Sikhs For Obama

Our Philadelphia Story -- by Sharat Raju

Valarie Kaur — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:12:16 EST

November 9, 2008

I still have sore knuckles.

A few days have passed since we left the street fight in Philadelphia and polls closed across the country.

About week ago we arrived in this cradle of American democracy, where Independence Hall still stands – but really, it seems like it was a lifetime ago. It was.

We arrived with hope and left with even greater hope. We arrived with Candidate Senator Barack Obama and left with President-Elect Barack Obama.

We arrived in Philadelphia in one era and returned to New Haven in another.

And in between those eras, I knocked on doors – nearly 200 households three or four times each, and returned with sore knuckles.

Sore knuckles – an appropriate metaphor for this version of fighting. Valarie, Tafari, Tanya, Jess, joined me and thousands more as foot soldiers in the Hope Revolution. Our voices and words were our swords. Enthusiasm and fearlessness was our armor.

I wish an invisible camera crew was following us around so you all could see it unfold on the ground as we did. Our time in Philadelphia was so thorough and rich that no amount of explanation, no matter how vivid, will do the experience justice. So I will try to describe it through snapshots and images and stories.

We drove three hours from Connecticut on Saturday afternoon to Pennsylvania, plugged into the campaign and they placed us in Northeast Philadelphia. We navigated through the old city to our Obama field office and saw dozens of people at street corners holding signs that read "McCain-Palin," "Country First" and "Another Democrat for John McCain."

The New York Times wrote a story that weekend describing Northeast Philadelphia as John McCain's best chance to win Pennsylvania; if he got a big enough margin to offset the rest of the city, he could win the state.

Their campaign was counting on sewing the seeds of racial division – union-working Whites who wouldn't vote for a Black candidate. Tactics of another era. Two houses shared one lawn around the corner from the Obama field office – one side of the lawn screamed "McCain: Country First" and the other "Obama-Biden. "

We were in the teeth of the storm.

GROUND GAME

At our request – by that I mean Valarie's insistence – the campaign gave us of a section of Northeast Philly. We were responsible for Ward 35, Divisions 29 and 30 – Roosevelt, F, Smylie, Montour, Mayfair, Adams, Tabor and Garland streets – and we set out to do what we did in Santa Monica, California and Pflugerville, Texas. Our job was simple: Get every single Obama supporter in Ward 35 out to the polls.

The neighborhood is mostly lower income African-American, with some Latino, East Asian, and White voters. From afar, the neighborhood blocks looked as if each contained a single gigantic, two-floor house that spanned the entire block. But up close they were dozens of individual homes linked to each other, sharing tiny yards and front patios.

All were humble, built around WWII, and a few were in bad shape or boarded up. But most exuded the pride and love of American homes across the country. It warmed my heart to see the individual nuances of each place – a wind-chime, an ornate knocker on an otherwise rickety door, Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Champions signs. Children tossing a football around in the streets.

The neighborhood was full of life. But not full of working doorbells, to the dismay of my poor right hand.

In the days we pounded the pavement and banged on doors in Ward 35, we got to know individual homes and faces and stories. I asked people if they're still planning on voting for Senator Obama. Most of the time I got the response, "Of course I am!" Meaning: "I can't believe you're asking me that question – what are you, stupid?"

A young Black man, probably my age, said to me, "I can't wait to get out and vote!" (Some version of this was repeated again and again – the excitement to vote was amazing.)

A 22-year-old woman asked me what she should do on Election Day, she had never voted before. She was afraid of the unknown, but excited to participate. I walked her through the process, tried to demystify it, and assured her I would be there on Tuesday to help if she needed it.

A Puerto Rican family was standing outside when I asked if they're still supporting Obama. The father, wearing Phillies gear and displaying visible tattoos, was very excited, telling me his entire family is voting for Obama. He introduced me to his wife and voting-age daughter, telling me he had just earned his citizenship and it was his first election. And although he didn't get his voter registration card in the mail, he was going to vote no matter what.

The convenient store owner, an Indian-American from Kerala, made me a fresh pot of coffee Monday morning and told me was voting Obama, that we need a change.

A middle-aged Black man with white specks on his temples lifted groceries from his car up the steps to his home on Roosevelt – a traffic heavy tree-lined thoroughfare with small condo-like homes. He said, yeah of course he's voting Obama. Then he looked at me and said, "You better make sure all these (expletive deleted) come out to vote!" He laughed and I said I'm trying to do just that.

Getting people excited wasn't the problem; getting them to actually vote was.

"I came all the way from California to make sure you vote on Tuesday," was my standard greeting. To which some responded, "Oh God Bless you" and others "Wow – really, what's California like?" Others who might not have otherwise cared seemed genuinely surprised to see someone actually coming that far just to their home to ask them to vote. (If nothing else they'd be letting me down!)

As I crossed the street, a group of kids asked me, "Is Obama going to win tomorrow?"

"If your parents and everyone in your neighborhood votes, he'll win the city, the state, and he'll win the White House." They walked off to school, a piece of Obama literature in their hands as a keepsake, a printed memory that perhaps they'll find in their scrapbook decades later.

That afternoon school let out as Valarie and I were nearby, and we were surrounded by excited children cheering Obama's name. We passed out literature with a painted picture of Barack's face, saying "You Have the Right to Vote." I thought, These children will grow up knowing they can become President some day. It will be … ordinary. Ordinary to have someone who looks like them as a candidate or a nominee or…

That evening, two white police officers stopped by the field office with their lights and siren. We were confused, perhaps some were a bit worried. But they only wanted "Obama-Biden" yard signs. We smiled at them as they drove off with signs and metal posts.

A car-load of people pulled over to that same curb – middle-aged Black women in the front and teenagers in the back. They shouted out to the office that they wanted signs. After they got some, they asked about helping Election Day.

"You want to volunteer?"

"Yes-we'll do it-oh yeah-of course!"

"You'll come out on Election Day?"

"Yeah-you know it-uh huh!"

