth about abusive Conservatorships, the Court system and your Living Trust and Will
Publish "Statements of Fact" in major newspapers outlining the realities of Conservatorship
Provide experienced attorneys with an expert background in Conservatorships
Assist with legal aid for all proposed and existing Conservatees in their attempt to get out of the system
Assemble a Watchdog Committee to fight abusive Conservatorships
To enlist our citizens to support SAC, NOW's efforts to heighten awareness to the vulnerability of all of our seniors
Present information regarding recent legislation that was passed or vetoed regarding Conservatorship reform
Offer educational seminars providing true understanding as to what a Conservatorship means
Provide a venue for potential and existing Conservatees who are seeking help and to ask questions
Allow you to share your personal story that could help someone else

Please join us in our fight against unwarranted and abusive Conservatorships

Your donation will help SAC, NOW continue the fight to protect the rights of all, or.. you can wait for the day when you may become the next victim of Conservatorship.

Please contact us at info@sac-now.com

Send donations to: SAC, NOW 4968 Calvin Avenue Tarzana, CA 91356

If you wish you may call us at (818) 345-4339

Don't wait for your elected officials to have more committee's and debates.
The time for change is NOW.

SAC, NOW is dedicated to our Mother, who was unjustly placed under Conservatorship

This is my blog on Elder Abuse.....

Marguerita — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:03:37 EDT

http://www.elderabuseadvocate.blogspot.com/

Estate of Denial Website: What do you think?

Marguerita — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:00:15 EDT

http://www.estateofdenial.com/

Links and Sources

IRA web sites and related content:

ElderAbuseHelp.Org
Spotlight on Elder Abuse
Tom Fields (http://home.roadrunner.com/~tvfields/ http://home.roadrunner.com/~tvfields/Directory.htm http://home.roadrunner.com/~tvfields/dir.htm http://home.roadrunner.com/~tvfields/ILF_Links/Frameset001.htm)
Marshall v. Marshall: Information on the Litigation Involving Anna Nicole Smith and the Estate of J. Howard Marshall II
Eric Baxter (http://bellsouthpwp.net/b/a/baxterericweb/lear)
Indiana Probate Nightmares
The Guardianship Program in Washington State
Chester Chalupowski Lynched by Court Order
Stop Abusive Conservatorships, Now
Elder Abuse Advocate
Advocates for National Guardianship Ethics and Reform
Integrity in the Courts
Expose Corrupt Courts
National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse
National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse Blog
Dr. Vernon Sinn Guardianship (http://dupagecorruption.org/elderabuse.html)
Endofesq.com
People Get Screwed All the Time, Bob Massi (www.bobmassi.com)
Blood Tastes Lousy with Scotch, Robin Cohen Westmiller (www.ravenwest.net)
Margaret K. Dore, Ten Reasons People Get Railroaded into Guardianship, 21 American Journal of Family Law 148, Winter 2008
Part One Mayor Meek Will Probate Fraud
Part Two of Mayor Meek Will Signing
Victims-of-Law
Lemon Justice: Don’t Get Mad, Get Lemon Justice!

UNDUE INFLUENCE: There Oughta Be a Law (or Two) from Lisa Nerenberg/Expert on Elder Abuse

Marguerita — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:03:02 EDT

UNDUE INFLUENCE: There Oughta Be a Law (or Two)

PLEASE VISIT LISA NERENBERG'S WEBSITE

When undue influence was “discovered” as a significant factor in elder abuse a decade ago, it immediately struck a chord with advocates and service providers who'd been seeing the phenomenon for years. They may not have had a term for it, but they knew it when they saw it.

But translating undue influence into law, or more specifically, translating it into an infraction of the law, hasn’t been easy. See Undue Influence is Not a Crime (Nov 20, 06), Postscript on Undue Influence is Not a Crime (Dec 4, 06), PPS on Undue Influence: The Civil Side (Dec 14, 06), and Long Distance Undue Influence (June 20, 06). For links to these postings and more on undue influence, visit my Web site at Prevent Elder Abuse.

This year, advocates in California are tackling the problem full force. The California District Attorney's Association has teamed up with California Senator Bob Margett to broaden the definition of financial abuse used in California’s penal code (PC 368) to include “undue influence upon an elder or dependent adult for financial gain.”  The bill, SB 1259, came largely in response to the criminal case against Ronald Brock that I described in “Elder Abuse is Not A Crime.” In that landmark case, Brock was convicted of theft based on undue influence, but an appeals court overturned the conviction on that grounds that obtaining money by consent is only theft if the defendant uses coercion or misrepresentation and that the judge had erred in allowing a conviction for conduct that was "little more than overpersuasion." See SB 1259.

SB 1140, sponsored by State Senator Darrell Steinberg, would amend sections of the state’s Welfare and Institutions code pertaining to financial abuse to allow elders to recover property (and lawyers’ fees) when property is taken from them through undue influence or when they lack full mental capacity. See SB 1140.

Drawing the lines between persuasion, overpersuasion, and unlawful acts clearly isn’t going to be easy. It requires rethinking old assumptions and reevaluating deeply held values. Our society reveres and rewards the ingenuous and entrepreneurial who succeed in anticipating and responding to both real and fabricated needs and desires. Enticement and seduction are a fact of life. But as we come to understand the vulnerabilities engendered by advanced age, we need to balance our commitment to personal freedom and choice with our obligation to protect and defend. In short, we need to define the point at which society has a responsibility to step in and call foul.

Learning about Elder Abuse

Marguerita — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:54:30 EDT

Learn About Elder Abuse Undue Influence

PLEASE VISIT LISA NERENBERG'S WEBSITE (click HERE)

http://lisanerenberg.com/whatsnew.html#emerging

The "discovery" of undue influence as a significant factor in elder abuse has revolutionized thinking about how people fall prey to "artful manipulators" and what service providers can do help prevent exploitive relationships. The resources on this page provide an overview of undue influence and how it is being addressed by the criminal and civil justice systems.

Resources on Undue Influence

Hornswoggled? An interview with Margaret Singer on undue influence. I interviewed Margaret Singer, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and emeritus adjunct professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1996 for nexus, a publication of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA). Dr. Singer was a nationally renowned expert on cults, brainwashing, persuasion, and undue influence.
Undue Influence and Written Documents: Psychological Aspects. This article by Margaret Singer was originally printed in the Journal of Questioned Document Examination, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1992, the official publication of the Independent Association of Questioned Document Examiners, Inc. It is reprinted on the website of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). In it, Dr. Singer describes social influence techniques, tactics of thought reform, and responses and behavior found in other high-control, intense influence situations ranging from the Stockholm syndrome to abused women and the methods of corrupt caretakers. The case of the "evil nurse" is discussed to illustrate these factors. In addition the following conditions of influence are discussed in their relationship to undue influence: isolation, creating a siege mentality, dependency, sense of powerlessness, sense of fear and vulnerability, and being kept unaware.
A Loss for the Family Field: The Death of Margaret T. Singer. This collection of brief tributes to Margaret Singer appears on the website of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)
Undue Influence in Contract and Probate Law. The article by Abraham Nievod, Ph.D., J.D of San Francisco was originally printed in the Journal of Questioned Document Examination, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1992, the official publication of the Independent Association of Questioned Document Examiners, Inc. It is reprinted on the website of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA).This article outlines the history of undue influence and the law, definitions of undue influence, judicial considerations in deciding undue influence cases, and the types of cases in which document examiners may be called upon to testify. Undue influence cases most commonly appear in contract or probate law. Undue influence cases may occur in relationships based upon trust and confidence, family members or friends, or within the context of totalistic groups.
Psychological Aspects of Undue Influence. This article by Ira Daniel Turkat, a psychologist who has served on the faculty at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the University of Florida College of Medicine, is on the website of the American Bar Association. In it, Dr. Trukat describes how undue influence usurps people’s free will and presents a model for understanding the psychological variables that can produce the improper substitution of one person’s will for that of another.
Can a Science of Social Influence Be Used to Stop Economic Fraud Crimes? This article by Anthony Pratkanis, an experimental social psychologist and the founding editor of a new academic journal, Social Influence is based on testimony before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging on July 27, 2005. It appears on APA (American Psychological Association) Online.
Hall, R. C., Hall, R. C., & ;13(2):, M. J. C. (2005). Exploitation of the elderly: Undue influence as a form of elder abuse. Clinical Geriatrics, 13(2), 28-36 [PDF:93kb]
Naimark, D. (2001). Financial exploitation of the elderly: The evaluation of mental capacity and undue influence. American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 22(3), 5-19
Quinn, M. J. (2002). Undue influence and elder abuse: Recognition and intervention strategies. Geriatric Nursing, 23(1), 11-16

Websites

Bennett Blum, M.D., is a physician specializing in forensic and geriatric psychiatry. His website, www.bennettblummd.com provides information on mental capacity and undue influence and tools that he has developed for evaluating them.

From My Blog:

Getting Our Minds (and Laws) Around Undue Influence. Friday, October 31, 2008. Undue influence. We know it when we see it, and those of us in elder abuse prevention see it often: elders who are ill, lonesome, isolated, impaired, or grieving being persuaded to give away assets, sometimes homes and life savings, to new acquaintances, suitors, family members, or even cunning cons in other countries. They use various devices--trust documents, powers of attorney, wills, sweepstake offers, bogus charities, or quickie marriages--but the results are the same: getting vulnerable elders to do things they wouldn’t have done otherwise. Read more…
Undue Influence: There Oughta be a Law (or Two). Monday, March 24, 2008. When undue influence was “discovered” as a significant factor in elder abuse a decade ago, it immediately struck a chord with advocates and service providers who'd been seeing the phenomenon for years. They may not have had a term for it, but they knew it when they saw it. But translating undue influence into law, or more specifically, translating it into an infraction of the law, hasn’t been Read more…
PPS on Undue Influence: The Civil Side (December 14, 2006)
For the season of giving...
Caregivers in California who receive last-minute bequests from those they care for are presumed to have exercised undue influence, even if they were close friends. That’s because of a controversial 1993 law that was recently upheld on appeal (Bernard v. Foley). Probate Code Section 21350 was enacted following a scandal that involved an estate-planning attorney who named himself and his family as fiduciaries for, and beneficiaries of, clients’ estates. To see the full post, click on PPS on Undue Influence: The Civil Side.
Postscript on Undue Influence is Not a Crime (December 04, 2006)
Last week, Melissa McKowan, prosecutor in the undue influence case I described in my last post, told me that the California Supreme Court has denied a request to review the appellate court’s reversal, so the case can’t be retried. To see the full post, click on Postscript on Undue Influence is Not a Crime.
Undue Influence is Not a Crime (November 20, 2006)
So said a California appeals court last month in ruling on the case of a 78-year-old San Mateo man who wrote over $660,000 in checks to a friend and helper. To see the full post, click on Undue Influence is Not a Crime.
Long Distance Undue Influence (June 20, 2006)
Last week, San Diego prosecutor Paul Greenwood posted a message to NCEA’s list serve about an “articulate, coherent and charming” elderly woman who’d sent over $50,000 to telemarketers in Canada despite being warned repeatedly that they were crooks. She described feeling “hypnotized.” It reminded me of when Dennis Morris, a San Francisco prosecutor, came to a meeting of our multidisciplinary team more than a decade ago and asked if anyone knew of an expert in brainwashing. To see the full post, click on Long Distance Undue Influence

Zephyr Reunion

Julia from Pasadena — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:33:45 EST

We had a reunion at the coffee shop where we first started meeting, the week Barack Obama announced he was running for office.

It was a great night, lots of stories and laughs were exchanged. We had a reporter from a local paper there, and got a chance to talk about our current and future endevours at Rose City Obamaworks

You Have Holes In Your Shoes

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:25:13 EST

A very good morning to all my friends, co-workers and fellow walkers.
I'm about to go get the morning paper. Usually I'd drive.
Instead I'm going to walk, past the left over ghosts, goblins and rotting pumkins tangled in gauzy fake cobwebs in trashcans mingling porch-side with the dewy yardsigns that are all thats left to signify a moment in history, past some homes where a battle for the soul of a Nation was just waged, past a lot of memories of friends and rivals, of doors knocked and phones rang and messages typed.
Did I say the soul of a Nation? Or the soles of one?
The ghosts and goblins lost. Our shoes won.
That's why I've decided to walk this morning. Even though my soles have worn over the last year or so, they have never given way.
Neither have yours. Never.
And I've been more than privileged to watch your amazing footwork. I've seen you sitting at a booth at the street fair. I've seen you on a street corner. I've heard your reassuring voice on the other end of a phone. I've seen you here on this screen some nights I couldn't sleep.
This morning, I ask you, my friends and co workers, my fellow revolutionaries on Team Obama, to look down at your shoes and thank them. Give 'em a good polish for me.
Those shoes of yours have won a chance to secure the future of this country and this planet.
Yes, it is only a chance. The rest is up to how many will keep walking. Who will take a walk a bit further with us? We may stumble, we may even fall even as our President does, but as you have done so many times before, I can only hope that we will be there to help each other up again.
Our shoes have carried us a ways, beyond this campaign, over difficult and unsteady terrain. I've watched you, been consoled by you, been inspired by you, all my friends, with a sense of disbelief, a sense of awe, a sense of something so special that I feared I never would see its like even while I dreamed of it for years.
We've made history together this morning, and we did it one step, one slab of pavement at a time. Do not discount what you've done. No matter how big or small, (and you may think it small but believe me its not) you've taken steps, and the earth has moved.
Yesterday at Cal Tech our voices reached 10,000 voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Mexico, all States that a few hours later Obama won. I tried not to cry like a wuss when an elderly lady came up to me at the phonebank, barely able to speak, only to whisper that their voice was too hoarse to go on. She'd been there for six hours.
Kelly could probably tell you better but I know our small group alone reached at least 30,000 voters in over a month. I believe California made 2 million calls in a day.
For each one of those hoarse voices that came up to me yesterday after hours of calling, five more pairs of worn shoes walked in the door.
You know what's funny? I'm not tired and neither were they. Our soles are scuffed up but they're still in good shape.
Polish you shoes today. Put them on the mantle in appreciation, but only for the afternoon.
Tomorrow, lets put our shoes back on and keep walking. Keep talking. Keep remembering this moment. Carry it with you. Carry it with you every day for the rest of your lives. Carry with you the feeling that anything is possible, that youth is NOT only skin deep, that the naivety of young dreams and thoughts is a necessity and that the only impossible things are the things we call impossible in our own minds. Hold yourself accountable as much as your leaders because they cannot walk without our shoes.
Reality is how we make it and make no mistake, we've reinvented it over the last months together. We've remade our world in one fell swoop. We did it together.
If we all keep walking together, we can go anywhere. We can do anything from here.
One phrase will play over and over this morning in my head as I get that paper;
"Anything is possible."
Yes. The walk ahead is hard and long and full of holes.
"Anything is possible."
The period of time we've all worked together, whether its been on the phones, in simple reassuring conversations, as bits of text on a computer screen, while running from pit bulls in Vegas together, or in a simple hug or handshake last night, if you're receiving this message this morning, its because you made a difference somehow, to me, to this movement to take back this country, to this walk we've been on that daily became more possible, less dream and more reality. It's because you used your voice until you couldn't and you kept your head while others didn't. Its because together we did something not because it was easy or profitable but because it was right.
It was right.
What you put out, comes back.
Make no mistake. "Anything is possible." We've pulled off a revolution and brought ourselves back, at least for the moment, from the brink of extinction that is as both mental as is it is real.
Keep walking. When your shoes wear out, keep them to remind yourselves of where you've been. We've earned that memory.
Keep walking. Anything is possible.
Thank you.
Lance MungiaCo-Team Coordinator CD26 CentralObama For America 08

I hope to see you soon with your shoes on.

Check out the President-elect with holes in his shoes below. He'll be doing some walking too. in January his worn shoes will ascend some steps that slaves once built, so that he might take an oath.
Those who built the steps may never have known what is possible, but we do. We aren't the first to walk, and we won't be the last. But thanks to our efforts the path remains unbroken.

To Friends Both Gone and Present

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:18:48 EDT

So its September 11th again.

Seven years ago today, I learned a handful of my finest friends were dead.

I knew my accountant was on United Flight 93 to San Francisco that morning.

It crashed over a lonely field thanks to a handful of determined Saudi criminals.

My roommate and best friend emailed me from the Borders Books at the World Trade Center the night of September 10th, 2001, saying he'd be back in the building at 7 AM to get an email address he needed from me on the computer he was paying to use there. He and his mom were on vacation.

That next Sept. 11 morning I heard a radio report of fire inside Borders Books, where trapped people beat helplessly against reinforced glass walls. I was on my way home from a store where people were fighting over bottles water and canned beans.

I had to pull over.

EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ELECTION FRAUD BUT WAS AFRAID TO ASK!

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:16:09 EDT

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ELECTION FRAUD BUT WAS AFRAID TO ASK.

This may be the most important email you get this election. Pay attention. Keep it and read it when you have fifteen minutes. But don't wait too long.

We're going to talk about the white elephant in the room, the fact that a bunch of our votes may not count if we don't act now. If we don't devote attention to this in our volunteer duties, we will lose. Two sentences added to the end of a phonecall or random conversation can win this election.

"Have you checked your voter registration lately?" and "Do you know where your early polling place is?"

Early voting IN PERSON is the key, not absentee. Most cities have polling booths open days ahead of the election in at least one central location. You can show up a few days ahead of time, find your name on the rolls and then cast your vote. If there's a problem you can still make changes to your registration or file a complaint so others know a problem exists BEFORE November 4th.

VOTING ABSENTEE CAN BE DANGEROUS. If your vote was challenged shortly before the election because your house was foreclosed and the GOP challenged your address at the last minute, you will not know you are not on the rolls. Soldiers in Iraq or otherwise overseas vote absentee and their votes often didn't count in 2000 and 2004 because DO NOT FORWARD letters sent to their house in the States on behalf of the GOP, friendly little reminder letters, have been returned to sender and the GOP has used them to challenge the vote of some poor grunt that may take a piece of shrapnel to protect somebody else's freedom to vote.

That grunt may die on a sandy battlefield never knowing his own right to vote was just challenged because he had to vote absentee.

Also, if its a Republican County and there are Republican poll workers sorting the mail there when your ballot comes in absentee, they could very easily toss in the trash anything that looks like its coming from a Democrat. Absentee only works in SAFELY Democratic districts we shouldn't be worrying about anyway.

Have I mentioned how important it is to learn how to become a poll worker?

How does the GOP poll worker that signed up to work the polls while you were watching Seinfeld know who's absentee ballots to toss in the trash?

Duh.

They looked at the name.

If the name sounds like John Smith, they may seig heil it as a good old boy white male Republican and let it through. If its Tanisha Jackson, or Maria Ramirez, Or Fundi Abdul Han, they would figure its a minority leftist insurgent, AKA a Democrat, and throw it out.

In some counties, absentee ballots are even marked on the distinctive envelope "DEMOCRAT".

Way to go slick.

Speaking of dummies, some people are even dumb enough to actually mark their party affiliation on the absentee ballot. I'm sure that will get past the hands of some unbelievably lucky Republican poll worker or mail thief with no scruples and a bone to pick.