"Okay – be here at 6am tomorrow morning."

Brief pause. Then…

"We'll be there!"

After our final round of calling and walking the ward on Election Day eve, our night was filled with inspirational speeches by the governor of Maryland who told us that change happens by "small margins" so expect a fight, not a blowout. A local field director later exclaimed, "Our ground game is incredible! They won't know what hit them tomorrow!"

ELECTION DAY

Creighton School seemed indestructible, built in that era of industrial American can-do – just like all the houses in Ward 35. But before dawn on Election Day 2008, Creighton was sleepy and dimly lit, our tiny corner of the electoral world, and it was dark and sleepy an hour before the polls opened in Pennsylvania.

Voters were already there, sitting in the auditorium's wooden folding seats, waiting for the electronic boots to be set up. The custodian, a large African-American man lifting desks and chairs in his arms, displayed a T-shirt with Barack's face on the front and huge words "I'm Asking You To Believe" on the back.

A dozen or so people were there. And then more and more and more. Once the starting gun sounded on Election Day, it soon became apparent that we had to organize a better system to prevent a quagmire. And the slower the line the greater chance people would leave and not vote.

So, we efficiently re-organized the lines. Valarie was stationed by the entrance to the polling site with neighborhood maps to help direct voters. Tafari was the Wal-Mart-style greeter, occasionally speaking in impeccable Spanish, filtering people in the proper direction.

We would ask people, "Do you know what division you live in?" Response: "I only know I'm voting for Obama!" "Shhhh! That's good, but shhhhh!"

Despite our efforts, one of the three lines was so long that a few people left before voting in order to get to work on time. We begged them to come back later, and they promised us they would. We called for backup. Soon, a few dozen donuts and hot chocolate were delivered by a White middle-aged man with an Obama-Biden pin, and we handed them out to voters.

We saw people in line who knew us, who saw us walking the neighborhood or met us at their door. Old, young, pushing strollers, using walkers and canes, bringing their children or their elderly parents with them. Black, White, Asian, Latino. It was an American postcard, a picture of modern democracy.

A Black man in his late 20s recognized Tafari and told us his name wasn't on the rolls even though he had a registration card. The poll worker asked him, "Have you voted before?" He said, "Of course not, I never had a reason to vote before!" We made sure he got his provisional ballot and cast his vote for Obama. And he went back and called everyone he knew to vote.

An elderly White woman pinched my cheek, saying "oh, aren't you adorable?" as I tried to help her to the correct voting table. (She might have been blind. Not sure.)

The election officials – nearly every one of them including the oldest one who was probably in her 80s – smoked. I mean smoked, like they were getting paid for smoking. I don't know why, but the sight of it made me laugh.

As the work day began, the lines began to shorten and we decided to hit the streets and our neighborhoods to make sure people had voted. We would take them there ourselves if we had to, Tanya's car standing by. And we did – Valarie found at least a dozen people who wouldn't have otherwise voted. One of them, a very frail elderly Black woman who just returned from the hospital wanted to go but had no one to take her until we offered a ride.

Valarie and I talked to everyone we saw, on the streets, in stores, even in McDonald's – "have you voted yet?" One voter, a 37-year-old man Bernard, was moved by the note Valarie left at his door that he offered to help us that afternoon. So, Bernard drove around Valarie and myself and helped us knock on the remaining doors of our ward, making sure that every single voter we could find made it to the polls on time, just as night was falling in Philadelphia. He even took a couple of voters to Creighton.

An incredibly sweet Latino family on Valarie's block even offered us umbrellas, as the rain started to sprinkle. Valarie and I took two and returned them when our day was over.

The final voters trickled in to Creighton before the polls closed. We waited inside the auditorium for the count – an immediate tally the machines spit out so we can report back to the campaign office.

The verdict in Ward 35, Divisions 27, 29, and 30: 334 Obama, 57 McCain. And two dozen or so provisional ballots uncounted.

We doubled turnout. We made a difference.

Kim, a law student from New York also volunteering at our poll, got off the phone with a friend who works at NBC and said the network was about to call Pennsylvania for Obama. We didn't believe it. At least, I wouldn't believe for at least a few more minutes until I got calls and texts from around the country, friends and family confirming it.

We did it. We all Pennsylvania was ours.

LOCAL VICTORY, GLOBAL CELEBRATION

Rising Sun. Our makeshift Obama field office sat on the corner of this inadvertently appropriately named street. Rising Sun – a new day on the horizon, full of hope and promise. The office was a tiny basement beneath a crumbling home for rent with a large porch near a business district. This is where we made calls and plans and returned on the brink of victory. This is where we helped make history.

We watched as results came in from states around the country. It was still early in the count, but Pennsylvania was marked Blue – by a large margin. They didn't know what hit them.

Needing to eat, we watched returns come in at a local Italian restaurant, toasted to the steady feeling of victory about to set in, and then joined others at a local bar to watch the West Coast polls closed.

Time ticked down in California, and I imagined the sun going down in Venice, into the ocean just blocks from my apartment. Sun setting on an era, I hoped.

We counted down like it was New Years Eve, counted down to the dawn of a new beginning. The moment polls closed in the West, CNN called the election. Before we realized it, John McCain conceded with humility, honesty, and thoughtfulness. I wish he behaved like that throughout the campaign. (But then again… if he did, it would be a lot closer…)

Cheers went up, and we quickly got in our cars to an Irish pub downtown where all the Obama campaign staff and volunteers were awaiting the President-Elect's victory speech.

News vans with satellite antennae extensions lined the street. Horns honked and shouts came from cars passing by. The bar, "Finnegan's Wake," was dark and full of hundreds of people, dozens of TV news cameras with broadcast cameras and on-board lights. Flat screen TVs that usually play football or baseball or basketball games showed Grant Park in my hometown Chicago, buzzing and bright and beautiful. I longed to be there, in that park I've walked a hundred times. But I was happy I was on the battlefield, too.

The next President spoke but no sound came from the bar's speakers. Moments passed, and we ached and shouted for the audio to come on. A riot was about to break out – a hope riot?