I got a lot of this information out of the book "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast, a well respected American BBC reporter who is partnered with Robert Kennedy Jr. He's done his homework. You can find "Armed Madhouse" at the library or Borders and its all pretty well documented in those pages.

In his book, Greg suggests as I do that early voting, IN PERSON, is the key. I would suggest getting the word out to as many groups as possible about this. This needs to be distributed in the real world by real people, not just on the internet. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHERE EARLY POLLING PLACES ARE. I'm not writing this to pass notes to my buddies, I'm writing it for the elderly couple in Indiana, the young turks in Ohio, and the middle aged taco vender in New Mexico. I'll let you translate it into something more suitable to get to those areas.

The people affected by this problem probably don't have the internet anyway. For 56 days we have a national organization that can get to them.

If we do nothing, we do it at our peril.

I don't have time to post the information on every group but a few of us could if someone is willing to start devoting time to this. We should also petition the obviously distracted and busy Obama campaign to do the same.

Nothing is more important as an issue, especially if you live in a swing state and especially if you live in an area that trends minority and Democrat, as those are the easiest to target for fraud due to the names.

Make no mistake, the GOP IS cheating. The poll results that have just come out as being skewed Republican in USA Today, Rassmussen and others are a foreshadowing of shady things to come. They're manipulating the polls to influence swing votes who believe mistakenly there's a GOP bandwagon to get on and to set us up for a possible loss. It is not a coincidence that every major election comes down to a few thousand or hundred votes. We are not that perfectly bipolar in our views across the nation.

Want to know more? Keep reading.

Other ways the vote is stolen? The privatized voting companies, who trend Republican because they're corporate, (don't ask me why we privatize our vote, or why one of John McCain's campaign managers tried to by Diebold, the biggest offender that also makes ATMs, just after he go the nomination.)

These private companies will deliver too few or too old manual voting machines (not electronic) to minority neighborhoods. Rickety machines will break early in the day or if there's not enough to begin with they will create long lines. At various times I've voted in Republican districts where I ALWAYS breezed through in twenty minutes. I've also voted in minority neighborhoods where it took me three hours.

Go figure.

People wont want to wait long periods and they'll go home or be forced back to work without voting. I don't know how we do it, but someone should be checking amounts of voting machines and quality of voting machines delivered to heavily minority areas. Really the campaign should be doing this or we should make them. Don't assume I am forwarding this information to the campaign or that they already know. I was shocked by the lack of knowledge on behalf of the Obama campaign when these issues occurred Super Tuesday. The response I got was, "we're going to file a complaint."

Somehow, that didn't work for Gore or Kerry. If we wait for the powers that be to act, we'll be waiting another four years.

The most frustrating and illusive way the vote is stolen is by electronic vote. Although usage of electronic machines is down because of problems that create miscounts that have surfaced publicly, (The new Secretary of State in California just decertified them shortly before the primary) electronic machines still represent 30 percent of the total machines nationwide, which is a huge margin. Most importantly, Ohio is still using them even though they admit that they lost at least 2000 votes in 2004. The real figure is probably in tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds. (The race was won by a Bush margin I believe less than ten thousand votes.)

In 2004, in one precinct in New Mexico, registered voter population 900, entirely Hispanic and heavily Democrat, where the Catholic church did a massive get out the vote drive to transport people to the polls from all over the rural area in school busses, there were 925 votes cast on the Diebold electronic machines. EVERY VOTE was either for BUSH or none of the above. Kerry didn't receive a SINGLE vote.

Can you say "machine error"?

There was no paper trail as these votes were beamed directly to the companies corporate headquarters. So Democrats drove miles in schoolbusses to vote "none of the above" or for Bush... I guess.

I talked to an IT tech. What happens is electronic machines can be "accidentally bumped" to change the touch screen radius, skewing the totals so some people may vote for Bush instead of Kerry because Bush has a touch radius on the screen bigger than Kerry. There's no paper receipt so you'll have no idea if the machine sent in a mistake.

Provisional ballots. Suck. If you get a provisional ballot in a swing State, count on your vote not counting. Sometimes Republican poll workers will stand smiling at the door and ask where people live, to direct them to either the green or orange table where they'll be on the rolls.

Only, in reality, sometimes they'll direct anyone that is minority or who looks bohemian or younger or just plain angry to the wrong table, so you won't find your name on the rolls and you'll be handed a provisional ballot that will not count because the most likely Republican Secretary of that swing State will rule NOT to count provisional ballots almost automatically. They only count provisionals in razor close votes, and if they haven't counted thousands of them yet, perhaps not even realizing the amount there, how will they ever know its close?

They won't. PROVISIONAL BALLOTS DO NOT COUNT!

Switching people to provisional ballots is also the purpose of why so many Democrat voters registrations get switched "magically" to Republican or Independent. I personally know six people this has happened to, and as a poll monitor I witnessed or heard secondhand of at least another 100 minority voters in just TWO precincts in Pasadena that were furious because their registrations had been switched without their knowledge and they were denied the right to vote in the Democratic primary. They were told gladly that they could vote for McCain or Romney... if they wanted.

Why bother changing a Democratic registration to Republican, you may ask?

Why? So that when voters show up on the day of the vote, their registration isn't listed where they think it will be, and again they'll be handed a worthless provisional ballot. Poof. No vote. I guess nobody thought to check under R for Republican.

When I told the Obama campaign about the many lifelong Democrat voters being turned away as being magically Republican in a Democratic primary, they were rightfully furious. Campaign workers said, "Those people should have been handed provisional ballots!"

Uh... did I mention the problem with those yet?

How does the anyone accomplish this amazing magic of registration switching and why does it happen to a few Republicans too? I remember on Super Tuesday night, the news even did a fluff piece on a, heaven forbid, REPUBLICAN, who had her vote registration switched in the primary. Hey, are the Democrats pulling something too?

I don't think so. I'd guess this lady probably is just a whale watcher and she got caught in the same net the Democrats that lost their vote did.

A whale watcher? What do I mean by that?

Well, all these magic flips of registration may have occurred months or years ago and voters were too lazy to check and see if their registration is still what they think it is. Independent groups loyal to the GOP have operatives canvass neighborhoods or hang out on college campuses. Y'know the guys with the petitions to save the whales or approve that new Indian Casino? Next time you sign one, flip to the last page. If there's a faded carbon copy there, it could be a voter registration change form, or transfered to one, and you sign it, they'll send it in and request your registration be changed to Republican or Independent.

The Republican on the news crying about how her registration was switched probably thought that she was saving the whales when she signed that form in the parking lot at Wallmart. Come to think of it, she did LOOK sort of liberal. Well, the result was that the form got sent in somehow to change her to a liberal on paper at least.

You think you're saving the whales and instead you're saving the GOP.

The angry would be whale watchers I met on Super Tuesday that had their registration changed weren't cheated by the DNC or Greenpeace in 2008, they probably didn't even bother to vote in 2004 or 2006 and their vote was stolen a long time ago by Karl Rove or someone else in a local race and we were just feeling the effect in the massive voter turn out caused by Clinton and Obama.

We can assume all those people that were turned away have fixed their registration by now, right?

Hmn. Big assumption. I'll bet money they're still working ten hours and then watching Sienfeld over a pizza instead of stressing about it. We better mention that the next time we make a volunteer call or have a conversation somewhere, huh?

Dealing with forms and government agencies scares people. They won't bother to check. I talked to girl who's registration was switched to Republican years ago and she's never been brave enough to figure out how to switch back so she can vote in a Primary. Some people actually think they'll get in trouble with the IRS if they call. Heck, beurocracy scares me too.

I know in Los Angeles you can check your registration at lavote.net, but for the rest of the country, I don't know. Thats up to you to figure out.

Rule 1 in election fraud; All politics are local. Even in a Democratic state, a Republican district may create election fraud. Why did those Precincts in Pasadena have so much magical registration flipping? Who cares, this is sunny Democrat California, right?

Wrong.

I live in a Republican Distict that has a lot of tight local races. These people were frauded to keep a local hack in office, not to rig a Presidential campaign, but the result is just the same.

When it comes to election fraud, the thing to understand is that its death by a thousand cuts. There is no one grand scheme. Yes, Karl Rove did approve thousands of names on caging lists, (voters to be challenged by first class mail being returned) The email was titled "RE: CAGING LISTS" and sent by Rove's protege Tim Griffin from his Washington office. Little Timmy was under investigation for vote caging until Bush fired the prosecuting US Attorney and gave GRIFFIN the U.S. attorney's job, uh, until Griffin resigned the day Greg Palast outted the story to Rep. John Conyers who swore to investigate (no joke, you can find the actual lists CC'd to Karl Rove in the latest version of "Armed Madhouse" Greg Palast's book.) The lists were sent accidentally to rnc.org instead of rnc.com, or something like that, and thus they were sent to a spoof site instead, who handed the emails to Palast. Oops.

But that was just part of it.

All the GOP in general does is look at any way possible to keep the amount of people voting down as much as possible.

When you add overly improvisational and passionate neocon poll workers to the mix, overly creative neocons working to approve registrations within the local parties, and some whacky new laws like the "VOTER ID" laws in Indiana and other states that will disenfrancise thousands of people simply because they're working two jobs and don't have time to go get a new I.D., or they're too elderly to get out of the house and get an I.D., or they can't pay the fee, if there is one, which amounts to a Jim Crow poll tax, well, that can ad up.

Thats why the Democratic party fought the voter I.D. laws and the GOP screamed to the rooftops about illegal aliens voting twice. (What illegal alien is even going to show up when they're afraid they're gonna be deported anyway?) Y'know how many people were charged with vote fraud in the last eight years, after Bush's task force on it?

Five.

And I'm sure those were probably trumped up. Oh wait, it was six. I almost forgot Anne Coulter.

Bottom line, find out where early polling places have been set up in each district and spread the word locally. Every volunteer at every Obama phonebank to a swing state should be at the end of the call telling voters to check their registrations before they vote with enough time to fix problems, and to vote early, IN PERSON, at early polling places.

I'm no supergenius expert here, I got all the information either by just reading some articles factchecked online or directly out of Greg Palast's book "Armed Madhouse." Its a book I highly recommend everyone get in the next few days and read, at least the chapters on stealing the vote. You can go to gregpalast.com to learn a bit more about the issue.

Dont assume I'm forwarding this information around. I took the time to compile it so you wouldn't have to spend a week reading Greg's book and so you can share it. Please, forward this information to anyone you know who cares about the right to vote, especially if they live in a swing state or Republican district with tight local races. We can short circuit this problem if we inform voters to simply check their registrations, vote early and vote in person at established early polling places.

Voting absentee is not the best solution, and neither is waiting until November 4th to figure out if your vote has been lost six months beforehand.

Make no mistake. This is a war for the future of this country and it will be won in the fine print.

Most importantly, most importantly of all, is DO NOT DESPAIR.

Hopefully you are still reading and not hanging from the rafters by now.

When I first heard all this information, my immediate reaction was to throw up my hands and say, "What?! Why bother to make an effort to vote if there is massive evidence out there of all this fraud."

I read the book "Armed Madhouse" before Barack Obama decided to run for the White House. I went into this effort knowing all the information I just gave you, and yet I have canvassed for Obama in two States, I've made hundreds of phonecalls, and I've made an award winning ad that played nationally for free.

Why? Why did I choose to support Senator Obama and work my ass off, putting my life and career at times on hold, when I knew what I know?

Because the GOP wants us to despair and stay safely on your computer bitching, or at home eating pizza.

Because from the start, from even before the start, I knew that Barack Obama was the only possible candidate that can surpass any effort to cheat the American Electorate. I knew that Barack Obama could do what he has done, that he could motivate the American people, and that there's nothing more dangerous than a motivated electorate. Barack Obama represents our best chance at taking our country back from the criminals that stole it in 2000 and 2004.

And the GOP has known it all along too.

Well, you see, its precisely because of all our efforts that stuff like vote caging isn't going to work. Elections can only be frauded if people aren't paying attention. In a war, you sacrifice some brave troops to the machine guns in order to overwhelm the machine gun nest. Not all the votes have to count, but there needs to be enough of them cast that they overwhelm any effort to cheat.

Why haven't we heard more outrage from our leaders on this issue? Why isn't Obama screaming from the rooftops about it the way that Dennis Kucinich did after New Hampshire in the primary? And hey, whatever happened to Dennis's appeal for a recount in New Hampshire?

Trust me, Obama comes from Chicago. He understands vote rigging. I believe he's on it. Think about it. That's why he's running the tremendous ground game he is. If Obama was to come out and say anything about possible election fraud in a way that was picked up by the main stream press, not only would he look like a fringe candidate, as Kucinich unfortunately but bravely did, he may also actually supress voter turn out. You'd get a lot of people that would say, "what's the use, my vote isn't going to count, why should I bother?"

We don't want to foster that impression, either in our own minds or others. We MUST, MUST, MUST educate ourselves on these matters so that we can fight them. We MUST, MUST, MUST, put enough fear in voters to get them a bit angry and make them check their registrations even if they believe them to be valid, but we MUST NOT cause despair.

The turnout in this election will be historic. Chances are that our months of voter registration drives already are going to overwhelm any chance at election rigging in at least most states. But all it takes is one State like Ohio or Florida, that is why we must concentrate our efforts in those swing States and be careful how its discussed with voters. We don't want to turn them off.

We're simply informing them about how to check their registration just to prevent any unforeseen problems that might be lurking because maybe they haven't ever bothered to check before. If you sound like a conspiracy theorist, they'll ignore you. Be practical when they say, "Oh, I'm not worried, I know my registration. I got my sample ballot." Then you just tell them, "Yes, but its worth a call to check your registration anyway. Last minute errors have been known to cost votes. Better safe than sorry".

Words to live by. Better safe than sorry.

Distribute this far and wide please.

P.S. I'm listening to radio as I type this. The talk radio host on Air America 1150. In Madison Wisconsin, Democrat voters are apparently getting unsolicited absentee ballot applications that are mailers apparently from JOHN McCAIN'S campaign. These mailers misinform voters to send applications to the wrong office in the wrong city to recieve their ballots.

(They're probably not really from the campaign, but they're from an Independent group with enough GOP funding to mess with the absentee vote. Try googling the story as told on Air America radio at 11:10am.)

I will say it one final time. VOTE IN PERSON AND VOTE EARLY. FIND YOUR EARLY POLLING PLACES AND SPREAD THE WORD.

view more of my blogs and spread the word, any links appreciated, athttp://samuraipatriot.blogspot.com/

A GRAND UNIFICATION THEORY OF VICTORY

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:53:10 EDT

We are at war.

No, I don't mean in the deserts of Iraq and Afganistan, although surely that's the case too. I mean right here, on the streets, farms and blogs of the good old U.S.A.

As we wake up this morning there is a war going on for the hearts and minds of America. Depending on what paper or magazine you read, the war is going very differently. There are factions at work in the press, the polling industry, the entertainment industry, that are fighting a deathmatch before our eyes. One side will not survive, and they both know it.

This war will last less than sixty days and is not about the issues, it is not about grand ideas, it is not about which party is more qualified to lead us, although certainly all that too is at stake.

The war is about sustained momentum. It is about what drives it. It is about character. Most of all, it is simply about PERCEPTION of those things.

You see, the race for the White House has become about how long John McCain can sustain the illusion that he and Sarah Palin have taken over momentum. The race from this point forward is the difference between what McCain wants you to believe about the race versus the reality of the race. The national polls do not reflect a winner, they reflect a trend. Obama is winning hands down in the electoral college, but if perception doesn't shift, that could change.

John McCain hopes that you and more importantly Barack Obama will panic. He hopes that the illusion of victory will translate to the reality of it. As I type this he is trying to guilt the press into accepting his version of truth. He doesn't need to convince the entire nation or even the entire main stream media of the illusion that the country is swinging his way. No. Just as in the primaries much of the crystal ball reading by pundits and polls engaged in theatrics for the benefit of purely some undecided voters in Iowa, all of the histrionics about Sarah Palin and the national polls now are soley for the benefit of a few undecided and swing voters in OH, NV, NM, MO, and FL.

How do we combat this? Or better, how does Barack Obama combat this? By being blunt. By showing up to a knife fight with a gun. Obama needs to be more blunt than any candidate for President in U.S. history. He needs to pull back the curtain and show us Oz's saggy white bottom. He needs to expose the propaganda in ways a fifth grader will get.

Some of the most partisan polls and lies are also about padding the floor for the jaw drop that might occur should McCain actually win. He needs a narrative to justify his victory and prevent a second civil war. He needs to sell the American electorate a bill of goods so that he can say, "see, wasn't I a genius? I picked Palin and that's why I won."

They'll hit you with manipulated facts and figures. That'll work to a point. Beyond that, they're gonna cage votes. They're gonna deliver too few voting machines to minority neighborhoods. They're gonna send you to the wrong table to vote so you get a provisional ballot you can wipe Oz's saggy butt with.

All they need to do to win is suppress voter turnout enough so that their propaganda narrative can allow them a shot.

But Sarah Palin will not gain McCain the White House. That's political propanganda, smoke and mirrors. The truth of the matter is that they can't sustain Sarah Palin. Right now, McCain is simply gambling everything he's got that the house of cards won't crumble in the next 57 days or so.

Well, if your feet ain't movin' already, I'd start stomping the ground to get those cards a' tumblin'.

You see, McCain plays craps in Vegas, sometimes for up to 14 hours at a time. Right now he's got his whole wad sitting on lucky 6 and he's praying you roll the hard way. He's decided to take his campaign completely negative in the hopes something will stick while there's still the perception that hes not a loser. He's made the race about perception of character and this is a fight that he can and must lose.

Character. It is the key to victory.

If you haven't already, figure out your soundbite replies to the flimsy ties to Ayers and more importantly Wright. You'll be hearing from them both.

With the ad that McCain released last night accusing Obama of wanting to teach five year olds sex ed, when in reality the bill Obama passed was to ID sexual predators, McCain just crapped out. It is the biggest mistake of McCain's already reckless campaign if it is smashed down correctly. It opens McCain for attack on everything from the Keating Five to his blatant and consistant lies every day on the campaign trail. It takes away any shred of teflon Palin had left.

McCain falsely believes that Obama has to much caution in him to play rough and he's about to learn otherwise. Today will bring some serious accusations back and forth and this contest will be from now on only about whom the American people trust to tell the truth.

Obama needs to hit hard and so do we, but we also have to frame our arguement in simple, emotive terms. Framing the race emotionally has to be done because the undecideds left aren't looking at the issues or they would have picked a side by now. Saying Obama is a guy who's single mom was on food stamps, who grew up without privilege, who passed up 700 corporate jobs to help the unemployed, to be a civil rights attorney and a constitutional law professor, is stronger than any fact or figure about any issue in the minds of those holdout voters.

John McCain is telling those holdouts that he's a war hero and that makes him qualified to be president. Its important to note that John McCain is NOT a war hero. He is a war SURVIVOR who deserves our respect and admiration for his service to our country, but simply surviving a horrible situation doesn't give you an automatic pass on character issues.