Then the sound started, part way through, as Barack said: "We are, and always will be, the United States of America."

The bar cheered, and the speech flowed loudly through the speakers. We listened quietly, attentively. Valarie wept, and I tried to simultaneously listen, fight off tears, and photograph faces in the crowd – White, Black, Hispanic, South Asian, East Asian, European. Old, Young. We are, and always will be, The United States of America.

"To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done." Everyone in the room was a part of that campaign team, and a roar went up. I imagine our cheers ringing like the Liberty Bell from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea.

The speech ended, and the music resumed, and Valarie – what camera doesn't love Valarie? – was immediately interviewed by Reuters TV. I was only a few feet away, taking photos of the crowd, but I could only catch tiny bits of what she was saying, "He represents the hopes of my generation… our new President's name is Barack Hussein Obama… Now is our time…"

The celebration continued and swirled and I caught a glimpse of more people in the bar. Hats, t-shirts, a guy in a moose costume with a sign that said, "Moose for Obama." (Who else would the moose support?)

Tafari, meanwhile, somehow was crowned with a straw-type brimmed hat, like the ones you see the press wearing in old movies. He was dancing. I mean, dancing! Valarie, and Tanya, and I decided that we wanted to drive back to New Haven, that our energy was high enough to make it back, but not high enough to party all night. Tafari said, "This is our night! I've been waiting for this for 24 years. Just leave me here!" So we did. (Don't worry – he made it back to Connecticut in time for class the next day. Though I'm not exactly sure how and I prefer to leave it up to my imagination… I believed it involved the moose…)

We drove through the mostly empty streets of Philadelphia on the way to the highway, dark, decaying neighborhoods, in the late night, beneath elevated train tracks. Tanya, Valarie and I chattered in that exhausted, elated way people get after a hard-fought victory that drains you of your energy but not your excitement. We were fueled by happiness.

We approached three Black teenagers, dressed in a way that most people would assume they were gangsters or hoodlums, probably up to no good. As we passed near them, we saw they were holding up a large sign – the iconic Barack Obama "HOPE" poster. It was nearly 2am. We smiled and honked and drove into the future.

Twenty-four hours after we first woke up, we were on the New Jersey turnpike speeding through the night. We stopped at the Woodrow Wilson turnpike rest stop. Valarie slept in the passenger seat and Tanya went to the rest room while I got coffee to start my driving shift. As I was waiting in line, I saw a Black man across the rest stop watching the TV screens above as he poured cream into his coffee. The report was about the Obama victory rally. A smiled slowly stretched across his face. Mine too.

It was my turned to drive, just before daybreak. I listened to the BBC as reports came in from around the world, reports of spontaneous street celebrations in Kenya, in Europe, Australia and in Indonesia. I was unprepared for the global celebration. This was the world's victory, too.

Although drained from our days in Philadelphia, I couldn't help but smile broadly, teary-eyed, hearing about people in slums of Nairobi, waving American flags. There was talk about naming a street in Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast for Barack Obama. A crowd of people gathered around his father's grave in Kenya, chanting, "Obama, you have sired a king!"

My swollen knuckles clutched the wheel of Tanya's hybrid car. The sky started to lighten, ever so slightly, as we passed the New York skyline and crossed the George Washington Bridge. We arrived in New Haven as day broke at the start of a new era.

THE BEGINNING

When we were canvassing and getting people out to vote in Ward 35, I left behind a personal note about why I'm supporting Barack Obama. In it, I mention my parents who came to this country with nothing except their smarts, their values, and their hopes. They have worked hard, without complaint, their entire lives for a better life for their kids.

They succeeded.

Because of them, I can live a life doing what I love, pursuing a career as a filmmaker. Because of them, I can survive long periods of drought with their support and without their question, without hesitation.

Because of them, I can live a life of conviction, can take long periods of time to pursue what I believe is a righteous cause many others might view as folly or as recklessness.

Because of them, I had a chance to take a tiny chisel and hammer and help pave a way for Barack Obama to be President. And, as the new President said – this is not the change we seek. It's the chance to make change. I had a chance to get a chance to make change. I will never forget what it was like to do it.

A lot of you have thanked Valarie and me for all the work we did. But truly, we all have a hand in this. There are so many here who did so much, but here's a snapshot.

Barb, David, Wendy and Jack in Philadelphia gave us their couch and their floor and made us breakfast so we could work in their city.

Jeff Eldridge put down a lot of cash, even in the year of his sabbatical, for the primary and election.

Chris Farah joined us in Santa Monica in the primary and the streets of Las Vegas last month, knocking on doors.

Mike Farah produced the video of Ron Howard supporting Barack Obama.

Nitasha Sawhney organized that Vegas trip and countless other fundraisers and fought to get her community behind Obama.

Lutishia Lovely and George Gonzales fought with Valarie in Texas to win Pflugerville for Barack.

Amar Bhalla, a turban-wearing Sikh who is our hero in Divided We Fall for his work fighting discrimination in NYC and everywhere, went door-to-door in New Hampshire back in January for the primary.

Nikhil Jayaram phone banked and canvassed in Nevada, registering Indians and South Asians.

Bernie White wrote and directed a play in Venice about Barack and his estranged Reverend, and worked in Oregon for the primary. And spent the final day of the primary on our couch, toasting as Obama earned enough votes to be the nominee.

Kal Penn swayed college students and people of all ages across the county, giving the word "celebrity" a good name.

Penny Ronning tried to turn Montana blue and almost did.

Judge Brar switched parties to vote in the primary and called South Asians around the country to get them to vote for Barack.

Valarie's grandfather Captain Gurdial Singh Gill (Papaji) who fought for freedom in World War II with the British Indian Army, who despite being in the hospital and very close to being gone forever, voted absentee and returned home the day before the election. Hopefully on the mend, we pray.

And of course all of us who confronted ugly racism or fear or skepticism or cynicism in our own families – all of you own a part of this historic turning point. From many, one.

"We will remember that there is something happening here in America."

I don't want to over-state this moment. There will be a lot of disappointment ahead. It is up to us to make the change, to hold our government accountable, to pull up our sleeves and to finally, once again, be proud to call ourselves "Americans."

But for now – this is our moment. Remember this. The future generation will ask us where we were and what we did when the first minority was elected President in our homeland. How did it happen? We will tell about stories of racism, bigotry, lies. But, ultimately, Hope. Hope that trumped everything else.

So thank you all – you made this happen. Valarie and I were happy to be on the ground on your behalf.

Thanks Mom and Dad. This is a step towards an even better future for me, for Valarie, Manu and Archana and the future of our families.

For that, the sore knuckles were worth it.

To the future,
Sharat

Change is in the Air

Drew — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:00:36 EDT

When i began bloggin about my feelings/opining concerning the Obama campaign, I would have never foreseen the economic collapse being such a catalyst in the election. The Palin announcement I thought had stole the mojo from the long primary with Hillary.

Then Saturday Night Live, Jon Stewart, and Katie Couric all conspired to effectively deflate Palin, while simultaneously the collapse of the credit system worldwide would skewer any chances McCain had of even "Pretending to be Relevant". Of course we, as Americans, are in shock, we are all uncertain about what the future will bring. The notion of a Depression is real, and it's not good to shout "fire" in a crowded theater, but if the whole system collapsed, then shout anything you want.

The upshot of all the recent activity makes the SNARKY side of McPain and Failin just resonate with a pathetic twang. While we reel with the news of the day, they ostrich themselves into an unwinnable corner and play politics as usual. Don't they see this is different! Have some self-respect Mr. McCain! Don't lower yourself as a senator with a distinguished career by statement like "That One". Don't you see that we know what you mean when you do that? The thinly veiled racist side of you has just come out. Give him the respect he deserves. I don't care if you lose an lose badly, the country is in a great need of togetherness coming out of this election, and you need to lift up Barack as the great leader he will be, because--- "BELIEVE ME, YOU WILL BE THANKFUL YOU DON'T HAVE THE JOB".

We are at an uneasy juncture in our History. Timing is indeed everything. You would have been better than Bush after 9/11 but your own party sabotaged your momentum in that primary against John Kerry. We have memories. I will give you credit for the type of politician you were then, but for the challenges that call today, you are not up to the task. That doesn't mean you should not portend to hold yourself to have dignity and self-respect. Allow the fact that you will lose to set in, and just chill. Unite ahead of your losing for the betterment of the country. After all, you are the one constantly reminding us slogan-like, "Country First".

Please lead by example.

And Barack, even people that aren't used to it, will learn to pray for your ability to remain strong and true while leading our nation back to a place where we don't all worry day-to-day. You have keep your composure all the way through this trial, and one day, History will look extremely favorably upon you and both your intelligence, faith in yourself, and your ability to lead our nation. But that doesn't mean we envy the job you have in front of you.

Peace

Drew

Volunteer for "Yes You Can" Music Video

Heather from Santa Monica, CA — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:09:37 EDT

We are making a music video to Get Out the Vote for Obama and give the people of Los Angeles an opportunity to have their voices heard.

The theme of the music video is that with Individual Voices coming together we can inspire people to overcome fear and take action for a better tomorrow. The music video will feature citizens of LA holding homemade signs saying what HOPE, PEACE or CHANGE means to them.

We have an amazing song that has been produced by a grammy-winning producer and an experienced team of film makers.

We need VOLUNTEERS who would like to participate in this community effort.

Please email us at yesyoucanvideo@yahoo.com if you:

Want to make a sign and appear in the music video
You can coordinate people in your community
You know of a great location in LA for people to gather
You can gather 10 or more people

With the election coming up, we need to move on this fast. So please get back to us by Sunday, Oct 5th at 8pm. YesYouCanVideo@yahoo.com

THANK YOU!

Here it comes! Get ready for America's "What on earth were we thinking?!?!" regroup!!

Laurie Singh — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:48:32 EDT

From: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php

Washington Post's Richard Cohen, formerly "in the tank for McCain," details McCain's lies and "personal treason"

Laurie Singh — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:29:14 EDT

The Ugly New McCain

By Richard Cohen

Wednesday, September 17, 2008; Page

Following his loss to George W. Bush in the 2000 South Carolina primary, John McCain did something extraordinary: He confessed to lying about how he felt about the Confederate battle flag, which he actually abhorred. "I broke my promise to always tell the truth," McCain said. Now he has broken that promise so completely that the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised.

The precise moment of McCain's abasement came, would you believe, not at some news conference or on one of the Sunday shows but on "The View," the daytime TV show created by Barbara Walters. Last week, one of the co-hosts, Joy Behar, took McCain to task for some of the ads his campaign has been running. One deliberately mischaracterized what Barack Obama had said about putting lipstick on a pig -- an Americanism that McCain himself has used. The other asserted that Obama supported teaching sex education to kindergarteners.

"We know that those two ads are untrue," Behar said. "They are lies."

Freeze. Close in on McCain. This was the moment. He has largely been avoiding the press. The Straight Talk Express is now just a brand, an ad slogan like "Home Cooking" or "We Will Not Be Undersold." Until then, it was possible for McCain to say that he had not really known about the ads, that the formulation "I approve this message" was just boilerplate. But he didn't.

"Actually, they are not lies," he said.

Actually, they are.

Elephant in the Room

Arvind Singh — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:09:43 EDT

I love the interactivity of this site. The team that designed it did a great job! :)

I came across this article in "Time" magazine and it talked about something I've been observing since the start of the campaign. We know that race plays a role in America.

It's not something that can be easily talked about without distracting from the message of this campaign. The Republican party has tried to use race as a wedge between Obama and small-town, working class white America.

One of the strange comments I've heard is that we don't know much about Obama. What is there left to know?

Obama has been very open and we've seen him speak honestly about who he is and his vision for America. That comment says less about Obama and more about those who make such comments. What about Barack makes them uncomfortable?