Saying that John McCain swore up and down that he would never make baseless character attacks after he himself was slandered viscously in 2000 and yet he hired the same guy to slime Obama that had slimed him does far more to damage McCain than anything else that could be said to those swing voters. This works because McCain himself has made it all about his character. POW POW POW. MAVERICK MAVERICK MAVERICK.

He's no maverick, he's a sidekick.

Fatal.

Or, fatal for us if we choose to ignore McCain and only attack Palin, then we lose. The way to attack Palin is by informing people about her record and extreme views in the context of McCain; "Here's a fringe right wing radical who's extremist views remain a mystery even to John McCain, who John McCain has placed into a position of power for short term political benefit at the expense of his country." Leave it at that. Moving on.

Remember, this is all about a few hundred thousand people in those swing states. Its also about McCain trying to steal the race by creating false perceptions about it.

Its also about more concrete stealing. There's election fraud out there in those swing states, happening now, bigtime, and if the campaign doesn't address it, this thing will be far more of a nail biter than it has to be. It does less good to register a million voters if you're gonna let 500,000 of those registrations be returned to sender. This is an issue I can only hope and pray the campaign is paying attention to because if they don't, Obama is Al Gore all over again.

How do we address something as shadowy as election fraud? Tell every voter to check that their registration is valid and have them do it NOW. The campaign has the soapbox to get the word out for 57 more days. If new voters literally didn't cross a T, if they didn't dot an I, their registration may be thrown out, especially if they live in a vulnerable state like OH or NV or NM which has a history of such events. Hell, three members of the OH election board were tried and convicted of election fraud after the debacle of 2004 yet the main stream barely heard about it.

Yesterday I wrote the campaign to suggest they do a PSA for both established voters and new ones asking them to please, please, PLEASE check their voter registrations to make sure its accurate. Otherwise they may show up at the polls and be handed a provisional ballot that is a waste of paper. I would suggest everyone reading this check their voter registrations and inform every person they meet from now until November fourth to do the same. I would also ask every person reading this to contact the campaign and force them to run PSAs and ask their friends to do the same.

Gregpalast.com wants to run psas that you can donate to on the issue of election fraud. I highly recommend his site. Greg's an American reporter for the BBC that works with Robert Kennedy Jr. and I cannot recommend his book "Armed Madhouse" enough if you want to know precisely how election fraud is being done around you NOW.

All of this, the whole enchillada, boils down to one thing. John McCain is a politician without honor and the neocon radicals that have hijacked his party have even less so. He's a man who has put short term poltical gain ahead of his country's best interest. We should put nothing past him and a frightened GOP that may go down in flames of scandal for good if they don't win and cover their messes.

That one simple fact, that McCain is not the man that once earned our respect, that he clearly has lost his honor in a desperate, reckless grab at power which by default will protect criminal elements in his own party, will tie every other issue together.

It is the grand unification theory of victory.

We have 57 days. If you can, I would suggest getting to a swing state either online or in person because the best way to win a revolution is to show up. The swing states deserve every microscope and voice we can raise.

Best,

Lance Mungia

NEW SLOGAN: "CAN VERSUS CON!"

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:44:48 EDT

I just heard this slogan, "CAN VERSUS CON!" on Air America when a caller suggested the campaign use it. I believe this is a brilliant slogan that is emotive and rich with the kind of simple imagery that sticks in people's minds.

Three words that can win the race. "CAN VERSUS CON!!!"

Please blog about this and use it!

CHARACTER

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:26:07 EDT

John McCain's character is at issue. We may not enjoy it, but its the truth and it shall set us free. McCain. Here's a guy that swore up and down he'd never run a negative campaign. His wife cried on election night 2000 because an ad ran accusing his adopted daughter of actually being his illegit black kid. He vowed never to run that kind of campaign, and yet, a month ago, whom did he hire to make ads for his campaign? The same guy that made that ad that made his wife cry. So much for his vow.

So much for his character.

John McCain's character is not above reproach just because he was a POW. Even then, he knew there was a seniority system to being released from captivity, which is why he stayed. He also didn't figure the war would last five more years. He's not a war hero, he's a war survivor. He should be given respect as a Vietnam survivor who went through things no one should, but when he's made his campaign all about that event in his life, its not above reproach to say respectfully he's a war survivor, not a war hero. Somebody do some research and put together talking points about The Keating Five, of which John is linked. John likes to hang around with lobbyists, he's got SEVEN of them running his campaign. The race will be won, unfortunately, not on the issues but of character. ie. who do the voters believe they can trust? You better believe me on this, because its the brass ring. It what propelled Bush to victory twice and what propelled Clinton to office and almost into impeachment. Maybe its only a perception but its one that bites.

Character.

Obama has never been about a paycheck. He's staunchly opposed to lobby money and he hasn't taken any in this race.

McCain has.

Use that. Why is McCain competitive in the money game? Corporate lobbies. Why is Obama competitive? Small donations from millions of real people. Use that. People like and trust Obama, we need to uplay the reasons why, and then hammer McCain on being of weak character because he's simply shilling for the oil interests, big pharma, and the other usual suspects. Palin is his biggest present to the corporate oil interests to date! "Drill baby drill!" Today Obama took the gloves off and he called a spade a spade. He said they lied and he was right to do it. A lot of politicians wouldn't have taken the risk because it elevates the level of emotion, but he did. Emotion is just what was needed. By doing so, he drew a line in the sand and he's forcing Americans to now pick a side and determine who's honest and who's not. He's forcing a debate. Good. We can win that arguement if we're prepared. Obama has just now made this entire election about ethics and morals and character. He's chosen to drive the argument instead of only responding. From this moment until November 4, character is the one issue that undecided voters will determine their vote with. The rest of us pay attention to the issues and made up our minds by now, the rest, will go on their gut. Character. They're gonna start hitting Obama almost soley on issues of trust and character. They're gonna call him a liar and a phoney ten times as often as what he said today. We need to pre-empt that by making sure people know his record and what he stands for on an emotive level.

He passed the first ethics reform in a generation which is the reason John McCain can no longer fly on his corporate provided campaign jet for free.

He turned down 700 corporate job offers out of Harvard to be a civil rights attorney and a community organizer working with churches on behalf of the unemployed.

In the IL Senate, he never voted "Present" because he didn't have an opinion as they'd have you believe, he voted "Present" to make sure both sides would come to him so he could bring people together for compromise before he cast his vote yes or no, which is why he passed more bipartisan bills in IL than anyone.

Because he was known for having a singular, powerful character. A man of integrity. A man that puts the American people ahead of special interests, unlike John McCain. They'll use Wright and Ayers of course. We need to point out how feeble that arguement is. Palin's religious ties cancel Wright with spades. Ayers connection is so fleeting that its a joke. Paint McCain as what he is, out of touch and willing to say or do anything to win. He's willing, frankly, to lie. If he's not lying, he's simply uninformed and doesn't care to know the truth, just like Bush, which is just as bad and just as damaging.

"She sold that jet on ebay, for a profit!" No John, she didn't. You lied.

Character. Remember character. Its the only attack that will stick.

How We Won The Election

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:29:36 EDT

January 20, 2009 Well, we did it, we won. They said that Democrats were only good at turning the other cheek, of letting others do our fighting for us, but they were wrong. So many times, it seemed as if despair was at the door, and then it turned out to be just another canvasser for the Obama campaign. You see, that was our biggest secret, and the reason we won. We acted. Me made a vision real. For so many years, it seemed as if the American public simply was content to languish in a meaningless non-partisan existence. Then, along came the historic election night of November 4th 2008 and all of that changed. Because people got involved. One door at a time, one phonecall at a time, one day at a time, people changed the world. It would have been so easy to let our opponents in the race drive the conversation, to allow the buzz phrases and the propaganda to determine the outcome, but that didn't happen, because there is nothing more powerful in the world than the American people paying attention and participating in democracy. There were a lot of bumps on the road, but they made us stronger, each one allowing us to take on the next one with greater skill. By working together, by doing the uncomfortable, by doing the things we never thought we could do, by getting involved... we did it. Volunteer. Make this version of January 20, 2009 a reality instead of the other one. The future is up to us. Go to barackobama.com and search for events. Put in your zipcode. We will be starting phonebanks in Monrovia, CA. 91016 this next weekend. You can find the event details on the site under events. For all of us that have volunteered previously in Monrovia, please contact me directly via email so that we can arrange the start time. Lance

How We Lost The Election

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:17:24 EDT

January 20, 2009 Well, we lost, again.

Maybe McCain won't be so bad afterall. Maybe he'll actually do a few of the things he says he's going to do. Maybe he'll actually let a few Democrats into his cabinet or something so we won't feel left out.

Oh, and y'know what, after four years of McCain, maybe Palin will not be such a bad President. Afterall, she'l have four, maybe eight years to gain valuable experience. She too will be ready on day one by the time she takes office.

Its really too bad that we never, as a party, developed a good half dozen talking points about why we should vote for Obama and why McCain/Palin would have been a disaster. A half dozen blunt, often repeated talking points would really have won the election for us. Too bad Obama and Biden didn't bother to do that. I guess they got too caught up in their intellect and forgot that emotion, not intellect, wins elections.

They had it all going for them, the war, the morgage crisis, McCain and Palins' own words used against them, but they never took the shot. They forgot that on the highroad, sometimes its better to have some bumps just to remind yourself that you're still at the wheel.

They ignored the bumps, didn't own them and make others realize they were there. And they lost. Remember way back when the lack of passion by Senator Obama and Senator Biden on the national Sunday talk shows, right after Palin became v.p., the weekend after the GOP convention, sunk their campaign? It was like they were just grinning and bearing it as reality was twisted before their noses. It was like they were saying, "What bumps?" instead of calling the damn road service and raising hell about it.

Joe Biden even complimented Sarah Palin on being a good politician and giving a great speech. Yep, that was the beginning of the end. There were at least twenty lies in that speech. I guess Joe was asleep at the wheel. He must not have noticed the bumps in the road.

As I was watching that fated Sunday morning, flipping back and forth from Biden on Meet the Press to Barack with Stephanopolis on two different channels, seeing the very low key nature of both interviews, I kept telling myself that they were both up to something, that they were simply playing possum. Lord, I hoped so at the time. But I guess history proved that I was wrong. And we lost.

We lost because we got caught up in the details. We went inward instead of outward. We played to facts, figures and lofty ideas, but we forgot about the emotion. We did the same thing Democrats always do. We lost. I sure wish somebody, Biden, Obama, heck even Hillary Clinton, would have simply said at that pivotal moment in history, "John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the rest of the GOP are bald faced lying to you. They lied all week. They're habitual liars. They're hooked on lying because lies are all they got."

That would have been something. Big news. Would have really caused a stir. Probably would have led to a lot of fact checking that would have put more voters in the Obama/Biden camp once voters realized the truth of the allegations. That would have grabbed the headlines and momentum away from McCain's spin machine. Maybe voters would have stopped talking about Sarah Palin's make up and gone back to realizing what was at stake.

Its not enough that the NYT writes an article pointing out misstatements made by Mrs. Palin and Mr. McCain regarding the issues and the records in question. Don't Democrats realize that people don't read the newspapers? I guess Obama and Biden expected John Stewart to do all their dirty work.

Too bad Obama and Biden never got the fundemental truth that voters respect leaders who do their own dirty work as much or more than they respect a politician on the highroad. A crying shame they didn't realize sooner that the two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. Why, if Obama and Biden would have swung their elbows a bit sooner, the grassroots wouldn't have got caught up in the weeds. They would have taken the cue to start playing to emotion the way the GOP does so well. Why, if that had happened, we may have won.

Those Democrats, they lost because they played nice. They minced words. They turned the other cheek and hoped voters would admire their good natures and subtle jibes. In the war of emotional imagery, that was no good. I guess they just never realized, there's a time to turn your cheek, and another time to face forward and stare hard.

I guess they never realized that if you don't speak bluntly and speak fast, you eventually lose your right to speak at all.

"They lie!" Two little words that could have changed the world. But didn't.

Who would have thought that when Obama was forced to put away his soapbox for good, 59 days after that first fatal misstep on that Sunday morning, that he could have changed it all by saying TWO LITTLE WORDS on national t.v. one Sunday morning. Two words, combined with maybe six little talking points the grassroots could have used to chop out the weeds, could have changed history.

Well, maybe we'll have a better shot at it next time. If there is one.

California's Proposition 2 on the ballot this year

Alex — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:18:04 EDT

This posting is for all my fellow Californians who will be voting to elect Sen. Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. I want to give you a heads up on some very important legislation that will be on our state ballot in November.

Here are some of the reasons why I feel it is vitally important that everyone vote yes for Proposition 2 on California's November ballot this year. Prop 2 addresses prevention of animal cruelty resulting from the current cage confinement of veal calves, pregnant pigs and hen layers in current factory farm practices.

While in veterinary medical school, a classmate (now colleague) and I had the opportunity to visit a hen-laying factory farm during our senior veterinary year and I have saw the amount of housing allotted to hen layers. Currently the amount of cage space a hen layer is alloted ranges from 67 to 86 square inches of space per chicken. Do you realize that this area is less than an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper (= 93 square inches)? According to principle #5 of the California Veterinary Medical Association's (CVMA) "Eight Principles of Animal Care and Use: "Animals should be provided with water, nutrition, and an environment appropriate to their care and use, with consideration for the safety, health, and species-specific biological needs and behavioral natures." I have seen first hand that a hen barely has enough room to turn around within her present caged system. As veterinarians, medical professionals, engineers, teachers, scientists, artists, animal welfare advocates, and concerned citizens, we are aware that stress compromises health. And as a consequence stress compromises production efficiency. I find it hard to believe that an absurdly small area of 67 (8.2 x 8.2) square inches constitutes the best space utilization by hens from both a production stand point and animal welfare consideration. Proposition 2 calls for 900 square inches (i.e. an area 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet) per bird which is much more reasonable and HUMANE.

Did you know that currently one in five eggs are contaminated by salmonella due to overcrowded conditions? That is why eggs have to be thoroughly cooked and why chicken must be thoroughly cooked before eating. This is all a result of the present short cuts factory farms have in place. Providing more space means less crowding, less contamination, and more humane treatment of these animals.

Please be aware that a coalition against Prop 2 has started. Do not let their scare tactics confuse you.

As citizens who are concerned about animal welfare and as consumers, we deserve a choice in the matter!

I encourage you to vote Yes on Prop 2 this Nov. 4, 2008.

Dr. Alexandra Swanson, DVM

JOIN THE MAPA FOR OBAMA CAMPAIGN

Dinora — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:12:24 EDT

June 27, 2008

Greetings!

The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) announces the MAPA FOR OBAMA national campaign for the purpose of aggressively introducing the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama to the Latino communities throughout the U.S. This is a campaign to mobilize the Latino vote in favor of the Obama candidacy for president, but also to establish permanent organization in our neighborhoods, schools, colleges, universities, and work-places.

Form a MAPA FOR OBAMA chapter today. It is not only about electing a president who stands for change, but making the change ourselves on the issues that are important to us. It is about both electing candidates for change to political office and building permanent organization that you control and own.

Let us unite around the issues that unite our communities:

· Fair and humane immigration reform
· Return the U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and an end to the war
· Universal single-payer health care for all persons
· A living wage for all working people
· Respect a women's right to choice
· University education guaranteed to all irrespective of immigration status
· Respect the right to organize a union in the work-place with no retaliation
· A green and clean environment and an end to dependency on fossil fuels
· Homeownership - a dream based on fair loan terms and no predatory lending
· Fair and equitable trade policies

These are the issues that are important to us and around which we can form chapters of the MAPA FOR OBAMA campaign.

Call us today to form your chapter, hold a house meeting or campus meeting. Once you form your MAPA FOR OBAMA chapter you control the leadership, you engage in the campaign locally, you control the resources, you direct the campaign in your sphere of influence, and you will hold the candidate accountable after Election Day.

You can reach us at www.mapa.org -
nativolopez@mapa-ca.org -
nativolopez@sbcglobal.net or (323) 269-1575. We are organized in all major counties throughout California and in other states. You also can be part of this network. Call us.

Nativo V. Lopez
National President

Sierra Madre 4th of July Parade

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:51:10 EDT

There were Obama supporters in the Sierra Madre 4th of July parade. I only got one picture though, because I was busy hugging my friends (Obama supporters) as they walked by and meeting Russ Warner. Oh well. The supporters marched with Russ Warner who is running as the Democrat for Congressional District 26 in California. The seat is currently held by a republican, Drier. We really want to turn this seat BLUE. Drier rode alone in the parade. Warner had quite the entourage.

Voter registration - Pasadena, California

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:11:38 EDT

There was a fantastic turn out to the voter registration drive (and BBQ) in Victory Park, Pasadena, California Today. Apparently the (grassroots) organizer thought there would be about 5-10 people interested, but 192 signed up for the event on Mybarackobama.com and there was quite a turn out. Everything was incredibly organized and groups of voter registers (some in fancy red shirts the organizers had made) went out to local areas and REGISTERED PEOPLE TO VOTE!!!!!

The volunteers today really reflect the wide diversity of Obama supporters, many different races, shapes, colors, ages. And many different Obama shirts!

These drives will be happening all over Pasadena (and other areas), and we are planning tabelling at all the local farmer's markets.

WE ARE STILL FIRED UP. AND READY TO GO.

(If anyone would like larger sized copies of any of these pictures, please drop me a note).

More pictures under the cut.

Race Relations

Jorge Marquez (CD 32 Delegate) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:06:12 EDT

I wrote a little something… It just popped in my head so I figured I should write it down. Race RelationsIt’s time to set the record straight about race relations! What is so wrong about playing the “race card?” I truly believe we as Americans should do it a lot more often. When people are losing there homes under foreclosure. Play the race card. When our children are not getting a good education. Play the race card. When our sons and daughters are done fighting at war and are not receiving the proper care. Play the race card. When there are evident signs of global warming in the world. Play the race card.

During these bad times in world we need to stick together and help each other as the human race. An important race that needs to survive, and a critical card we need in order to have a strong hand as we continue to play the game.

- Jorge

Raffled Rasied $8,775 for the Campaign!!

Jenean — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:55:18 EDT

On April 8th, the Ravelry Knitters for Obama held a raffle for a Campaign Afghan and 18 other prizes that raised a whopping $8,775 for the Obama Campaign! We are excited and amazed at how people can come together all over the U.S. to raise funds as a collective group for the campaign.

Go HERE to see a picture of the finished afghan.

Here is our press release:

When Grassroots Efforts Come Together

A hundred years ago, the nation’s political landscape included local quilting circles and Red Cross knitting efforts that produced goods to support political and charitable causes. Today, instead of gathering in a home on the town square, artistic-minded activists are harkening back to those long-ago days with the most modern of venues: the internet.

Ravelry, a recently-founded website for knitters and crocheters, has encouraged its members to form their own subgroups based on common interests. These wide-ranging groups include a number of communities devoted to political causes. The members of one of those virtual political gatherings, Ravelry Knitters for Barack Obama, decided to turn their knitting skills into political action by creating a fundraiser: a raffle for a knitted afghan to raise money for the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.

The project started with a “What if… ?” in the early days of January, 2008, quickly became a project involving over a dozen group members who each knitted a segment of the afghan, and has been a successful fundraising campaign for the group of fiber enthusiasts. The group created a my.barackobama.com group and originally set a fundraising goal of $2,000 in the beginning of February, but quickly had to raise that goal: at the time the raffle was held the group had raised over $8,775!

Ravelry Knitters for Obama have proven that distance between participants is no barrier when people wish to gather together for a worthy cause.

For more information on this effort, please email one of the group’s moderators at obamaknitters@gmail.com.

THANK YOU!

Jorge Marquez (CD 32 Delegate) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:55:26 EDT

Volunteers of the 32nd Congressional District,

WOW! What a GREAT weekend! I wanted to say thank you to all of you for your support yesterday. I especially want to thank those who volunteered as a caucus official; Robin, Shelley, and Mr. and Mrs. Walker! The caucus ran extremely well, and I can't wait to start the General Election Campaign! If some of you don't know yet, I recently was elected President for the San Gabriel Valley Democratic Center. We will be having a little celebration at our next club meeting, so come on by and enjoy some cake, and meet some new friends!

Wednesday April 16, 2008 - Covina Public Library 234 N. Second St, Covina at 7:00PM

Since it was YOU that put me over the top, let me know what I can do for you at the Democratic Convention! I plan to have a blog and will make it available to everyone to find out how things are going!

- Jorge

Afghan Raffle - Over $8,000 and counting!

Jenean — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:13:37 EDT

In the beginning we - Ravelry Knitters for Obama - thought that a $2,000 goal was almost reachable. Two and a half months later we've raised over $8,000!! My thanks goes out to the 15 knitters who knit strips for the afghan and to the one knitter who pieced all those strips together. In just a few days - April 1st - we will be raffling off this afghan to one lucky person. Could it be you? More photos to come, but click HERE to see a picture of the afghan.

32 CD DELEGATE ELECTION!!!

Jorge Marquez (CD 32 Delegate) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:31:11 EDT

32nd CD Barack Obama Delegate Election

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Covina Public Library – Community Room 234 N. Second, Covina

Registration starts at 2:00 PM

Registration Closes and Caucus Begins at 3:00 PM

* You can sign in, vote, and leave. There is no need to wait until 3:00PM

REASONS TO CHOOSE JORGE AS AN OBAMA DELEGATE:

ORGANIZER – Jorge organized hundreds of volunteers coordinating the Democratic Party booth at the Los Angeles County Fair.

BELIEVER – He will cast EVERY VOTE TO BARACK OBAMA no matter how many times the nomination is contested at the Convention in Denver, Colorado!·

ACTIVIST – As an active Barack Obama supporter, Jorge has been making phone calls in the 32nd Congressional District, knocking on doors, and serving as a precinct captain.·

MOTIVATED – Jorge is currently planning fundraisers for the general election, and working hard to open a Democratic headquarters here in the San Gabriel Valley!·

ACCOMPLISHED – President, San Gabriel Valley Democratic Club and Member, Democratic State Central Committee. WHO QUALIFIES TO VOTE IN A CAUCUS?

A registered Democrat (you can register or re-register as a Democrat at the caucus)

Anyone at least 18 years old by November 4th, 2008 (Election Day)

Any resident of the 32nd Congressional District: Azusa, Baldwin Park, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, South El Monte, West Covina and portions of Monterey Park and East Los Angeles.

National Rally Obama April 19th

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:51:25 EDT

Make Fliers , Pasters, Pins, Posters etc. for the National Rally April 19th!
Please inform door to door in your neighborhood, at you work, in your schools, at the market, mall , everywhere. Get people informed about April 19th Rally for Obama. We need this to be HUGE for Obama. Print out fliers at home and pass them out. Give them to your kids to pass out at school , malls, everywhere. Find this event on the Events Link.

Huckabee to Obama’s rescue?

Jorge Marquez (CD 32 Delegate) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:36:19 EDT

This was great!!! I had to listen to it and type it out for all you guys. Mike Huckabee came out today on Morning Joe on MSNBC which looks like he was defending Obama!!! Do you think Mike Huckabee is a closet Obamacan!!! The video is titled "Stop by Huckabee's hot dog stand" on the Politics sections on MSNBC videosHere is what he said:As easy as it is to those of us now to look back to say “That is a terrible statement” [talking about Rev. Wright] I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think you have to cut some slack…and I’m gonna be the only conservative in America that is going to say something like this but I’m just telling you… we got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names being told ‘you got to sit in the balcony when you go to movie’ ‘ you got to use the back door to go to the restaurant’ and ‘you can’t sit out there with everyone else, there is a separate waiting room in the doctors office’ ‘here’s where you sit on the bus’ … and you know what, sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment… you have to just say I probably would too, I probably would too, in fact I may have had a more chip on my shoulder would of it had been me. Ain’t that the truth Governor Huckabee!

Keeping the Spirit Alive - Past the primaries!

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:38:07 EDT

Our new weekly meeting in Old Town Pasadena, California happened today at the Metropolitan Cafe in Old Town (12-3). There are still several weekly meetings going on in Southern California. Our goals are to train new people in how to set up MyBo accounts, how to phonebank, organize, and whatever else.

Today we had some new people, some high school kids, a Pakastani-American man who wants to do Pakastani outreach in PA and the other primary states, and I trained a few people how to process volunteers in PA, and we all did some clickin for Obama.

Results watching Party

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:34:48 EST

Here are some pictures from a 'Results watching party' in Covina, California (CD32). Thanks Ralph for having us.

More pictures from Phonebanking in Pasadena, California

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:05:19 EST

Here are some pictures from phonebanking to Texas at the Metropolitain Cafe, in Pasadena, California. We are meeting there today if you want to come join us.

GOTV phonebanking in Pasadena

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:14:09 EST

Here are some pictures from our phone banking GOTV to Texas in Pasadena, California.

We were at the Metropolitan Cafe, on Colorado in Old Town. We'll be calling again today from 12-5 and would love to have people come out and join us for an hour or two (or five).

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4r8cw#rsvp to RSVP.

UCLA event with Michelle, Caroline Kennedy, Oprah, and MOVE

Julia from Pasadena — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:59:59 EST

Sorry about the delay in posting my pictures of the UCLA event last Sunday, but the servers have been so busy dealing with all the donations and people making phone calls because we are FIRED UP.

The UCLA event was fantastic. Here are pictures from a volunteer perscpective. And it truely is amazing that such a large volunteer work force was assembled in less than 12 hours. We are FIRED UP.

Phone Banking in Pasadena - Answering the 100,000 call California Challenge

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:17:23 EST

Saturday was an exciting day in Pasadena, California, at the office on 37 Union street (in Old Town). The phones were ringing for the 100,000 call California challenge. WE MADE OVER 200,000 calls in California, and over 5,000 in the new Pasadena office.
We had some special people give some encouraging talks, including
California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, Chris Holden, Pasadena city councilman and former mayor of Pasadena, Patricia Horton, assistant to Adam Schiff (our member of congress (CD29)who is supporting Barack Obamba), Henry Lo, member of Garvey High school board, Nancy McCullough - went to Harvard Law School with Barack, and Nancy and Dorian Harewood - Nancy is Barack's cousin. Dorian is an actor. They have traveled to Iowa and NH to campaign for him and live locally.

Ravelry Knitters for Obama

Jenean — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 04:24:26 EST

I belong to the Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry and we're knitting up an afghan which will be raffled off. All proceeds will go to the Obama campaign. I'm excited because this all began as a little "what if?" in the back of my brain just a few weeks ago. Now it's this awesome project which several knitters across the United States are contributing to in order to raise funds for the campaign.

I'm even more excited because regardless of the fact that at this moment my family is going through the worse financial crisis that we've ever gone through, I'm able to still do my part in helping to raise money for a worthy cause. Personally I have not been able to donate more than $10 to the campaign, but through organizing this project I hope that I will help our group raise at least $2000 if not more.

I'm sure that I won't post here often, but I will definitely keep you all updated as to the progress afghan and our fundraising efforts.

Pasadena, California Office Opening - Thursday Jan 24

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:04:40 EST

Here are some pictures from the opening of the Pasadena, California office - 37 Union St.

The office is located in 'Old Town' Pasadena (inbetween Marango and Fair Oaks) and is there thanks to the hard work of Lonnee (CD29 Coordinator) and Laura (office manager() and , hard working volunteers.

Obama supporters were FIRED UP at the Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena, California

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 21:37:34 EST

Lots of Obama supporters showed up today to march in Pasadena, California's famous Doo Dah parade. The Doo Dah is known for its craziness - to give an example, we followed the bees. We chanted and got quite a few really great reaction from supporters in the crowd.

There were some really fantastic homemade Obama t-shirts and signs and costumes.

Nickelodeon: Obama Declared Dem Winner of Nick Kids First Primary

SDP — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:05:21 EST

This from: PR Newswire

Senators Obama and McCain Declared Winners of Nickelodeon's First Kids' Primary Election
January 18, 2008: 05:10 PM EST

NEW YORK, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The votes are in and the kids of America have spoken.

CD 32 phonebank under adverse conditions

Mr. Baquet — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:40:10 EST

Well, Obama fans, I haven't written in awhile not that nothing has been going on. I have not had time to write. So don't be hating. Yesterday CD 32 continued to do its duty by having a phonebanking party. We met at Joe's Place again, who weren't expecting us but were happy to see us anyway and eagerly provided us space to do our phonebanking. Our leader was not able to attend due to illness, as well as 2 other of our regular group was unable to attend. There were 3 of us who continued on. But to our surprise a young 17 yr. old from Canyon High School all the way from Anahiem Hills came to join us. How exciting it was to have him here. But we were unable to get online via WiFi because the Verizon network was down. We quickly put our minds together and came up with another plan. We went to Monrovia Coffee Co. a few miles away were we called ahead to find their Wi/Fi up and running. We regrouped there. Then to our amazement we got news that 2 more High School students showed up. How wonderful is that? Well, we took them under our wings and oriented them to volunteering and how to phonebank. We even put them to work phonebanking. The only other problem was getting access to the Votebuilder site in order to acquire a list. The generic site were difficult to access but persistance prevailed and we did the best we could. The students were a bit intimidated but we pushed on and gave each several chances to make calls. So, though the evening did not go as planned we felt we made some kind of contribution to the campaign and to the future of our society by involving these wonderful young men in the political process, even if it was to get academic credit for a school political science class. So let's give a shout out to Raj Patel, Sean Newton and Simon Li.

See ya'll on the flip side. Stay fired up and ready to go!

Phonebanking at Joe's Place in Duarte, California - off Route 66

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:59:38 EST

California's CD32 had a phone banking/meeting at Joe's Place in Duarte, which is on the famous Route 66. Joe's Place is a new sandwich cafe (with internet) and it was kept open just for us, the owners are Obama supporters! The food is wonderful - Its on Huntington in the 'Big Lots' mall for those of you in the Duarte know.

This is the CD32 volunteer Coordinator, Robin.

Let The Rains Come

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 03:18:53 EST

I'm tired and until a few hours ago I was starting to feel lazy.

I was thinking about all the things I could start doing with my spare time again once we had the nod locked in New Hampshire. I figured that would seal us an early Barack Obama victory and it would be a short and sweet trip to the nomination from there. I was worrying and wondering if our efforts in California could turn out more frosting than cake and I was as surprised as I was grateful for that unexpected question in my head.

I was wrong.

No cake or frosting for us, folks. It's going to be person by person, bayonet to bayonet, even steven in the trenches. We've worked our butts off to have that opportunity and don't kid yourselves, its the most golden one we could ask for. We got lucky tonight instead of fat and lazy.

Lucky.

I'll explain. Only now, a few hours after losing New Hampsire by 2 points and probably still counting, I'm beginning to realize that this is the best possible senario we could have wished for. Just like how Bush needs terror and how Rudy needs Hillary, uh... we need our own Darth Vader too. We need a villian for our art house indie flick to become a blockbuster with legs. Without Hillary Clinton, there's no third act to our script. There's no Death Star. There's no sequel.

Without a close race, we wont continue to build the public interest and hone our muscles for a general election. If Hillary bowed out now Barack would still seem untested in the Republican showdown. There'd be no drama or sweat equity invested in the many States left to weigh in.

Maybe if he'd lost by ten points I'd say something different. But it was so close that all it did was keep eyes on us and keep it interesting. Get it?

He's going to win South Carolina and Nevada is going to be a razor's edge either way. It's wide open and ours to lose. If you're in the dumps wash the dirt out of your ears and eyes and look around.

Look at what a brilliant speaker Barack has evolved into and what a movement he's created. Why? It's because of the adversity he's faced, because of the passion adversity creates and not the ease of his candicacy. Never ease. Ease = ease up.

No doubt its the same in all our lives. We're defined not by our victories, but how we handle our tribulations. Our trials make us who we are. Whole.

Yes, The Empire Strikes Back. Now we must use the force and Darth Vader Must bite the dust if we are ever to restore the old Republic to its former glory.

Let it all come what may and let it all matter. Let each State have an equal voice in deciding the next leader of the free world as should be their right. New Hampshire might have deprived a majority of the country of their say in electing the first black man, the freshest face in American politics, someone totally outside the Washington Beltway, to the office of President. In the grand scheme, how unfair would that have been?

If Barack and through Barack we, all of us, cannot win anywhere the fight goes from here, then we don't deserve it because ultimately we NEED to win the general. The best person needs to win for the sake of this country. T

Thanks to Barack is all shaping up to be the most honest race to the White House in modern memory. There's a real choice to be had and we've provided it for the American public.

Earlier tonight, as results came in, preparing for my weekly meeting to phonebank, I said a prayer for Barack. I'm not overly religious, but this was a big deal for me. Melissa, my wife, corrected my prayer. She said, "Instead of asking God to help Barack win, say, 'help the best person to win. That's all we can hope for."

She was right. To me, it was saying the same thing, but the phrasing was everything, because I know in my very soul that Barack IS the best person. I have nothing to fear and nothing to hide in that regard. Let them vet him until the cows come home to Bill Clinton's farm.

Bill Clinton, as off putting as his comments were today, was right when he suggested that Barack Obama needs to be vetted. Let it be played out across the entire American field until they've had a belly full. Let the entire country engage meaningfully in this discussion.

Instead of an afterthought as we usually are in California, we will now be in the thick of the storm and our thoughts will count. People will be invested as they never have before. It's truly in our hands now whether you've realized it yet or not.

I say let the rain come. Let it wash away everything but the truth. Barack Obama is by far the best candidate to run for President in modern political history AND THAT'S THE TRUTH. The more people are exposed to him the more they'll see what we already see. Bring on the pundits, the naysayers, the well wishers, the flip-floppers, the arm chair quarterbacks, the good weather friends. I welcome them. I welcome the American public in every State to open their eyes and pay attention because if we're paying attention nobody can steal our democracy from us.

Mind me, we'll see Barack in the White House because of this loss tonight more than any win in New Hampshire could have assured, which might have given him the nod but not a free pass to the oval office. If anything it would have constricted him. Expose Barack Obama to the harshest, strongest light imaginable and it will make him even more of a beacon, every hard night like this will make for a good one to follow and will make him and his case and us stronger.

Hone your political muscles against Darth Vader now because you'll need them in the general to fight with and trust me that's where we'll be. This is just a sparring session folks. It's just the beginning, and the more we can get people to pay attention to a close, dramatic race, the better we'll all be for the future of this country.

Never think that what we're doing doesn't matter, because it matters more than anything else we could possibly be doing. It's the most important thing we could be doing in fact. The result is secondary to the act of participating. We're changing the world as much as our own lives simply by thinking and being the change we want to see.

Believe it. Our enemies tremble at the thunder of our approach.

The most tragic thing tonight would have been a slip back into apathy and laziness or worse, a slip into hopelessness and negativity and the fear that is the dark side. Anybody who's weary, who's fed up, who wants to give up, well, you're human, but you're also still here paying attention. You didn't give up. You hurt and the hurt makes you mad and then you use it.

Your reaction defines you. Giving up is not an option. That didn't happen. Not to him. Not to us.

I am more motivated. I am more fired up. I will not lie down and go quietly into the dark. I will stand up and I say let the rain come. Let the Death Star approach. Let the thunder roar and the clouds weep, because you can't wash away or drown out the truth, you can only make it clean.

Good morning.

Lance

Obama video for young voters

m_haro — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:28:02 EST

Please take a look at this video, foward it to any college students you know. I beleive this will apeal to them, in its first day it was seen by more than 100 people. Any students please post this on your friends myspace/facebook. The link is below. Go Obama 08, lets get ready for a dogfight this january!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FqZo0im0i0

CD 32 phone banking party

Mr. Baquet — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:51:34 EST

Our group decided to have a phone banking party instead of our regular meeting. I have been slow about making phone calls. Partially because of just anxiety but mostly just because in evening when I get home I am just too tired and the last thing I want to do is get in the phone. But the party gives you energy, comraderie and support by your peers. We did pretty well, we decreased our quota by 4% in just about an hour. Our leader Robin is not able to be with us but I know she will be proud. BTW: we also had 2 new people show up. One man is a person I remember from our canvassing another came to us as a result of the Mini Camp Obama.

You may have noted I haven't written in a while. It's just that I am not a writter and am lazy about posting. CD32 has been busy I would ask you to see Julia's blog she is good at documenting and posting pictures. Last Sunday we were back at Foothill Unity for our community service project. We helped distribute Christmas baskets to needy families, of almost 1200. It was an exhausting day but will worth the effort. It is a good way of fulling ones sabbath responsibility rather than sitting in a church. Church is community and this is community and honoring and serving our neighbor is no better way to honor God.

Phone Banking in California's CD32

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:28:49 EST

Instead of our usual weekly meeting, we gathered tonight at a local coffee shop to make phone calls to voters in our congressional district. We are only at 40% of our quote for this month.

It was a very productive night. We made about 100 calls, left a lot of messages, talked to a lot of undecided voters, found a few supporters, and a few people who didn't know anything about Obama and where interested to learn.

Sherry won the $25 kiva.org gift certificate door prize.

Community Service for Obama

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 22:50:25 EST

Our volunteer group - California's CD32, did a second community service - distributing food for the holidays. It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of visibility for Obama.

Several of the other volunteers were Obama supporters. They were thrilled to get pins. Sister Marion (wearing the ears in the picture) said she had spent most of her life working in Africa and 'of course she was an Obama supporter'.

Tabelling in Pasadena California

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:55:38 EST

The Obama table at Pasadena High School yesterday in CD 29 was ROCKIN. There were many people asking for literature and coming by to talk about Obama. People at the Edwards table next to us even came by to tell us they appreciated our candidate's comment at the debate, the one about having Hillary be one of Obama's advisors.

California's CD32 is FIRED UP

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:46:26 EST

Our volunteer group in California's CD32 is FIRED UP and READY TO GO. Our wonderful leader, Robin gave all the volunteer coordinators special gifts - Obama & JFK books. Very touching.

We are phoning all the voters we can in our district. Let me know if you want to help!

Obama's Rallying, Are You?