During the campaign there has been an attempt to portray Obama as the other: a Muslim, a foreigner, or an angry black man. Still, no matter what has been thrown at him, Obama has stayed calm, focused and poised. That says a lot about his character.

Well here is the Time article:

Tale of Two Conventions: RNC Convention

Arvind Singh — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:23:44 EDT

Slow start to the RNC Convention with an attempt to recast McCain and Palin as agents of change at the end.

A Tale of Two Conventions: RNC Opening Day

Arvind Singh — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:24:10 EDT

Over this week we had the Republican National Convention (RNC) scheduled to gather in Saint Paul, the capital and second largest city in Minnesota. An unexpected guest crashed the party as Gustav headed toward Louisiana.

Hurricane Gustav came almost exactly three years after Katrina. The botched response and insensitivity during Katrina was something the Republican party wanted to avoid this time.

Call to Action

Drew — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:40:09 EDT

Sorry I took so much time off from writing, and even though i have health insurance this time around, the care i received from the Urgent Care Clinic didn't seem to cure my illness very fast. I still feel weak, but manage to have strong converstions with those who seem to believe people that aren't covered by health insurance these days just don't work hard enough.

Please.

That's about as desperate as More McPain picking Sarah Failin as his mate. I'm sure the Pensacola Playboy in him would love to have her mate with him, but as a Presidential Persona, she is more PTA than Presidential Material.

I viewed it as a Hail Mary pass, ala Doug Flutie in that famous last second catch. Now, granted she can read off a teleprompter, but so can I. Maybe this is a morsel left over from No Child Left Behind, Sarah as VP would be truly leaving nobody behind.

I'm proud to say that the banner I hung in the Destin Headquarters, of Obama against the backdrop of American Flag and Skyline, is looking regally over an office that hasn't been staffed since the campaign of JFK very long ago. I take that as a good omen, as a fellow senator that was eventually elected to the highest office in the land.

My friend who attended the Democratic Convention in Denver, and was invited to a small intimate gathering with Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, did not have the time to approach Michelle about the portrait my friend and I painted of Obama on the beaches of a very Republican Coast, but she tried. If anyone else reading this knows either Hillary or Michelle please tell them of our portrait, as it was painted by a survivor of Katrina and a denizen of our nation's funkiest city--- New Orleans. Well, he and i had to battle those who said they would destroy our painting, threats to attack us, and all we did was continue to paint in silence for four days. The pen/brush can be mightier, it just has to be USED.

So I further my call to action. Register those you know and don't know to vote. We don't have that much more time to get them registered, so work quickly and diligently, all Americans should be personally invited into the importance of the voting process. It is a symbol of our connectiveness, something really lacking in the American way of life. Whether you vote for my team or your team, it unites us all, and inspires us to a vigorous debate about the future we could and SHOULD take. I just prefer to believe my position to be enlightened. So be it.

I'd like to give everyone the link to viewing the portrait that I did that is at the Headquarters in Destin. Primarily just to share something that is very important to me, and allow you to witness the beginning of our westward journey, as we move the banner from headquarters to headquarters, seeking press along the journey to promote Obama as our truly blessed and talented candidate.

Here's the link to the photos as the portrait was created, up to and including its hanging in the Destin Headquarters.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48808&l=d670b&id=705089738

Hope you can enjoy them, and anyone that knows anyone in a Democratic Headquarters along the route to Portland, OR from Destin, FL feel free to contact me and we'll arrange for the banner to visit you within the next few weeks.

Much love and encouragement to all committed to a better society and a more united world!

Drew

Olympic Timeout

Drew — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:30:34 EDT

I guess even if the Obama's needed a vacation, and the Olympics seem like the perfect time, Russian invading Georgia during this historic "truce" period has really upset the apple cart. Death, destruction and instability. To see Bush so cozy with Putin at the Olympics is almost a sick slap in the face.

Barack, Mr. McCain is trying to upstage you. The more visibility he gets during these time, especially with the President AWOL, the more presidential McCain appears. With the stock market in rally mode, commodities and oil in decline, the ECONOMY could quickly be off the table and then we are playing on unsteady ground.

McCain will position himself as the only person who knows how to navigate these waters. If you stay out of the fray, stay on vacation, unfortuanately, the only presidential qualities that you exhibit are the negative ones that Bush projected during the Katrina crisis, and other times he has hid out at the Crawford Ranch. Just letting you know. I love you, but you gotta face facts.

That is the WAY THE WORLD REALLY IS,

(no more days off for the next, well--let's be optimistic, eight years)

They are doing their best to reverse the rules of the game.

Drew

This Blog I feel Silly Writing About

Drew — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:22:47 EDT

These thoughts are ones i wish Dearly i did not have to entertain.

Why would I have an argument with someone about something so inane? Because that's the level of desperation these folks have gotten to. It brings back some really horrible memories I had as a child growing up in this backwater of the Panhandle of Florida. Don't get me wrong, I love the surrounding environment here, but the ideas people profess and put forth, honestly, still blow my mind after 30 plus years.

Let me be more specific. A co-worker of my wife had this to say, "I don't really care about politics (beware when you hear those cautionary words . . .), and I really don't care if Obama becomes President even, but i think if he is, then someone will take him out. She didn't say it that way, but I can't bear to say outloud or on paper what she said. Instantly, i said, "That's a horrible thing to say outloud, even if you believe it to be true, you shouldn't say that." Why, says she. Lots of people, AND HERE IS WHERE I JUST LOST IT, "believe that he is the antichrist". This is an educated, well-traveled, monied woman and I'm hearing this.