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:31:45 EST

Hey folks,I know everyone does what they can and that if you're on this list and reading this that you've already been actively interested or participating in the campaign to get Barack Obama into the White House. I could say the obvious "We all know this is important. We all know that the stakes have never been higher and that the literal future of our nation and the world is at stake."Well, maybe that would seem overdramatic... I could say it, and I guess I just did. Reality check guys and gals. It's true.We all we do what we can. We sacrifice in our own ways.But we also know that there comes a point where it's do or die, where it's time to find hidden reserves and do things that we didn't think we'd ever do. Its not enough to say, "I'm rooting for you and I'll be sure to vote." When you care about something enough, you MAKE it count. You find ways to bring it out in both yourself and others.This is one of those times. Today. Right now.I was just told by Matt Rising from the Obama campaign that as a District we've only made 44 phone calls so far for the upcoming Obama Concert/Rally at the Gibson Theatre next Monday.44.Uh.... say what? OBAMA IS COMING HERE. He's going to be in Los Angeles for the last time before the primaries ON MONDAY! The election may very well be decided by California's delegates and Hillary has a mile wide and inch deep of support in the State we have to cut through.It's time to walk the walk. It's time to put your routine aside as busy as it may be. Its time to turn off the t.v. and get up an hour earlier and stay up an hour late if thats what it takes.I know individual people in NYC made hundreds of calls for that event that drew 24,000 people. One person made close to a thousand calls personally. People are taking leaves of absence from work to make calls and volunteer whatever they can until the primaries. One guy in NYC, a paralegal I think, slept on his apartment building roof for days on end before the Obama rally there so he could donate his apartment as a volunteer headquarters.You don't need to do all that. Think what would happen if we all called for even ONE HOUR?It'd mean a heck of a lot more than 44.Ask yourself. What's at stake to you? Really do a gut check and ask yourself.I'm sending this letter because I know you all care as much as I do and I know you're all just as busy with work, kids, football, traffic, shopping, love, sleep, and a million other things. I'm right there with you. I know exactly how easy it is to say, "What difference does it make if I make calls? If I don't do it, somebody else will."Consider it like this... It may just wind up being the most important thing you ever do. Period. It may mean the difference between your kids getting a good education or not. It may mean the difference between someone you know being spied on and carried away in the middle of the night without trail, or not. It may mean the difference between your kids getting body parts shot off in foreign countries or not. It may mean the difference between your grandkids having a world full of diversity and grandure and hope... or not. It may mean the difference between having a world at all... or not.You're the difference.It starts with one phonecall to a stranger, by putting yourself out there in a way that you wouldn't otherwise. Once you take the step, there's no going back.So you might bother someone's football game, or dinner, or sleep. So you might get someone that is rude or just plain apathetic.You also might just find a person that cares, a beacon that might just help change the world.Go to buildthehope.com. Either use the sign in and password you've been given, or use phonecallercd26-1 as a username and obamarising or obama08 as passwords.Click on the icon to call for the Obama event in Los Angeles, then pick up your phone, and call someone you've never met, someone that you probably never will meet, someone who is just as busy with work, love, football, knitting, babysitting, sleep, and a million other things as you are, but someone who's life you may change as profoundly as the rest of this country will change the day Barack Obama becomes the next President of The United States.The darkness out there is as vast as it is empty, and when its dark in a room you can never see the door for the walls even if it's only an inch away. But it only takes one light to change your reality forever. Pick up the phone. Change your life. Change the world.buildthehope.com. Use your username or phonecallercd26-1 as login. Use obamarising or obama08 as a password. Obama's Rallying in Los Angeles on Monday. Are you?Lance M.Team coordinatorObama 08 MonroviaP.S. Please forward this letter to your friends who might call, your groups and email lists, especially Obama staff who have access to lists larger than mine. We have a lot of calls to make.

HELP WITH OBAMA T.V. DOCUMENTARY correct

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:45:56 EST

Hello All,

I have a proposal for you regarding the upcoming Obama rally in Los Angeles Dec. 10th, or for that matter regarding any rally or event you may be attending that you'd like to submit tape from.

I'm shooting a documentary to be aired on KGEM in Los Angeles that I'll be making at the L.A. rally. I'm looking for help shooting footage from anyone that may attend that has a video camera and a tape I can digitize from afterword.

KGEM is the local community access channel that reaches 70,000 homes on Time Warner in the L.A./Monrovia area. My plan is to additionally make dvds of the finished documentary and distribute them to other volunteers in other areas of the state or country that may have community access channels to play it on.

If you're at another rally in another area of the country and you'd like to send me footage, I can send you back a finished copy of the dvd if you can get it aired on your own cable access channel in your community. This could open up viewership of the documentary to many hundreds of thousands of people nationwide and actually influence the elections in a major way.

Most people don't even realize they have cable access in their communities. I will be editing all the footage at KGEM and I can probably use whatever format makes sense as long as you check with me before hand.

Bottom line; we'll be providing an invaluable tool to the campaign that can do wonders to win the election and it will be fun to boot.

There are two parts to what I need help shooting with your cameras at the event.

PART I. Interviews.

I'll be asking a wide variety of people, from as many diverse ages, backgrounds and races as possible "Why do you support Senator Obama in 30 seconds or less?" and "What do you hope for?"

All you need is a video camera and a tape to send and I could really use your help with this task. No experience required, plenty of enthusiasm essential.

PART II. The Faces.

I also need to capture indivdual emotional moments without words. I need closeups of faces and the raw emotion that is present at this kind of event. I want to see the sparkle, the power, the inspiration as people listen to Senator Obama speak. I've seen it first hand at other rallies and its something the news cannot capture.

I want to see the diversity and glory of America tuned in and turned on by Senator Obama's words.

I also need good crowd shots around and behind those faces. Something that conveys the vastness of our movement. Something that the news tends not to focus on.

Example moments;

-A child squints to see atop his father's shoulders, his tiny head peeking above the ocean of faces surrounding them.

-An elderly couple leaning against each other as they strain to hear above the cheers of those younger than they are around them.

-A teenager cheering at the front of a crowd visible behind her that numbers ten thousand strong.

-A middle aged businessman in a suit, looking out of place even as his smile seems perfectly at home.

- Many hands reaching out to the stage to shake hands with Senator Obama at the end of the event, reaching for an embrace, an assurance, reaching for a future better than today.

These are just examples of the sort of emotional closeups I need to capture and intercut with music and Senator Obama's words.

Use your imagination and find your "inner filmmaker." Just have fun with it and capture the words and images that the media overlooks in favor of empty soundbites. Find the vastness and energy of a vast crowd gathered together for common cause. The sense of it, anyway you can.

CAMERAWORK:

I need good, steady shots of faces watching Senator Obama speak and of the man on the street interviews to capture the connection between speaker and viewer. In general for all shooting, stay away from using telephoto lenses and zoom in or zoom outs which make for blurry, shakey images that are unusable. Use the wider end of the lens so the image will be steady and sharp. Try to brace your hand when you shoot. Treat the camera like you're walking on egg shells and make no sudden, jerky movements or whippans while shooting as these will be amplified when on television.

Instead of zooming, try to move closer to your subject if possible. When you're speaking to people, be polite and professional and if they don't want to speak, move on. For every person speaking you need to ask their permission to be used in your documentary. Just ask, "Is it okay to use you in my documentary for cable access?" AND FILM THAT RESPONSE. That gives us permission to use the footage and if they don't say that you're wasting your time with them as it can't air.

Please forward this blog to your groups and friends that may be interested, especially if they're attending the Los Angeles rally or any other rally.

If you don't have a camera and still would like to volunteer to help, we can use your help at the LA rally rounding up people to interview before and after the rally.

The time to take action is now. By doing this, we help provide the campaign with a valuable, vital tool that can help win this election. I am an experienced filmmaker with many credits and your footage will be well taken care of and used in my hands. If you want your footage back I can return it with an SASE.

If you're interested in helping, you can stop by our meeting tonight in Monrovia at the Coffee Bean, at 7pm. 102 Myrtle Ave. Monrovia, CA. 91016. Or, you can simply email me back at lancelotcq2@yahoo.com. I can send you an address to send footage or let you know details and more information.

This movement is important and so is your contribution. Nobody's gonna change the world for you.

Lets make it happen. Let's do it.

Lance, Team coordinator, Monrovia CA. Obama 08.

Tuesday December 4 phone banking

Carolyn — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:06:31 EST

You can help the campaign from home by getting on the phone and calling people. All you need is a phone and some enthusiasm and you can get started.

Come to our meeting at 6:00 PM and help get the Obama message out to voters in our area.

Bring your phone and we will provide the numbers. Join us for phone banking.

Where- Agape Family Life Center Church- 8429 White Oak, Rancho Cucamonga suites 111 and 112

Time 6:00 Pm

call me for directions-909-214-0339

White oak is between Haven and Milliken off of Arrow Route.

Canvassing in Duarte, California - Nov 24

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 11:53:46 EST

It was a beautiful day in Duarte, California yesterday when CD32 went off canvassing for Obama. We finished the routes we didn't complete in our 'walk for change', and did a new route in the area. We started at a really nice park in the foothills. The only picture I took was of Shelly and Robin setting up. We're adding information flyers to the Campaigns glossy Obama's position on Iraq flyers to hand out. We leave one at every door, even if they aren't home. Supporters get the cool poster. And we personally mail information to all the undecideds and supporters, expecially the ones without computers.

We had a great response rate, many people seemed happy to see us and we think we convinced a few people to vote for Obama and consider voting for Obama. Most people we spoke to were still undecided (I don't have exact numbers yet, haven't entered the data yet!).

Canvassing is not at all as scary as it seems. I always worry that I'll get grilled on specifics on issues I don't know, or get a lot of grumpy people who are angry that we are bothering them. Neither things happened yesterday. People didn't ask us about issues, even when we asked them if they had any questions about Obama. We got a few people who say 'no' behind closed doors, but we just walked on. We got so many people who were happy to see us (including people out on the streets) it really made our day worthwhile. And it was fun!

If you've never canvassed before you should consider doing it; its a great experience and its real easy to do.

Food Banking for Obama

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:36:36 EST

To help show how the Obama campaign is about more than politics, the Volunteers of California's 32nd Congressional District did some food banking on Saturday. We helped put together food boxes and bags for local families for thanksgiving. The event was at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

This pictures includes a young Obama supporter who was thrilled to see us there (and even happier to get a button from Shelly).

Iowa Independent on Obama's crossover appeal

SDP — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:57:32 EST

By Sam Graham-Felsen - Nov 13th, 2007 at 12:53 pm EST - Here's a must-read from the Iowa Independent:

"To Iowans, electability means that we need to win this election," said Dale Hedgecoth, one of Linn County for Obama's most out-spoken and active volunteers.

Covina Market Fair Tabling and Canvassing

Mr. Baquet — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:53:58 EST

Well sports fans, this past Friday was CD32's second time at the Market fair. We now have a table setup there and hope to continue tabling there till the end of the year. The evening was brisk so it appeared that there were not as many people as last week, so I hear. Things went well and we had a few folks stop by to chat with us. One lady named Beverly works for the DNC. She was very nice and had her opinions but things went well. We had a Hilliary heckler, I told Shelley that we need to send Ralph to deal with him. And before the night was over Ralph indeed have a brief encounter with him and in typical Ralph style dispatch him profoundly. I even was able to bring my Significant other who brought her grand-daughter who helped out tabling. A good time was had by all. I won't be able to be there next week but the rest of the team will hold down the fort or rather the table.

The next day we did a canvass of the Covina area, around the Covina Park area. We only had five people but we managed to complete our respective lists. My S. O. , Sandra, went canvassing with me. This have given us chance to bond and spend sometime together as we both have been so busy with work that we don't have chance to spend alot of time together. She did a great job and fell easily into the flow of canvassing. She used to be a Hilliary supporter but has seen the error of her ways or rather she saw the light. Most folks were no answers, few had moved, most people who we actually spoke with were undecided. One guys is a member of the Carpenters Union and said the union was leaning towards Edwards but he was willing to talk to us and open to look over Obama's position. The day was lovely weather warm later in the day. Overall, I think it went well, wish we had more folks. But that will come as time goes by. As Tavis Smiley always ends his program,,,,,,,,"Keep the faith."

Next Meeting Tuesday, November 6

Carolyn — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:22:11 EDT

Organizing, Phone banking meeting this Tuesday- Barnes and Noble- Montclair Plaza- 7 PM

We will be doing phone banking so come prepared. Thanks CJ

Fired up - Ready to GO

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:21:11 EDT

Here I am before an Obama meeting last night for the volunteers of California's Congressional District 32. I'm wearing my new Obama fleece jacket, with a 'women for Obama' pin. I'm also wearing a 'Got Hope' shirt. My purse has both a Barrack Obama and a Michelle Obama button. I have an Obama bumpersticker on one side, and a 'Women for Obama' bumpersticker on the other. You can see the Obama rally card that I got in February in the back of my car, but you can't really see the NY rally card beside it (given to me by a friend, I wasn't there). There are more rally signs sticking out of my knapsack, and buttons inside the bag, and a square Obama button on the knapsack.

Guess who i'm supporting for president!

My first blog. BE gentle with me

Mr. Baquet — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 02:59:41 EDT

Well. folks I have never been involved in a political campaign ever in my life of 56 yrs. I do vote! And God know's I have never done a blog before either. I am not one to write alot. Not the author type. But here goes. I watched Obama on the MTV presidential show tonight. I really enjoyed his presentation and his responses to the questions of those 'young folks.' I have not, yet, been fortunate to hear him speak in person unlike some of my co-volunteers. I can't wait to be struck by the Obama spirt or phenomenon once one hears him speak.

He is suppose to be kicking it up a notch to start talking about issues with the furor and emotion that has transfixated people up to this point. I wonder what other thought about his performance tonight. Share what you that here if you might. Or anything else you would like to share.

I attended the opening of the LA campaign HQ. It is on the 9th floor of a Wilshire office building. Nice view and our local leadership will have nice digs in which to work. I hope that they will be alot more organized that what this open house showed. Ralph and I carpooled. He was fairly disappointed in it as well. OUr local leaders weren't there, one if not both were in Oakland. So we didn't get to me them. We did meet Andrea the RFD. I had hoped this open house would have been just for us volunteers, first. To give us opportunity to meet our local leadership to meet our fellows CD volunteers to commizerate with them. To field issues and concerns I am sure all of us share. Then later it could have been an open house for the general public. Well not this time perhaps later. Other than that it was nice to see and speak with a few other folks who are like us, to see that there are others like us working towards the same goal. To that it was good to experience.

I will try to use this blog to document my experience in this my first foray into the politcal campaign process. Stay tuned!?

Obama publicity in Japanese

Julia from Pasadena — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:55:15 EDT

At the Grand Opening of the Headquarters in Los Angeles today we got to see a copy of Frontline, a Japanese publication that we were interviewed for.

The picture us in Second life at the Obama headquarters made it into print.

Los Angeles Headquarters Opening - Party

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:28:52 EDT

It was ROCKIN today at Obama Headquarters in Los Angeles - today was the Opening Kick Off PARTY.

As you can see, a few people showed up.

Lots of pictures below.

obama where are you?

Gabriel — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:55:55 EDT

Hola,

I am a resident of El Sereno, a teacher in Baldwin Park, and I go to church in South Pasadena. I'm all over the place, and I hear everyone talking about Hillary's plans, that she has the best chance.

No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe in you Mr. Obama, but you really need to press home your passion now. I keep getting the emails about your positions on war... okay.... what about healthcare, what about education, what about the deterioration of public education in the inner city? I am sure you are passionate about these too!

I am willing to canvass in a few weeks in my neighborhood, I am willing to give more money, and I am willing to talk you up to people at work, but only if you come out with the fire you have about the war!

What's your spin on the inner city blues?

Gabe

History Repeating Video MUST SEE!!!!!!

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:55:45 EDT

I was just sent hands down THE best and most effective tool to elect Barack Obama and point out the differences in candidates in the form of a two minute video. Spread this far and wide, it is amazing and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Spread this video please! Put this on boards in Iowa, Nevada, NH, and South Carolina. You must see this and you must spread it around. The simple images say everything we need to say about why Obama MUST be the next President of The USA. Below is the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c0eLVYbnI4

To Sally In Iowa

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:50:35 EDT

To SALLY in DeMoines Iowa, who above posted that she was undecided between Obama, Hillary and Edwards.

Go to barackobama.com and click on Barack TV to watch some of Obama's speeches. They'll tell you a great deal about the candidate.

When making your decision, keep in mind that Obama has more elected experience than Obama and Edwards combined.

Also keep in mind that he turned down over 700, that's right 700 corporate job offers out of college to take a 14 grand a year job working as a community organizer in Chicago, walking the streets to help out of work steel mill workers find new employment.

He also spoke out eloquently and vocally against the Iraq war back in 2002, when both Edwards and Mrs. Clinton were voting to give the President authority to go to war. Keep in mind, back in 2002 he was considering his Senate run and it was political suicide then to speak out against Bush, but he felt he had to discuss what he sincerely believed was right. He said, "I'm not against all wars, but I'm against a dumb war. This will be come a war of undeterminable expense and length, and it will become a civil war between Shia, Sunni and Kurds." At the same time, Bush joked when he heard the words "Sunnie and Shia", he said, "What's that? I thought they were all muslims over there."

Obama has a great knowledge of the world, having grown up part of the time abroad in Indonesia before moving back to Kansas with his mother. He has a wealth of experiences from traveling all around the world. His father was an immigrant from Kenya. All of this wealth of knowledge makes him an outstanding President that knows the ways and realities of the world.

He also is not taking federal lobby money, while Hillary is making it the basis of her financial campaign to do just that. Obama recognizes that lobbists are paying huge sums of money to politicians to curry favor and he's seen firsthand how the political process can be corrupted by this.

At the same time he doesn't take lobby money, Obama has OUT RAISED Hillary three out of four quarters by garnering more donations from individual contributors across the nation than any other candidate in history, mostly under 200 dollars. He is the first outside the establishment maverick candidate to do this, to be competitive with the establishment without taking corporate money.

If you didn't know the way lobbys and PACs work, what happens is that a corporation, like EXXON, will give all their executives the maximum 2300 dollars to contribute and then direct them to give it to Hillary Clinton or whatever candidate they endorse.

Of course this makes politicians beholden to their corporate donors.

For the first time in history, a politician is only beholden to the American people, as Obama is.

Obama also just two weeks ago spoke out against the vote in the Senate that declared Iran's army a terrorist group, an act that gives Bush the authority to wage undeclared war against Iran. Hillary Clinton, as she did with her 2002 vote on invading Iraq, voted two weeks ago to give Bush the same authority to now attack Iran.

In the 90's, Hillary made a health care proposal but did not consult key industry members, taking a complicated and arrogant approach, combined with a lack of communication skills on her part, that allowed her ideas to get trounced by the media.

Obama, on the other hand, has released a better plan that is available at barackobama.com. Not only does he have the communication skills to cross partisan divides and get his plan through, his own mother died of cancer while between jobs and without health care. As a result, he's made it a mission of his life to provide everyone with affordable healthcare.

Obama also has passed the first meaningful ethics reform in a generation and is known in the Senate as the "go to" guy when it comes to ethics. His recent bill that was passed is the reason that other candidates can no longer use corporate jets or recieve other corporate perks.

This fact about Obama, as well as so man others, seem to go unreported in the media.

Every vote in this coming election is crucial, especially where you're at in Iowa. I hope that I've managed to add some food for thought when it comes to making your decision.

Again, feel free to check out barackobama.com to see Obama's speeches and learn more about the issues and his stances on them.

One last thing, one something harder to quantify and identify, is the inspirational value difference between Obama and the other candidates.

I myself have never bothered to ge truly involved in politics before but Obama has brought this out in me. If he hadn't been running, I may have been as apathetic as usual but I am not and he's the only reason.

We need to be inspired in this country to accomplish the hard work to keep us on track and restore our place in the world. I have been to volunteer meetings in Nevada and California where there have been entire rooms full of people, 50 at a meeting, all of which have never, ever gone to such a meeting before. They've come out for Obama. They're knocking on doors for him. They're writing about him. They're talking about him.

If they can get us to put on our walking shoes and go out into the world to make a difference, think what Barack Obama can do to inspire this whole nation?

I'm excited at the prospect of it and I hope you soon will be too.

Best,

Lance

Obama 08!

Obama in East Los Angeles - a volunteers perspective

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 01:23:19 EDT

I got to see Barack Obama in East Los Angeles today. Here are LOTS of pictures to show all that went on.

Tabling (?) in Pasadena, California this AM

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:45:44 EDT

Mike and I set up at the Pasadena High School Farmer's market this morning .

and were joined by a high school student who was getting credit in her goverment class to participate in something political. So she chose to do something for Obama.

Canvassing in Duarte, California

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:12:23 EDT

CD32 for Obama took Duarte by storm, canvassing around Royal Oaks Park. Duarte is located in the North East area of Los Angeles, up against the mountains.

Snow in Monrovia, California

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:42:37 EDT

More great pictures from Ralph's archives, snow in Monrova! It was trucked in and dumped infront of a store. Ralph took the opportunity to make an Obama photoop.

A security guard was real excited to have his picture taken with the Obama sign too, to show his support of our candidate.

Response to an Iowa Hillary Supporter

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:12:16 EDT

The following was posted in response to a question posed on HillaryClinton.com by a Hillary supporter in Iowa that was sincerely questioning Hillary's electability. He said he was tired of defending the Clintons for the last twenty years and was worried about her chances in a general election.

Sir,

I really appreciate your heart felt soul searching on the issue of who is best to lead this country forward and who can actually get elected over the GOP's slimy smear tactics.

I liked a lot about Bill Clinton in the 90's. They were better times and I had a great deal of respect for Senator Hillary Clinton for what she tried to do with healthcare at the time. Both my grandparents were getting older and I was worried that we didn't make enough money to take care of them properly.

I became really frustrated when her healtch care plan was taken down by the biggest negative ad campaign in history at the time. I became ill as I watched the years pass and realized I didn't have the money to take care of my grandparents afterall. It wasn't a pretty time for me as they basically raised me.

I too spent a lot of time defending Bill and Hillary, a lot of effort, a lot of mental energy. In fact, if she's the nominee, I will vote for her and probably advocate on her behalf as well, as I do believe she's smart and that she would do a far better job than anything the backwards thinking Republicans can put up.

That said, I cannot say that I truly feel that she has the best chance of getting elected. There is simply too much animosity out there against her. Even George Bush has declared her the defacto candidate, along with Rove, and all the major Republicans. This worries me a great, great deal. If they are that convinced that she's the nominee, it must be for the same reason that they attacked Kerry in 2004 and ignored Edwards, who would have been the much more dangerous threat to them in my opinion.

They believe that Hillary is going to motivate their base, and from everything I've seen over the years, they're right. Nobody can get under the Republican skin more than Hillary and Bill Clinton. In my mind, it would be tantamount to Jeb Bush running for office. Think what that would do to the Democratic base at this juncture in history.

Living in Iowa, you sir, are the litmus test of the electoral process. What you do and more importantly what you say to those around you can have a great impact for the future of this country, that is why I'm taking the time to write out my thoughts to you in such detail.

I honestly feel that there has never been an election as important as this one in all of American history. Our world is coming apart at the seams from neglect and partisan division. Global crisis seems around every corner and yet all our leaders do is bicker back and forth.

Frankly, I cannot expend anymore energy defending the Clintons. I shouldn't have to. I very badly need to focus my energy ahead instead of in a defensive posture. I long for a leader that can actually bring us together in common goals, like JFK did in a time of strife. I am heartsick at what has happened to my country and I worry that the division did not start with George W. Bush, it started earlier when the Clintons allowed themselves to become the whipping posts of the Republican right.

No matter how grand and great Hillary's ideas are, she will have a tough time getting them through. No matter how clear her victory is in our minds, she will never be trusted by the mulititude in this country that doesn't trust her now.

We need a fresh change. We need to turn the page on the system. I have done massive amounts of research on the various candidates, I've become obsessed with this process in my determination to never let another empty suit like George Bush into the office of President again.

I've never been involved politically in my 35 years, at least not beyond voting and water cooler conversation. Yet here I am, writing to you in Iowa. Here I am, out walking the streets going door to door in cavass for the first time. Here I am hungry for all the information I can get and eager to pass it on to anyone with the ears to listen.

Who has inspired this change in me?

Barack Obama. The simple matter of truth is, when I listen to him speak, I believe him. I do not believe him in the same casual and careless way that others believed George Bush, I believe him in a rational, sane way, a way that feels like common sense and logic, that feels like compassion and passion for change combined.

When I first heard him speak about hope in 2004 at the Democratic convention, I cried, because his words rang so true to me. When he decided to ran I really looked into his positions and I found that they were such a grounded and common sense view of the world that I could not ignore his candidacy.

Since then, I have encountered hundreds of people as volunteers that feel the same way. Almost to a person, these people have been pulled from a state of hopelessness into a state of action by Obama. I canvassed yesterday in town with a group of 20 people, none of which had ever done such a thing in our lives. We all were scared out of our wits, but we did it anyway, because we have a fierce desire to actually accomplish some good in this country, to actually stop the bickering and the division and start making real goals for our future.

I have a three year old daughter, and I want to see a country just as bright and honorable for her as it was when I was a child. I want her to believe in her country the same way that I used to.

I simply cannot abide another eight years of politics as usual. Barack Obama, time after time, speaks hard truths and he does it in the most honest and consistant of ways.

He went to Detroit to talk to auto companies about raising fuel economy. He went to Wall Street to talk to bankers about eliminating taxes for senior citizens making less than 50 g's a year and raising taxes back to Reagan levels for the richest .1 percent of this country so that we can pay for things like healthcare and text books for our kids, things that every one should have a right to and yet so many don't.

The proof is in my inspiration. Obama has literally inspired me to get out of my chair and get involved in politics. It is a gift I cherish and will continue forward with even if ultimately it helps Clinton get elected and it's on her behalf.

I went to a rally to see Obama and 9000 people showed up. They were from every possible background and age you could imagine. It was breathtaking. Recently he had another rally in New York and 24,000 people attended. Two weeks earlier Clinton had one and only 2400 people attended. To me, that speaks volume about the kind of inspiration that Obama is bringing to the table.

At local volunteer meetings here, I've seen several veterans of both Gulf wars supporting Obama, and I've seen more than a handful of Republicans in attendance as well. They like him, believe it or not, which is something that Hillary cannot accomplish for reasons perhaps beyond both our understanding but still very real.

Perhaps what impresses me most is Obama's resume. Out of Harvard he could have had any six figure corporate job he wanted. In fact, he recieved over 700 corporate job offers with six figure salaries. He turned them all down to walk the streets of Chicago as a community organizer, working on behalf of steel mill workers once their mill closed.

Can you imagine what it would be like to have the first "community organizer" president? A President that understands America at the neighborhood level, someone not driven by ambition or money, but by a sincere desire to improve the nation that has been so good to him?

Since it was explained to me in childhood civics class I've always understood how the PAC and Lobby system works and how it is flawed. I've been waiting for years to have a President that recognizes that. I'm not sure if you realize it, but Obama doesn't take PAC or Federal Lobby money. Single handedly he has accomplished campaign finance reform that people have talked about for decades. He's raised 12 million more dollars than Hillary and he's done it with 400,000 INDIVIDUAL contributions, mostly less than 100 dollars. This makes him supremely competitive in a general election because he can draw on these donors again and again, whereas Hillary has maxed out most of her donors, with money coming from Lobbys donating the maximum 2300 per person amounts all at once.

As I said, sir, there has never been an election as important as this one. We are determining the fate of our country for generations to come. The problems we face are immense.

All I ask is that you give Obama a fair shake. Go on youtube and watch some of his speeches. Watch some of what normal, average citizens are saying about him.

If he can motivate us to put on our walking shoes for the first time, think what he can do for this whole nation.

I sincerely respect your question and I hope I was able to address it somewhat. I truly, truly believe that Obama is the man to carry this country forward and he has solid, real plans to do just that. If we're to win the next election, it cannot be close, it cannot be a divided electorate.

You're sitting reading this in Iowa, at ground zero. The caucaus there is the most crucial to this whole race. If you will simply brave the weather and the boring talk before the vote and stand up when Obama's name is called, you can change the world. I know it.

Just stand up, stand up for so many that would be there to stand with you, and so many others, like my grandparents, and my friends in Iraq, who cannot stand for you.

Until that day, talk and listen and search. Simply the act of participating is the most crucial aspect. You alone can open the eyes and hearts of those around you. You have an important place at the table.

Thank you so much for your question and your time. I wish you well.

Sincerely,

Lance

Inevitable Canvass Ammo

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:20:29 EDT

I would like to take a moment to address the status of where we're at. The comments below can be very useful when addressing the issue of Hillary's support, based on our canvass experiences.

When I canvassed in Nevada three weeks ago I talked to at least 200 Democrats, a few Obama supporters signed cards and the rest undecided. Not ONE Hillary Supporter. The other volunteers had similiar experiences. This weekend I canvassed Sunday in my local Monrovia neighborhood. I spoke to maybe 20 people we found at home. Again, not ONE solid Hillary supporter. This time, we got three Obama pledge cards and every other single person said they hadn't looked into it enough to make a decision. It was a theme echoed by the other volunteers here as well.

I also had a similiar experience at a local Community Foothills Democrat meeting. 30 people in attendance. At the end, people got up to say whom they supported. 4 Obama supporters, 1 Edwards supporter. And the rest of the room, mostly middle aged or older women, were still undecided, except the secretary of the club, who was a solid Hillary supporter.

If you actually read that NH poll that had Hillary 30 points ahead, you can see that 80 percent of the voters polled, out of a group of like 400, remain undecided or leaning only in a "soft"way toward a candidate. This fact was not reported when CNN gave the article "Hillary leads by 30 points" as a headline. What that translates to is that people already know about Hillary but they're not convinced by her. She's a known commodity and if you like her, you already do because of Bill and not much more. As time passes, more will investigate Obama and be swayed by his words and actions. There is a massive media blitz underway to make Hillary seem unstoppable. It's the only tool she has at her disposal as she doesn't have the volunteers or the grassroots, or a huge advantage in cash in place to compete with Obama fairly. If you don't believe that, look at her website and the groups and events there. There where maybe a dozen events in Southern California listed as of last night and this has been the case for months. There were maybe five groups in California all with under 20 members. If you do the same search from a zipcode in Southern California on Obama's site, you'll see no less than sixty events going on and untold amounts of groups and people involved. I've also done similiar comparisons to zipcodes in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina with similar results.

It is interesting to note that the new home page tag line on Hillary's site says, "1 million supporters! Congratulations, we did it!!!" Where did Hillary come up with such numbers?

It is also interesting to note that Mark Penn, her campaign adviser ala Karl Rove, is also the PR guy for Blackwater and was also responsible for many, many polls in Europe and Latin America that were used to influence elections there. His PR company is often hired for exactly the kind of third world manipulation he is commiting here. His company sponsored the polling in Venezula that was intended to make Hugo Chavez look like he didn't have popular support before the elections there. (Chavez swept the popular vote anyway). Penn's company also rigged polls in Chile and Eastern Europe on behalf of American interests there. Could it be possible that Penn is now pulling strings in the American media to do the same here?

Of course.

If you still need more proof as to the lack of Hillary's inevitability, go on youtube. Type in Obama and see what comes up. You'll find hundreds and hundreds of citizen inspired videos, speeches, clips, etc. Then, type in Hillary and you'll see next to nothing, and much of what is there is sponsored by the campaign and has had the "comments" feature removed so that the Hillary clips won't be deluged by anti-Hillary sentiment as they usually are whenever comments are allowed. If she's so popular, why do they need to disable comments?

Perhaps the greatest evidence of her unpopularity is on Facebook. Until recently, Barack had the most popular site there, "1 Million Strong For Barack!" with 380,000 members. Then along came "1 Million Strong To Stop Hillary!" and it now currently has over 500,000 members, the most on Face Book. Any pro Hillary site on Facebook contains in the neighborhood of perhaps 10,000 members.

The corporate media knows that if Hillary's the nominee, the race will be close and apathetic, and the congress will remain divided and strongly Republican due to down balloting, when Republicans check every Republican on the ballot out of habit. If Hillary wins, they can check her policies, or more likely she will lose to Guiliani because she will motivate the Repub base. This is why Murdock supports her, as he knows she is the most pro big business of likely winners and won't change the corporate laws the way Obama surely will to enact some fairness in media. The bias in media is exactly what will elect Hillary if anything will so why would she change it?

I plan on continuing to canvass for Obama whenever I can, walking the streets for excersise in my area as much as anything else, using some of the addresses we didn't manage to reach. The internet is great but it is limiting. Too many voters aren't paying attention yet and we need to change this one doorway at a time. I would suggest that every volunteer on this site start knocking on doors on a daily or weekly basis if possible in your own neighborhoods. This will build up local support and build us from the neighborhoods up. It will also save gas and I've found that volunteers are more likely to be active close to home than when they have to drive to a meeting or canvass.

best,

Lance

This post was in response to the following comments by Deborah below.

Deborah Phelan <deborahphelan@gmail.com> wrote:

The OfftheBuss oficcial reports are sat. canvassing events are up coming to exactly same conclucions I reached. More Dems are undecided about thee vote than polls reveal.
"Despite neighborhood and regional differences, and although the levels of sophistication and competency among the individual campaign events varied, our correspondents found several common themes, the most striking of which is to what degree Democrats still declare themselves undecided.
It's abundantly clear that, less than four months before the onslaught of decisive primaries and caucuses, many Democratic voters have just not made up their minds. "Of those that would speak to us, almost all were undecided," reports correspondent Phoebe Love who followed the Obama canvass through Ballard, Washington. She is echoed by contributor Ethan Hova in Studio City, a middle-class Democratic suburban stronghold in Los Angeles: "The vast majority of voters were very much undecided and expressed reluctance to engage in debate without conducting research on their own." Daniel Macht, following the Obama campaign in Brooklyn, New York noted the same hesitation: "They were all undecided, save one Edwards supporter." Perhaps most importantly, correspondent Beverly Davis reports from Des Moines, "Smith [ an Obama volunteer] knocks on Dan Arply's door and launches into his opening rap but Arply soon interrupts by saying, 'Thanks for stopping by, but I haven't decided on supporting anyone yet.' Arply is a typical Iowan."
It's difficult to draw hard and fast conclusions from such anecdotal material but it might suggest that the slew of recent polls giving Hillary Clinton a commanding lead in the race for the nomination may be of limited utility. Correspondent Hova found widespread indifference toward Clinton as he went door-to-door with the Obama canvassers: "This was a fairly affluent suburb north of Los Angeles and I was really surprised not to find a single Hillary supporter in the neighborhood.""

HERE IS A LINK AGAIN TO MY EXTENDED REPORT ON BTYV AND MY OWN OBAMA BLOG BACKSEAT BABY BOOMERS

I intend to comb throgh the officiai results and get some real stats to determine what the actual response rates where in terms of number of contacts actually made nationwide, number of non responders, £ unddecided and the number of actually committed responders. Let you know my results asap but I think we should really PUSH this information.

--
"...experience is like tail-lights on a boat which illuminate where we have been when we should be focusing on where we should be going." John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1959.

Second Life Weekly meeting update

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:16:07 EDT

We discussed a few things at our weekly second life meeting. We're still waiting to hear when the ABC news special is airing.

We have progress on our projects, more freebee stuff on slexchange, and a draft of our Ad!

Its here, and please feel free to comment

Obama in Second Life Ad here

. We also discussed participating in the 'Familes for Obama' cookbook and will be digging into our inventories for recipes. Prim ribs anyone? If you want to contribute one, please leave it as a comment or contact Julles. Artwork & stories needed too.

Obama in Pasadena (June - Ralph's pictures)

Julia from Pasadena — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:47:22 EDT

Here are some more of Ralph's great pictures from the June event in Pasadena that Barack and Michelle attended.

Here's Ralph.

Walk for Change -- Monrovia (26west)

Vickere Murphy - Regional Field Organizer — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 23:43:15 EDT

Join us at the Coffee Bean in Monrovia (Foothill at Myrtle) on Saturday morning at 9am before we hit the streets! We're going to enjoy some coffee and have a look at National's canvass training video and then team up to go door to door, talking to neighbors to spread the word and build support for Senator Obama's 4-point plan to turn the page in Iraq.

You too can make a difference in this campaign to change our country! RSVP at http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4v9xr. See you Saturday!

Ralphs pictures - Pasadena fundraiser in June

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:59:39 EDT

Here are some more of Ralph's great pictures, these are from the fundraiser in Pasadena in June.

Here is Mike, one of the biggest Obama supporters in Pasadena.

My Grandmother's Flag

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:00:42 EDT

A reporter asked Barack Obama why he isn't wearing the usual American flag on his lapel today...

When I was a child I asked my grandmother if I could play with the American flag I found wrapped in plastic that she kept neatly placed in the linen closet. I was curious about it. She smiled and brought it out so I could look at it properly. She unwrapped it carefully and placed it so I could see it. She explained to me that this flag, The United States Flag, was a very special thing, and that it wasn't to be played with ever. She explained that in fact members of our family had fought, and died to protect it. She talked to me about my Uncle Jake that was at Pearl Harbor on the USS Arizona, and how he watched from the docks as it went under.

I asked her, "Then why do we have it, if we can't put it up all the time? Shouldn't we always have it up?"

She smiled again with that weary strength she had, and said, "because this flag, is only for special occasions. Its to honor our country and it holds so much value, so much honor, that we should never, ever waste it or treat it like its just another object to hang up any old day. That's why we only put it up on special occasions, like The 4th of July."

I never, ever have forgotten that conversation I had with my grandmother all those years ago. Ever since I have had great respect for my flag and I've never thought of it just as another object to be displayed or played with.

I've always felt, ever since that day, that if we displayed our flag every day, we lose the meaning and specialness of the ones we honor with it. We lose the grandure that it represents. We lose the hope that it contains within its borders and within our own, because soon enough our flag becomes just another symbol, another thing that can be sullied, tattered, and ultimately forgotten.

Today, I have found another reason that I will not only vote for Barack Obama, but do everything in my human power to see that he is the next President of The United States.