Flashback: My mom and dad both worked. I'm the eldest of four. Our babysitter, an extreme fundamentalist used to take care of us and do cool things, like blueberry picking, pecan picking, and trips to the beach. But she also indoctrinated us, into beliefs that the world was ending, the apocalypse was just around the corner, conspiracy talkings about the signs-- most of which was just a fear of the rise of technology-- Ok fair-- up to and until Y2K. I thought we all got that out of our system. But some of the things she did went way,way too far. My mom would reel her in once in a while, but she was cheap and she was otherwise pretty good to us. So when we would tell stories of her later on, taking us to the grocery store and making us hand out pamphelts of the end of the world, and the number of the beast, and the anti-christ this and that-- well that was WAY TOO FAR.

Even if we had belived that stuff, you shouldn't do it to KIDS. And our family was Catholic. What place of hers was it to do all this. Like we didn't have enough guilt about sex and masturbation already to deal with, don't pile on another religions scare tactics. I say all this as a person who still attends Mass, but one whom also believes his mind is from his creator, and I would be a fool not t use it. So when I say i don't personally believe abortion is a good thing, I follow that position quickly with, "but I don't believe that my morality needs to be LEGISLATED BY THE GOVERNMENT". If that doesn't work, I say the usual, "you wouldn't want someone who was raped to be forced to carry that baby to term?" Sometimes the nut jobs say, "why not, the baby wasn't the rapist." I walk away if the logic, heart, and soul of my conversation has just left the building.

Well, needless to say, these memories of childhood were brought up by this person. She, of course, followed it up quickly with this thought--- "i don't believe that rumor, but lots of people do". I told her in plain English that someone who repeats a rumor like it is a widely held belief, is herself perpetuating the RUMOR ITSELF. She thought i was just being mean. I said that type of thinking was brainwashing, that it was like spreading mental illness, and that it was RIDICULOUS to say OUT LOUD. I don't want to get the the point where people can't have stupid thoughts, i just want them to exercise discipline over when those thoughts get BROADCAST.

I told her if that's what so many people believe, why do none of the mainstream media outlets report it? She didn't really know what to say. She was upset, and I attempted to make nice, mostly because my wife works with her, but also, to some degree I have compassion for people who have ingested this mental illness and somehow believe that they don't believe it, but they continue to spread it.

So, the upshot is I'm not angry and frustrated about this. Like a good friend of mine said who works for the Innocence Project--- this is a corner that a frustrated campaign is working out of. Maybe I shouldn't even dignify with a response, but if this belief is even a tad out of control, I believe that it is OUR responsibility to confront it with reason, to point out to folks that this is poison they are spreading. Lies are one thing, when based on positions. But Obama has endured an extreme amount of POISON. When she initially said he was the antichrist I said, "what makes you believe that". She says, well "he's the first ONE". And I'm not a genius, but i figured I had backed her into a RACIST corner. I said over and over, "what do you mean by ONE". She eventually said, "the first One of color". I think that is their biggest fear, and yet in this day an age they are sophisticated enough to KNOW NOT TO SAY THAT outloud. But I say, and Man, I mean it, they must be educated to not speak the poisonous thoughts outloud. My sense of balance is too affected when they use the word antichrist as a substitute for their fear of a black man as President of the United States. And that's all that is going on. They substituted "muslim" rumors earlier in the cycle.

One thing i Know is that when a raccoon is in a corner and must fight its way out, things get ugly. Obama should be further ahead in the polls. I don't want us to rest as a unit, and sit on our laurels while these mentally ill thoughts linger out in the ether of the internet, but I really don't want us to get over confident when people are brazen enough to speak this trash out loud. Confront but don't do it in a cocky way. Have compassion for those you correct. One Principle I learned and ingested while studying Aikido was that it is not necessary for me to use my energy when "SHOWING YOU THE ERRORS OF YOUR OWN WAYS". This women brought this up. She clothed it initially in innocuous language, that in reality was racism and rumor mongering. She thought I was going to be polite and not confront because my wife and her work together. I'm sorry, this is all TOO IMPORTANT for me to just allow. But I will show you compassion, mostly on the back side of the argument, and I will also use your mentally broken thoughts to SHOW YOU THE ERROR OF YOUR OWN WAYS, because basically this is a conversation I didn't want to have, and DON'T WANT TO HAVE AGAIN. IF i'm a bit brutally honest in demonstrating that to you at first, i hope you will be wise enough to not bring it up again. And then I apologize and give a hug. I'm not an animal, I just think that sometimes when the fish tank needs a thorough cleaning, you must first stir some of the shit up that has amassed upon the bottom. Then a water change will flush out a lot of that old TRASH. But we can all use our intelligence and our strength of heart.

Nevertheless the warrior in each of us must also remain vigilent.

Wow, that was something else!

MUCH LOVE,

DrewdruDrew

Hilarious

Rob — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:14:22 EDT

Someone stuck an "Obama08" bumper sticker on the Straight Talk Express Bus. Oops!

Back again!

Drew — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:21:09 EDT

Recently I did a blogging STAYCATION. It was getting obvious to me that I was going Negative with myself, despite my better inclined positive nature. That is one of the risks of what has been going on around us. It can suck you in like so many dollars drilling at home.

So i hit the pause button. That is something very adult for me, and so here, I pat myself on my back. You should too, especially if you've resisted becoming overly negative in the political/economic climate we are in. Before I dozed off last night i was watching a PBS program on the climate, and that was depressing, but enlightening.

Back in college i did my Presidential Scholarship thesis on "Alternative Lifestyles". This was before it became a moniker for the gay and lesbian movement. What i was getting at, in my very naive way---was that it was time to change. Before the Franklin quote came true: "Only when the well is dry will we recognize the worth of water." My point back then was that we needed a shift, not merely for the planet, but in truth for the very health of our souls and psyches. We needed a return to community, a way of being together, a way of caring and working toward difficult goals that should not be put off onto the next generation.

Well, in the context of this PBS story, which spoke of the offsetting of global warming due to the high amount of particulate matter that is reflecting solar heat back prior to it reaching earth. The study measured temperature differences in the Maldives, where the "fresh" arctic air makes its way to the southern Maldives and so clears away the "dirty" air and thus more sunlight (10% the study said) reaches the earth on the southern part of the chain. It made me think back to keeping a saltwater aquarium-- i tricky endeavor if anyone has atttempted this, and one that is super dependent on the stability of minute changes in a small system. Got me wondering if the coral bleaching we have seen worldwide isn't as much due to changes in temperature of the seas, but in the actual QUALITY of the light reaching these ancient pueblos of life in the sea. This last century is responsible for so much change.