Obama doesn't wear a flag pin on his lapel, as he told the reporter who asked today about the fact that every other politician does. Obama understands that our flag has been subverted and misused by being pulled out every day of the week, a constant fixture on the lapels of powerful men in the same way that the Nazi insignia on the lapel was such a fixture of Germany during WWII. In the hands of such men, our flag becomes a tool for propaganda instead of the symbol of honor that it is. These men and women that misuse our flag use it as a statement to their own ends, a statement of "You're either with us, or against us."

To honor something, we must never allow it to become mundane. I don't need a badge or a flag on my lapel to tell me that I'm an American, or that I'm proud of my country, any more than I need another politician to tell me what I should or should not think.

I am just as proud of my flag today as I was when I was a young boy talking to my grandmother about it. I have lost faith not in my country, but in men and women who wave the flag as a banner of division and fear, all to better hide their own nakedness and deceit.

As Senator Obama said today, “My attitude is that I'm less concerned with what you're wearing on you lapel than what's in your heart. You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those ones who serve.

In order to honor all those that the flag represents, I will keep my flag in the linen closet until another day when it truly is needed again.

I can tell you for sure that one day I will wave my flag high is on the day that Barack Obama wins the Presidency of The United States.

How To Canvass 4 Barack!!!

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:57:38 EDT

Regarding canvassing in California on the 13th...

I canvassed for Barack in Nevada a few weeks ago. It was the first time in my life I'd ever done it. I expected to have doors shut on me but it never happened. In fact, I didn't find any real supporters for any other candidate than Barack going door to door and everyone was usually pleased to see me.

First I announced that this was my first time canvassing, and that I'm supporting Barack. Then, I tended to ask if there were any issues that they would like to know more about, then I spent a minute or two dealing with Barack's stance on those issues.

I also tried to constantly relate it back to my own experiences and potentially the experiences of who I was speaking with. This worked very, very well.

For example, I found healthcare and the fact that Barack's mother died while between jobs and without proper health insurance as a big way of connecting with that issue, as obviously he knows what its like in the real world and its a big reason he's made it his life to change our government. I also talked alot about how he took a 14G a year job out of Harvard and turned down several six figure salaries to do voter registration and his work as a community organizer on behalf of unemployed steel mill workers.

I tried to remain positive and not trash another candidate. Maybe once or twice when someone brought up Hillary and the fact that things were so much better under Bill, I pointed out that Hillary was on the board of directors of Wall Mart at the same time that Barack was community organizing and to me that summed up the difference between the two.

Many people, being in Nevada, where concerned with illegal immigration and I usually mentioned the fact, if they brought up immigration, that Barack feels that we need to actually protect our borders by hiring more border patrol and enforcing existing laws that are currently ignored under Bush, while at the same time Barack realizes you can't have millions of people living in shadows, driving with no insurance or documentation, not paying into the system, etc, and that you have to have those people to get in back of line for citizenship if they haven't broken any laws, will learn english and pay a fine, etc. I would usually finish with a skeptic by saying, "Doing nothing about it or giving only divisive soundbites will never solve this important issue and Barack is about real, practical solutions instead of the same old tired rhetoric."

Whenever I was with Melissa, she spoke in Spanish to immigrant families we'd been sent to, and we talked about how Barack's father was an immigrant himself and can understand that experience, and how he has been a strong advocate for immigrant rights and the fact that undocumented workers are being exploited. We also pointed out that Barack is the one candidate that will find real solutions that will allow millions of people to come out of the shadows because he is not beholden to the corporate lobbyists that pay our politicians to keep immigrants working below minimum wage.

Also a good thing to quote if they mention Iraq is that Barack is leading every other candidate by far in his support amongst the military. And of course there's the 2002 speech about Iraq being a "dumb war." It also works well to mention that Barack favors going after the people that actually attacked us, like Bin Laden. One catchy phrase is, "Obama would get Osama."

I found that usually common sense is all that is needed when speaking with people. people appreciate politeness and brevity, unless they have specific questions and would like to spend more time discussing. However, don't forget that you also have to move on and reach as many people as possible.

Always try to keep the conversation positive. Try not to use "negative" words like, "but" or "You don't understand", or "no." Instead of "but", say, "I understand". ie. "I understand how you feel about illegal immigration. We can agree that the borders need to be tightened, and if you investigate Barack's record I think we'll both agree that he's the best candidate to provide meaningful solutions on that. He voted for more border patrol to strengthen our border and for employer accountability when it comes to hiring illegal labor."

As soon as you say "but" or interrupt a person with a negative, they switch off and stop listening to you. Always keep your words positive and be polite and you can't go wrong. If someone sounds like an angry crackpot, don't try and sway them, just thank them for their time and move on to the next door.

Also, try not to canvass alone, don't go to the door alone, but also dont go with a group of four or more people either then it feels like the person is under attack. We're not trick or treating here.

What people really appreciate is sincerety and our own stories. It is very helpful to talk about the one thing that got you interested in Obama personally, and also how Obama is going to personally effect change for YOU.

For example, I would sometimes talk about how I watched my grandparents pass due to Alzhiemers and what a bad process that was, and how Barack had to go through something similiar with his mother having cancer. He understands my plight and sees real ways to fix our broken healthcare system. His plan for healthcare would make insurance companies compete with government programs, giving us the freedom to choose and would ensure we wouldn't be taken advantage of as we know are. His plan would have assured my grandparents a more dignified final chapter in life. Barack has the communications skills to convey his good ideas on healthcare to the people and actually get something done for a change."

If you're talking to senior citizens, what will probably get them is Barack's plan to ELIMINATE income tax on any seniors making less than 50,000 a year. This shoots a hole in the whole "democrats will raise taxes" line.

Of course in Nevada we occasionally got the "is he experienced enough?" question. I countered with the fact that he has more combined legislative experience than Hillary and Edwards combined. He also has more experience on the ground dealing with real people as an organizer."

To the question, "Can a black man be elected or will he be shot?" which although annoying did crop up a few times, I responded, "He's inspired me to volunteer for the first time in my life. There are thousands more like me of every age, race, color and creed. (since the NY rally I'd add,) In New York last week he spoke before 25,000 people. A few weeks earlier Hillary spoke to a crowd of 2,500 people. Obama draws crowds like that everywhere. So who is truly electable? These are all people who go out and vote. Obama is creating a movement unequaled in history that can not only determine this election but change the face of politics forever."

People respond to polite enthusiasm. Try to mention the primary date of Feb. 5th at least three times and definetely at the end of the conversation.

I would usually close with anyone that was undecided with something like "I believe strongly that after you investigate all the candidates we'll agree that Obama is hands down the strongest. Thank you so much for your time and you have a great day."

Bottom line... people who actually will vote will be impressed simply by your presence and your passion about Barack. If you can make them think you're done a great deal and Barack can do the rest. We are putting free effort into the campaign that other campaigns have to pay for, which is another good thing to mention.

People dont want to feel like their votes are being bought or that they're being told who to vote for. They want to think that we've made up our own minds and we're simply cluing them in so they too can make up their own minds.

As I said, I usually started with "I've never done this before in my life, so bear with me..." That usually hooks people right away because then they realize you're not payed by the campaign and that you are nervous but that you're there because of your beliefs and honest desire to see Barack get elected and no other reason.

Suprisingly, sometimes all it takes to get someone else involved is them knowing that Barack has inspired you to do this when no one else has. That alone speaks volumes about our candidate and why he should be president.

Another good tag line added to all that would be, "hey, if Barack can get me to put on my sneakers and walk door to door for the first time in my life, think what he can do for all of us after he's elected President?"

One last thing I have to, HAVE TO mention, is DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES go into someone's gate if there's no one around and there's any areas you can't see. In Nevada, I was told by a neighbor to go into a gate and see the person within, and two large pitbulls lunged at us. They chased me across the yard and I was almost bitten, so definetely be careful and don't go into closed gates if it looks like there could be a dog around.

Best and good luck canvassing,

Lance Mungia

Ralphs pictures - Flash back to February

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 01:02:24 EDT

Ralph gave me some great pictures to post and share. Here are a few from the rally in Austin that he attended in February. He just happened to be in Texas when it happened, drove a few hours to the rally, and it changed his life. Or at least this year of it, Ralph is very active in the Obama campaign and one of the volunteer coordinators of CD32.

This was the rally where it rained. And noone seemed to mind.

Freedom of Speech at UNR Still Under Discussion (Thx Zach)

SDP — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:06:53 EDT

By Zach Edwards - Oct 3rd, 2007 at 8:23 pm EDT - If the University of Nevada, Reno has its way, Maritza Perez, the Vice-President of the Students for Barack Obama UNR chapter, won’t be able to practice her freedom of speech

Oct 2 Rally in Los Angeles

Julia from Pasadena — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:53:09 EDT

The rally at the Federal building in Los Angeles was great! The weather was beautiful, the speeches were moving (and short) and the turn out was great for a Tuesday at noon.

My batteries in my camera were not so great, I could only take a few pictures and had to take them fast without composing.

Obama's Campaign is Our Campaign!~By Guy

SDP — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:53:59 EDT

A historic political movement is continuing to build across this great nation. It has been decades since

OBAMA LEADS IN IOWA!! (Thanks Guy)

SDP — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:56:44 EDT

By Guy -Sep 30th, 2007 at 5:43 pm EDT - According to the latest from NEWSWEEK polling data, Barack Obama leads the Democrats among caucus-goers

A Great Comeback On Barack's Experience Issues (thanks Matthew)

SDP — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:41:14 EDT

"Experience" By Matthew from California - Sep 23rd, 2007 at 6:31 pm EDT

We need to stop with the "experience does not matter" crap, because it does.

Obama's superior level of experience as it relates to the job of President is one of The Candidate's biggest advantages.

Remember that Hillary's only political experience is legislative, and that her legislative experience is not as lengthy as Barack's. Also,

CD 32 Organizational Meeting

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:13:25 EDT

We came in from the cold! Ok, so we're in Souhthern California and it hasn't been that cold. But our meetings moved from the cardshack to the community center. We hadan enthsusiastic turn out, and everyone had been there before. So we are DEDICATED.

ANTI WAR RALLY WITH CONGRESSMAN SEPT 28

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:41:21 EDT

I just returned from the Foothill Community Democrats meeting which went well. No real Hillary supporters, some solid Obama supporters, and the rest undecided out of maybe 20 people.

Russ Warner, candidate for Congress in this district, was at the meeting and asked if I could post to the local Obama folks that the Inland Valley Democratic Club is unveiling a billboard tomorrow that reads "Support Our Troops Bring Them Home!" They will be having an anti-war rally there at the location in Rancho Cucamonga, at the corner of Foothill and Archibald. This is Tomorrow, Sept. 28, 2007. Russ Warner will be leading the protest which is from 4 - 6pm. A rally is from 6 to 7pm. Then they're going to Rocky's Pizza for a social gathering from 7pm to whenever. All are invited, the pizza is free. (buy your own drinks.

Please encourage as many supporters as you can to attend as we will HAVE PRESS COVERAGE!!!! This is another chance to get the Obama signs out and be the only group that represents. Russ says the news is supposed to be there. If you have any questions contact 562-477-6229.

Please post this to your groups and spread the word.

Best,

Lance

Debate Watching in Second Life on Capitol Hill

Julia from Pasadena — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:29:30 EDT

We had a few people show up to the debate watching party, and I think most of us had fun. We couldn't get it streamlined in (due to MSNBC) but those who could watched it on TV or the net.

Why Obama Won the Dartmouth Debate (by Kobi)

SDP — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:10:48 EDT

Post from Kobi Little's Blog:
Why Barack Obama Won the Dartmouth Debate
By Kobi Little - Sep 27th, 2007 at 5:06 am EDT
Also listed in: 10 groups

Despite some of the media hype, Barack Obama won the Dartmouth Democratic Debate by making three separate commitments that went unanswered by his primary opponents.

He made a commitment to employ personal presidential diplomacy to resolve conflict. While he didn’t say it, the other candidates’ silence on the issue tells us that only Barack Obama can provide the personal diplomacy that we need at home and abroad!

He made a commitment to use his experience to lead America. Barack Obama has the experience America needs and he discussed his experience bringing people together, his experience standing up to special interests and his experience speaking truth to the American people.

He made a commitment to usher in an era of tolerance, reason and hope and to stop the politics of fear, conflict and division.

Even though he was struggling with a cold, the clear, strong message of Barack’s commitments simply overpowered the other candidates’ comments, claims and theatrics. Those in the press and elsewhere who looked for Obama to engage in political showmanship were probably disappointed, because he just didn’t put on a show.

Instead, Barack Obama offered his ideas for turning the page on this dreadful chapter in American history and articulated his vision for advancing America’s prosperity and in so doing he won the debate.

Obama in Second Lifers get Inteviewed by ABC

Julia from Pasadena — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:05:12 EDT

ABC News interviewed a few of us in Second Life this morning. They actually went live to 'cubsfan's house and filmed from there, and interviewed him in person.

An ABC reporter came into second life (she's the one in the suit) and met us at the Obama grassroots headquarters. The other avatars pictured are Liam (who owns the headquarters and set it all up), cubsfan (who runs the Second Life Obama group and the meetings), Baijan who runs the Mybo Second life group, and me (in my new Dutch clogs). The reporter didn't ask about the clogs. But she did ask why Baijan was green.

Stay tuned for debate watching pictures at the Capitol Hill sim. And please help support us by making a donation on our group page, we are actually at 3rd place this week in the <30 member group donations. (check it out here. And please donate

here

Free Obama shirt and buttons

Julia from Pasadena — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:28:06 EDT

Free Obama shirt and buttons - the catch - its for your virtual self. I just put the Obama shirt and buttons on Second Life exchange (like ebay for second life) for FREE to help other avatars spread the world about Obama. Check out our Second Life group.

Campaign Update, Talking Points and Schedule for this Week

Kobi Little — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:44:26 EDT

This week's blog is packed with new information from the campaign. Special thanks to my friend Teal Baker for her contributions to this post. Take it all in and then share it with others. If you like this blog or if you find this information useful please send me a friend request and join my group, Kobi Little's National Network for Obama.

Breaking news from the conference call with Campaign Manager David Plouffe: A new online fundraising contest is being launched that will grant the members of the My.BarackObama.com groups that have the most donors at the end of the day on September 30th, the opportunity to participate in a personal conference call with Senator Barack Obama and Campaign Manager David Plouffe. Click here for more information on the Group Fundraising Challenge.

State of the Campaign

When we got into this race as a largely unknown candidate new to the national political stage, we never expected that nine months later at this stage of the race, we would be in a tight three way race in Iowa; leading in the money race; have the largest grassroots organization in modern political history; and have an organizational advantage in the early states and February 5 over a quasi-incumbent from the most powerful political machine in modern political history.

Barack is the candidate with the message and biography that is most in synch with the electorate – according to a Gallup poll in September Democratic voters prefer change to experience by a margin of 73 percent to 26 percent.

The Obama campaign has: the largest organizations with the most experienced staff and enthusiastic volunteers in the 4 early states;

An unexpected financial advantage that allows the campaign to compete in multiple contests at the same time;

The most donors by far in the race, who as the election draws nearer will get even more active on our behalf, giving us financial sustainability;

A significant organizational advantage in February 5th states.

Barack Obama's Schedule: On Monday, Barack Obama received the endorsement of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association. Tuesday, he’s speaking at Change to Win in Chicago. Wednesday, he can be seen live on the NBC/NECN/New Hampshire Public Radio/New Hampshire Democratic Party debate, which will be broadcast live on MSNBC at 9pm EST. Following the debate he’ll head to New York, where he’ll participate in a live interview on ABC’s The View at 11am EST on Thursday before leading a major rally in Washington Square Park. On Friday, he speaks at Howard University’s Convocation and participates in the CBC Issues Forum in Washington, DC.

CD 32 Organizational Meeting - at the Card Shack in Monrovia, California

Julia from Pasadena — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:41:48 EDT

We had another inspiring CD32 (California Congressional Distric 32) meeting at the Card Shack in Downtown Monrovia (officially part of CD 26, but we play well together).

Obama supporters at the Route 66 Parade in Duarte, California

Julia from Pasadena — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:44:18 EDT

They say it never rains in Southern California - It pours. Well, it poured on us today. It rained the hardest while we were waiting, but stopped when we walked. So it turned out real well.

We even recruited a new supporter during the rain, the person who took this picture for us will be coming to our organizaitional meeting this week. We got his contact info!

Our Next Meeting

Carolyn — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 01:24:57 EDT

Hi everybody, I want to hold the next meeting in a new location, I am thinking that we should try the coffee shop in Montclair Plaza Barnes and Noble- at 7:00 PM. I would like to see if we can drum up some energy and talk to the public some. Luke and Jeremy if your you get a ride to the meeting I will take you home!! Ok see everybody on Tuesday- Barnes and Noble at Montclair Plaza. Thanks cj

Debate Watching Parties in Second Life on Capitol Hill

Julia from Pasadena — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:23:24 EDT

We have a place to watch the debates in world! Capitol Hill is the perfect place to gather, and the sim owner is happy to have us participate in democracy.

Why A Florida Student Was Tasered Talking to Kerry!!!

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:05:24 EDT

I just watched video on Youtube.com of a University of Florida College student being tasered by cops at a speech Kerry gave day before yesterday, after asking John Kerry why he didn't fight the corruption and voter disenfranchisement that went on during the 2004 Election that he has been documented to have won.

The kid in the video is holding a yellow book that I know well as I've read it. It's what got the kid so fired up and if it doesn't make you angy nothing will.

The kid in question made no threatening move, he was just asking a question. You can go to Youtube.com and just type in "taser" in the search to see the kid talk about this very important book before being tasered by cops that jump in.

The book that got him so fired up is called "Armed Madhouse", by a well respected American writer for the BBC named Greg Palast. Palast goes to great lengths to document how the RNC was able to use vote caging, faulty voting machines, provisional ballots and absentee ballots being tossed out, false felon lists, and many more illegal methods to assure hundreds of thousands of votes were not counted in the last election. In fact, the three Republican heads of the Ohio State Board of Elections were convicted of election fraud for it although the mainstream media barely mentioned it.

Ohio was won in 04 by George Bush by a bare 10,000 votes. Palast documents at least 75,000 Democratic votes in Ohio that were lost to RNC vote suppression.

We cannot let this happen again. Barack Obama has spoken about the dangers of election fraud, as he's quite familiar with it being from such a rough and tumble district like Chicago where corruption is often rampant.

I recommend every single Obama supporter go out to your Library or Borders Books or Barnes and Noble and get a copy of "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast. On the front page it says, "And how they plan to steal '08." It should be required reading so that we can be vigiliant and inform voters how NOT to vote.

They should never use provisional ballots, which are handed out when lines get long due to there being fewer voting machines in Dem districts than is actually needed. They shouldn't use absentee ballots either as, if a Republican is recieving them at the polls, they read the names and toss out anything that sounds ethnic as being a possible Dem.

The best solution is to go to EARLY VOTING STATIONS and vote early. Most places have a poll set up two weeks in advance. If there's any problem voting, if your name isn't on a voter roll, you can then call the DNC and get it fixed before the election.