I guess it shifted my perspective off of the political, me remembering my thesis and what i wanted people to do back then. The less important things, suddenly seeming less important again. Turned out I wasn't very good at TELLING other people what to do. What i ended up with in my thesis was a demonstration of myself turned INSIDE OUT in the form of an art installation. This replaced my thesis of words, and showed what path I was walking, and intended on continuing walking. Always my challenge has been to shut up and not tell other people what to do, just do my thing, let them observe and see how it affects them. Well, back then, in the early 90's, it caused my teachers to sit on the couch in "my Room" and reflect on all the things they had never done that they wanted to do. I still hope my life has that effect on people. I was scared in doing that room, for one part I hadn't gotten approval to do an "art version of my thesis", and for another I was exposing very inner parts of myself to get a point across, one i feared would be turned back on me. The truth was that me allowing that part of myself to be externalized simply gave others permission to do the same. That is the ineffable part working between us all.

So I embrace the challenges that have been set before us. This election is bigger than the players at the top, it is as much about the links we are forging between one another now in order to do the work that will be difficult that is coming soon. The change is shocking, and can manifest negative elements in us all at times. It is part of the FUTURE SHOCK that Toffler talked about so long ago. But when those moments come, hit the pause buttton, and realize in your heart what my Zen teacher used to say all the time, "Sipping Tea We Stopped the War".

Have peace today, and progress will follow tommorrow.

Drew

Who Do You Believe?

Rob — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:03:45 EDT

Author Ron Suskind claims that the White House forged a letter showing an operational link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. The White House denies it.

It is sad that we cannot just believe the word of the White House.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARACK!

Rob — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:44:48 EDT

My daughter shares the same birthday. Just another reason I like him.

No Surprise McCain has Gone Negative

Rob — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 11:27:39 EDT

In the battle of ideas, Obama wins hands down.

So no one should be surprised thta McCain is going negative. I am a little surprised by how early he has done so.

Here is a good petition that is spreading online. Take a look. It asks McCain to quit the nonsense.

Hypocrites

Drew — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:53:18 EDT

Boy is it easy to become cynical. The conversation i just had with a diehard Republican, whom I'm friends with, makes me just cringe. She has no idea of the double standards she allows in her points of view. Close to homelessness once, she has no compassion for those with multiple levels of hurdles in their lives---she views it strictly as a choice. Maybe a bad series of choices at best. And when asked, "Even if it costs more, you would prefer for people that fall on hard times like that (even those with mental illness/addiction problems-- you would prefer for them to be locked up and stored like so much HUMAN BEEF." All the while she doesn't see the problem with an administration which turned a blind eye to most of the lending practices that led to the current bailout/SOCIALIZATION endorsed by the Bush Administration to fix a major screw up.

Well don't tell me they weren't aware of the problem, anyone with a mailbox could tell you that lending had gotten way, way too easy. Just gauge it by the sheer volume of offers to do this, or do that, and so much "FREE" money from the ATM known as your house would flood in. No worries, rising prices would more than compensate. So those people lending with practices like that, HOW DIFFERENT THAN drug dealers are they really. And now we're supposed to just go along. That seems like a severe case of bad choices, but really, for the sake of the ECONOMY, let's turn a blind eye to their decisions (and i'm raging from the lenders to the overseers to the people sending in the pieces of paper), and the decisions of the homeless or addicted---those people are somehow morally bankrupt. Ok, if you say so . . .

So now we just accept this is the way it is. No such thing as a free market. Let's look ahead. People speculating the death out of oil, which if it spurs us to innovation and turning away from overseas wars--then i'm all for, but that is nonsense on the highest level. Don't even bother me with your breath about supply and demand. It is not rational. And it is related to massive shorting and making money hand over fist at the expense of the consumer. Don't buy the pack of lies you are being sold. But call your friends on their nonsense.

Then there's the issue of Republican corruption. From gay politicians who hide behind their families while they ignore basic issues of equality. Look, if the guy is good enough for your cock, then I think his lover should be able to make some decisions on his behalf and get some of your benefits. Then there's the favors. The nepotism. The behind the doors dealing. The sweetheart contracts, and the whole massive amount of unknown cronyism that pervades our system. We can't go after employers who hire illegals, we can't protect our own citizens, and we are putting up barriers that are impossible if you fly, but feel free to walk in, walk over us, and take plenty of benefits if you live in California. I'm all for immigration, but let's be fair to a modest extent.

Employers should not be able to hire without consequences. I've been there, telling dishwashers to get "real" ID. Don't come to me with this nonsense. The wages are simply going under someone else's identity, and the copying even looks phony. It gets tiring. Exhausting to just do the right thing. And it's all for the sake of easy money.

Who thinks credit cards are next? That money is way too easy, and people can't afford to live, so charge on and charge it up. Where is the end to this madness that began in earnest with the Tech Bubble, are we to simply sit back, live through a series of seemingly drug induced highs, that only the BIG DOGS profit under, and then wait for the shoe to drop each time. I'm tired of the Republican Highjack Machine. I recognize them for what they are. Highwaymen who rob, who lie, and steal with their buddies, then hide behind overly moralisic patriotic high fives mixed with a dose of homophobia and xenophobia. I just don't have the time to entertain it as reality. Too much of that on T.V. I feel like in real life i'm just watching more of the same. Challenge these people into CHANGE. Only when they can admit their problem can it begin to get better.

Take it light,

Drew

Contrasting Images

Rob — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:30:04 EDT

While Obama was doing this:

McCain was talking in front of the Fudge Haus. Here is the video. I love the wind chimes that kick up during his responses to reporters. It is like a comedy sketch you might see on Saturday Night Live.