Ohio in 04 or Florida in 2000 where not isolated cases. As I posted in a blog here a few days ago called "How the RNC Steals Elections", (the remaining is from that post...)

"The only reason the Jim Webb campaign won the 2006 congressional election in Virginia by a few thousand votes and not 200,000 votes, is the same reason why other Dems lost so incredibly narrowly or won so narrowly when they should have swept... is because the RNC cheats, badly and baldly, with the selfish, greedy abandon only neocons can muster. Read "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast for the details, all documented by this brilliant reporter for the BBC. The 2004 elections being stolen was major news across the entire globe a week before the election thanks to his show on BBC, but we never even heard a peep about it in the states, why?"

ie. The RNC controlled states hand out provisional ballots like candy only in democratic districts with poorer people that move around alot and thus may not have registered at the proper address, and then the Republican Sec. of State refuses to count them as is his right.

Or, they use caging lists. The RNC pays to send first class letters to addresses of servicemen in Iraq from the state, and to democratic districts, and then any letters that come back unopened, they use as evidence of a wrong address and challenge the votes, which is illegal. This is detailed in some of Karl Rove's missing emails that Greg Palast, the author of Armed Madhouse, came across as they were sent to rnc.com instead of rnc.org, which is a spoof site, sent from Tim Griffen, who is now running the illustrious Fred Thompson's campaign. Griffens name is right there in the heading and he's the guy that was Karl Rove's protogue, who was later accused of election fraud by David Iglasias, the US attorney fired and then replaced by none other than... you guessed it, Tim Griffen.

Oh, and then lets not forget crappy old voting machines that are allowed to break and remain in disrepair or are never delievered to Democratic districts to begin with. People have to wait in line for hours and many decide to take provisionals or just leave without voting while in Repub districts they breeze in and out in twenty minutes or less.

Anybody that honestly believes we can have one congressional and two Presidential elections where the vote constantly came down to five hundred votes or a thousand or ten thousand here and there, is smoking crack.

Of course the RNC tries to throw out so many votes that it's gonna be close. Their only mistake was in not throwing in a few more. I guess they underestimated the amount of democratic enthusiasm.

This democratic enthusiasm is the only way we're going to stop these greedy, lousy cheaters in the next election cycle. Because we need overwhelming numbers even to achieve a "close" victory ala Webb. That's a major reason I'm supporting Barack Obama, as I know he'll inspire more democratic voter turn out than any other candidate and thanks to cheating we can't win without it even in a year where everyone is fed up with the Republican party.

Oh, I almost forgot my favorite RNC tool, the one that hands down gave them Florida. Just pick a bunch of Democrat names from Democratic districts, and put them on a felon list, right out of the phone book, and send it to the polls. Sure, you may not be a felon, but your vote won't count and you can argue it later, AFTER you lose the election.

Pay damn close attention from now on people. If you're asleep at the wheel, you lose a lot more than your shiny grill. Don't wind up like that student tasered in Florida for speaking his mind to Kerry.

I suggest everybody get a copy of Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast either at your local Borders or the library, I've found it both places and you can also request a copy if your Library doesn't carry it.

Your democracy hangs in the balance.

Find out why this Florida student talking to taser was so angry and passionate that it got him tasered. Read THIS BOOK for all our goods.

Lance

Weekly Obama in Second Life Meeting

Julia from Pasadena — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 09:15:34 EDT

We had our weekly meeting in Second Life yesterday (Tuesday, 7:30 SL or Pacific time).

Today's pig is tomorrow's bacon.

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:16:27 EDT

So CNN is calling Obama's Economic plan "Robin Hood Economics."

Obama as Robin Hood? He is simply making sense as usual. It's as if somebody dropped a talent bomb on the rest of Washington and he was the only one in the bunker that didn't get hit. Everything the dude said today resonates… because it's true and its what the vast majority of America has been thinking.

I spent my 300 dollar tax cut in about a week, and now I watch kids go to school without textbooks. Does that make sense?

What really doesn't make sense is that the richest people in this nation get tax cuts they didn't ask for and use the money almost entirely overseas, pulling their money out of our economy.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong. How can we have the costliest war in history, have schools without air conditioning and a healthcare system ranked 46th in the world, behind third world countries, and the highest infant mortality rate in the industrialized world, and STILL be giving Paris Hilton a tax break so she can make bigger vats of perfume?

What is pure highway robbery is what King George and the neocons of Nottingham have done economically and otherwise to our country in seven years. They've wrecked us. Sherwood Forrest is a toothpick factory filled with Chinese sweat shop labor. Our bridges are collapsing and the neocons are laughing all the way to the bank. It's an even bigger joke than their idea of "small government", which is really just code for "government that does nothing and takes everything for their golf buddies."

Every time they want a tax refund check in the mail they cry "war on terror" and rack up another 200 billion in record oil profit. Meanwhile, good men and women are having limbs blown off and dying and coming back to hospitals that don't even have decent sanitation for crying out loud in buckets!

Barack Obama represents the best hope we have of actually regaining some sense of responsibility and sanity. He has integrity, which appears to be a dirty word in Washington. He doesn't deal with lobbyists, a word that is also code for "bandits in the woods."

I sincerely don't believe anyone else can change the greedy, corrupt, pig sty that is the Washington beltway but Barack Obama.

Can you smell what Obama is cookin'?

Oink Oink. Today's pig is tomorrow's bacon. Sizzle.

Robin Hood is in town with a vengence and he's here to stay.

Watch out, it's BBQ time.

Obama 08. Don't be late. Stop the hate.

Bill Clinton in Pasadana Tomorrow 2pm, come 4 Barack!

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:16:53 EDT

Bill and Hillary Clinton are going to be speaking at Vromans bookstore in Pasadena tomorrow Sept. 18th at 2pm. We are gathering as many Obama supporters from the area as possible to come and hold Obama signs or wear Obama buttons and shirts out front. Meet there at 2pm and be ready to support Barack Obama the next President of The United States.

I drove 300 miles to canvass for Barack in Vegas over the weekend, I got chased by pit bulls, caught a cold and spoke to maybe 200 undecided voters and I'm still going to be standing in front of Vroman's at 2pm.

Make a difference. Get noticed. Be in front of Vroman's at 2pm. The address is 695 E. Colorado, 2pm Vromans Bookstore, Pasadena CA.

One Weekend For Barack

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:52:23 EDT

I just spent the weekend driving 300 miles to go to Nevada, where I canvassed for Obama in 100 degree heat. It was the first time I've done this in my life. I found many other people there in similiar circumstances. There were maybe 200 volunteers, 60 of which had also driven from out of state to be there for the weekend.

It was one of the most inspirational experiences of my life. Gathered in a musty Vegas union hall, ready to walk the streets, I found old people, even one with a cane, I found young people, many in their early twenties or even teens. I found whole families. In the parking lot many of the cars had Obama bumper stickers, or OBAMA 08 written in soap on the window or on big signs along the sides of their van. I found veterans. I found cholos. I found people of every possible background, all wearing Obama shirts and buttons and carrying eyes that were serious and smiles that were infectious.

We laughed more than I had in ages. During the course of two days we spoke to hundreds of people about the best way to change this country. Barack Obama.

Time after time, as I went from undecided voter to undecided voter's door, I heard people's frustation with politics as usual and I heard their honest desire for change and accountability. I heard people worried about their economy and losing their homes. I heard an old woman speak about losing her healthcare. I heard an ex prostitute talk about how she had to hustle at age 14 because she didn't get an education and was too young to get a better job.

Time after time, I found Obama supporters, or people that at least would listen.

I had a half hour long conversation with one man that had seen his neighborhood succumb to crime over the last six years. He honestly cared about his neighborhood but had only just heard of Obama that week. By the time I left, he was a supporter.

I talked to people at bus stops and told them about Obama. One older lady wiped a tear from her face as she said, "I already for him son. You just keep on going along to those over there that ain't yet."

We made a dent. But there's alot more to do and Nevada is crucial to his nomination, so if you can go another weekend, I recommend it.

Only Barack Obama has inspired the kind of guts in me and in others like me to do this sort of thing. I would have never dreamed it possible from me. He does this because he IS telling the truth. He DOES say things like it is. He's representing the people and not the special interests and often all it takes to turn the tide is a conversation.

No matter how much the big companies and powers that be try to pull him down, they won't be able to. Because Obama has connected to people like me, and like so many of the others I met both as volunteers and going door to door. These people see through the b.s. and the political soundbites. They're sick and tired of being told what to think.

Hillary Clinton and the Republican neocons can have as many lobbists and big companies on payroll as they like, but it won't matter, because Barack Obama is starting a movement that will last, a movement of real people and one that will not only get him elected but see meaningful change occur that would be impossible without the will of the people to actually make it happen.

The powers that be are damned scared people, because they realize that we're actually paying attention for a change, that we're actually out there walking the streets talking about the issues and paving the path of change along with soon to be President Obama.

I actually got chased by pit bulls when I went into the wrong gate. Me and two other volunteers literally had to run for our lives and I actually felt the pit bull's cold nose against my shin as I leaped out a gate.

We picked that moment to pause for some ice cream from a passing vendor. While sitting on the hot curb, we laughed and laughed about it, about the ridiculous situation we'd found ourselves in both personally and as a nation.

I could laugh, because I'd found hope again that it could all change and that I could be a part of it.

I swear I'd do it all over again and I probably will many more times, because I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. I'm going to make the country better for my efforts and I'll take on all the pit bulls of the world I have to in order to do it.

Take notice of Barack Obama people. Go out and take charge of your lives for a change. Make some sacrifices and do something.

Obama 08!!!

Its Not About Who's Turn It Is.

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:51:18 EDT

Today on a talk show Michelle Obama said, in regards to whether it is finally time to see a woman President, that "it's not about who's turn it is."

She's right. It's not anybody's turn at this stage, it's EVERYBODY's turn. If we elect the wrong person to President, the world is literally at stake. Can we survive another ten years of unchecked war and global warming? Can we survive another eight years of the middle class becoming a memory? Can we survive another eight years of partisan bickering, all in the name of this dynasty or that one, or this label or that one?

Hell no.

What Michelle Obama is getting at, is that in what is without a doubt the most important Presidential Election of this or any other time, we should judge each candidate on nothing but absolute character, judgement and experience. It should not be at all about dynasties, about labels such as "First woman" or "First Black" or anything else.

This race should be sheerly about how is actually electable and who is actually going to bring this country out of the mud its trapped in and put us back on track to lead the world with honor, and gusto toward solving the many problems that are now facing us.

Michelle Obama is obviously a woman of integrity and a person deeply concerned with the future of this country. Knowing that there is so much at stake, she's saying, basically, make the choice based on information, based on logic, based on common sense and ACTUAL electability. This is not a horse race, it is the HUMAN race that is at stake here. Literally.

Anyone that actually starts investigating the candidates will realize that Barack Obama is not the best candidate for any reason other than HE IS. He has the most experience as a legislature and has spent the most and most recent time amongst his constituency, hands on, in a variety of ways. He's passed meaningful bipartisan bills on the environment, ethics, and infrastructure while Clinton and Edwards have talked a good game but done little to really effect the change they espouse.

Obama also tells it as it is while the other candidates equivocate for fear of losing their position. Obama comes points out things that should be obvious to anyone paying attention, and so's so far more eloquently and passionately than we are used to seeing from politicians.

Michelle Obama comes across to me as a woman of integrity, honesty and completely, totally unpolished. She, like her husband, is simply speaking in human, every day terms because, refreshingly, neither one of the two Obama's has been crushed into a walking soundbite by the political Washington beltway machine that some years ago crushed Hillary Clinton.

When your words become so careful and your actions so calculated as Clinton's usually are, you are not a real human being, you are not an agent of change, you are simply an illusion of your former self.

I pray to God that Michelle and Barack Obama never get to that point. Their experience and good judgement will serve this country well for many, many generations to come.

Generations, I might add, that may never occur should any one else I see as having a legit shot at the White House gets into office.

Get off your butts if you haven't been paying attention and start figuring out these candidates yourselves. Ignore everything else I've just said if you like, but I'd be willing to BET that once you delve in, once you actually see these people, including the Obamas, for more than the thirty second soundbites the media provides…

You will be as impressed with Michelle and Barack Obama as I am.

Obama, the President of both experience and good judgement, and the President that will bring us change in the same mold as FDR, JFK, and Abraham Lincoln.

I'm not joking people, I really do believe he's a leader of that caliber, a great communicator, at long last…

a great leader.

Obama 08

Posted By Lance in Monrovia, CA : September 14, 2007 6:47 pm

MUST READ:How The RNC STEALS ELECTIONS.

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:44:56 EDT

So, everybody is talking about how Mark Warner running for Senate in Virginia is gonna make the race hot for Repubs and help the Dems. What they don't realize, is that like every state, it should demolish the Repubs because they don't have squat. But it won't, it'll only make it hot, and here's why...

The only reason the Jim Webb campaign won Virginia by ten thousand votes and not 200,000 votes, the same reason why other Dems lost so incredibly narrowly or won so narrowly when they should have swept... is because the RNC cheats, badly and baldly, with the selfish, greedy abandon only neocons can muster. Read "Armed Madhouse" by Greg Palast for the details, all documented by this brilliant reporter for the BBC. The 2004 elections being stolen was major news across the entire globe a week before the election thanks to his show on BBC, but we never even heard a peep about it in the states, why?

ie. The RNC controlled states hand out provisional ballots like candy only in democratic districts with poorer people that move around alot and thus may not have registered at the proper address, and then the Republican Sec. of State refuses to count them as is his right.

Or, they use caging lists. The RNC pays to send first class letters to addresses of servicemen in Iraq from the state, and to democratic districts, and then any letters that come back unopened, they use as evidence of a wrong address and challenge the votes, which is illegal. This is detailed in some of Karl Rove's missing emails that Greg Palast, the author of Armed Madhouse, came across as they were sent to rnc.com instead of rnc.org, which is a spoof site, sent from Tim Griffen, who is now running the illustrious Fred Thompson's campaign. Griffens name is right there in the heading and he's the guy that was Karl Rove's protogue, who was later accused of election fraud by David Iglasias, the US attorney fired and then replaced by none other than... you guessed it, Tim Griffen.

Oh, and then lets not forget crappy old voting machines that break or are never delievered to Democratic districts. People have to wait in line for hours and many decide to take provisionals or just leave without voting while in Repub districts they breeze in and out in twenty minutes or less.

My particular favorite is the way the pollsters for Repubs will throw out absentee ballots in States with Repub leanings. They read the names, and anything that sounds too ethnic, they figure is a democrat and they throw out. Luckily for them, some of the absentee ballots even read "Democratic Party ballot" on the outside so that makes it easy to put in the fix.

Anybody that honestly believes we can have one congressional and two Presidential elections where the vote constantly came down to five hundred votes or a thousand or ten thousand here and there, is smoking crack.

Of course the RNC tries to throw out so many votes that it's gonna be close. Their only mistake was in not throwing in a few more. I guess they underestimated the amount of democratic enthusiasm.

This democratic enthusiasm is the only way we're going to stop these greedy, lousy cheaters in the next election cycle. Because we need overwhelming numbers even to achieve a "close" victory ala Webb.

Oh, I almost forgot my favorite RNC tool, the one that hands down gave them Florida. Just pick a bunch of Democrat names from Democratic districts, and put them on a felon list, right out of the phone book. Sure, you may not be a felon, but your vote won't count and you can argue it later, AFTER you lose the election.

Pay damn close attention from now on people. If you're asleep at the wheel, you lose a lot more than your shiny grill.

I suggest everybody get a copy of Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast either at your local Borders or the library, I've found it both places and you can also request a copy.

Your democracy hangs in the balance.

The Measure Of A Man

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:19:29 EDT

I stood ten feet away from Obama in the front row as he spoke last Saturday at a rally in Santa Barbara. 9,000 people stood behind me and listened to him speak as passionately, eloquently, and logically as I've ever heard any leader speak about his mother dying of cancer and the ensuing battle he had with the healthcare system. He spoke rousingly about ice caps that are melting and the need to discuss it not with environmental groups but on factory floors in Detroit as he himself recently did. He spoke about difficult arguements to be made and about how not everything he will lay out as President will be easy, but it will be honest, and worth it.

I looked closely into his eyes as he spoke about the tragedy of Iraq and how his number one priority was getting our troops back home.

After he was done, he stepped to the crowd's edge and a sea of hands reached out to him, as if seeking some sort of comfort. He didn't flinch or back up in the least, he met each person waiting there at the edge of the stage with grace, confidence and a not a little bit of humility. He wound up staying almost another hour talking to people one by one, finding out issues, talking about loved ones, shaking hands and providing a bit of comfort with a look.

He is probably the greatest politician to step onto stage in the last fifty years at least. Nobody but NOBODY else will be able to communicate so directly to our nation or so well. He is able to put things in both logical and stirring terms, the sort of logic I honestly have been waiting my entire adult life to hear.

At one point, a woman I'd been watching become more and more overcome with emotion near me succumbed and fainted. Nobody noticed, except Obama, who immediately stopped speaking and asked for help, suggesting confidently and calmly for a moment of calm and for us all to step back.

The crowd did as he asked, and the woman recieved help. Somebody called out to him, "you're a good man."

He replied, "I'm not the only one trying to help."

he was right. There were 9,000 other people there trying to help too, trying to take back their country by supporting a real leader instead of a name or a soundbite. They were trying to help him because no one present could argue with the authenticity of his message or the sincerity of his, and our hopes.

Obama is the hope of the future, the first real human being that has a real chance of actually being elected in a long, long time.

I have seen political rallies yet never attended one before. The kind of passion not only by Obama, but by the crowd, suggests to me that his nomination and eventual seat in the White House is unstoppable. The people that left there that day left to go out and spread the word…

Obama is coming to town, and the crooks, bums and bastards of politics as usual better get out while the gettings good.

Rembering My Friends Who Died on 911

Lance The Samurai Patriot — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:20:12 EDT

So its September 11th again. Six years ago today, I drove myself insane, too literally for comfort, due to some extraordinary circumstances.

I knew my accountant was on a United flight to San Francisco that morning. It crashed over a lonely field thanks to a handful of determined Saudi criminals.

My roommate emailed me from the Borders Books at the World Trade Center the night before, saying he'd be back in the building at 7 AM to get an email address he needed from me on the computer he was paying to use there. He and his mom were on vacation. That next Sept. 11 morning I heard a radio report of fire inside Borders, where trapped people beat helplessly against reinforced glass walls. I was on my way to a friends. I had to pull over.

Another best friend of years had called me at three a.m. on September 11th, 2001, less than four hours before the massive tower directly outside his window would fall and turn his apartment into ash and glass strewn rubble. He lived in the October Films apartment across the way from the WTC and was up late writing a script. He called to talk shop and said, at the end of the call, that he'd crash for sure until noon the next day and nobody or nothing would wake him up.

My neighbor across the hall banged on my door shortly after the Pentagon was hit. Her eyes gleamed with tears and she was trembling. Her husband worked at the Pentagon, in the section hit. I sat consoling the woman on my couch as we watched it burn. Actually we consoled each other.

This is a true story, and it did indeed drive me nuts, but at this point is not where the story ended, it is only where it began...