McCain's Run of Bad Luck

Rob — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:43:53 EDT

While Barack has been dominating headlines with his incredibly successful overseas trip, McCain has looked befuddled and has had a series of gaffes. You would think his luck couldn't be any worse, but tonight he had to cancel a trip to New Orleans where he was going to fly out to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Turns out there was a tanker collision that caused a 12-mile oil slick. Classic!

Today's Washington Post has a good summary of all of the bad luck he has run into in recent days.

The article closes by pointing out that McCain's speech at the Republican Convention will take place during the Washington Redskins - New York Giants football game that will start the NFL season. So there will be about 100 people watching him on TV and about 40 million watching the game.

I guess McCain will feel right at home - his crowds aren't much bigger than 100 people anyway.

McBush is Confused

Rob — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:25:36 EDT

Everyone on this blog is probably familiar with McCain's mistake on the CBS Evening News last night with respect to the details of the Surge's timeline.

Keith Olbermann had some great video of McCain's attempt at an explanation the apparent gaffe. View the video here: http://robsobs.blogspot.com/2008/07/mccains-blunders-about-surge.html

I really like the backdrop. What presidential candidate doesn't want to use cheese products in a grocery store as a backdrop. It is a joke.

A view from New Orleans

Drew — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:31:23 EDT

Hey Yall,

What's the best way to remember we need a shift from the old paradigm to the new? Remember stuff. Like New Orleans.

So with that in mind I am including just a simple video from one of my friend's in New Orleans-----Eric Buchanan. Although the video is more about Art than politics, I do believe that just seeing this gallery develop represents the transition that both the city of New Orleans has had to undergo at the prompting of circumstance and nature. The political response also plays a part. It never dominates, and usually operates in a very reactionary manner.

The upshot of all this, is that the world is in flux. I'm shocked at how many foreigners are in favor of a President Obama. Not shocked in a hardcore way, just surprised at the level of involvement, particularly on sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster----all the more popular social networking sites. The movement that is beginning is something I don't yet know the true nature of. It is part entertainment, part social networking for business purposes, and I believe, and this may be the hopemonger in me--- that it is partly a democratization of what the internet can be if we both allow it, and encourage it actively. We, as participants, in exercising what we HOPE to come true, can influence the course of events to become more democratic and inclusive. Less centralized might be the operative word. Of course, these are notions that all too frequently come up and then quickly come to pass and either get diluted or co-opted. That is the responsibility of those who participate, not a foregone conclusion.

So with that little tidbit for the day in mind, i levee you to participate.

In your own way of course-- i'm no dictator. Just a tator of diction.

Drew McAuliffe

Ok, no video today, but you get the point. Sorry, Here's the link if you want to see it.

http://videos.nola.com/times-picayune/2008/06/xo_studios.html

Dems to Grow Majorities in Congress

Rob — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:06:51 EDT

Part of the frustration with Congress lies with it capitulation to Bush, but a major problem is that the majorities that the Dems have in the Senate and House are not veto-proof. As such, they are forced to compromise to get things done.

Another Democratic wave is building and at this point, I would guess that Dems will pick up no less than 3 Senate seats (probably more like 4-5 seats), and no less than 10 House seats (probably more like 15-20 seats).

Famed University of Virginia political scientist, Larry Sabato, does a great job laying out the landscape on his Crystal Ball page. Sabato is no liberal, but he is fair, and he sees it much the same way as I have described.

Click here for his Senate prognostication.

Click here for his House prognostication.

With Obama up in virtually all major polls in terms of the national polls, and way up in the Electoral Map projections, this is looking like a sweeping year for the Dems.

An educated view of the MONEY GAME

Drew — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:47:46 EDT

These are not my thoughts, but I thought they did bear republishing, because they seem to succinctly explain the disconnect I was experiencing through news in the general media, and the SHELL GAME that seems to operate in the shadows. I must thank my compatriot for enlightening me as to how this all occurs. It also makes it no surprise that the McCain's won't disclose all their own personal money dealings. Their unpaid credit card debt, and that massive amount of "new wealth"---even if it's only on paper at this point, from the 1 million shares of Budweiser that Cindy McCain owns.

Well here's the reprint explaining why the general media talks about how much Team Obama is raising matches up with what McCain is likely to have in his coffers. Thanks to mikeystyle for this one.

He’s using public funds AND private contributions, thereby cutting our fundraising lead. How long can he get away with this? As long as Republicans in Congress hold up the nominations to the FEC—right now they don’t have a quorum (so they can’t do anything) and Republicans intend to keep it that way.

We need to raise a big stink on this with the media.

From JedReport:

According to FEC reports filed on July 15, through June 30, John McCain had raised at $62.5 million in private funds that can be used for his general election campaign -- even though he's already committed to accepting public funding for the general.

Moreover, based on my own analysis, of that $62.5 million, three-quarters -- $46.3 million -- comes from a total of 1,803 wealthy individuals who made five figure contributions averaging $25,664 each.

So not only is John McCain blatantly violating his public financing pledge, but he's doing it in grand style, raising money in increments of up to $70,000 per donor -- more than thirty times the amount a donor can give to Barack Obama's general election campaign.

How is this all possible? How has most of the media missed the story? Allow me to explain.

As you recall, on June 19th, Barack Obama announced that he would forgo the public finance system, electing to raise money directly from his 1.7 million supporters. In explaining his decision, Barack cited two key arguments: one, that John McCain and the RNC were jointly raising millions for the general election from private sources including from PACs and lobbyists and two, 527s would spend millions attacking him during the closing weeks of the campaign.

Now that the July 15 FEC reports have been filed, Barack's first argument has been validated. The jury is still out on the second argument; it cannot be evaluated until the campaign is over or until a major 527 or independent ad effort has materialized, whichever comes first.

Still, even though Barack has already been proven correct on one of his key points, he was subject to a ruthless browbeating by the mass media, which pilloried him as a cynical opportunist for days on end. Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign aggressively pushed that storyline with a daily barrage of sanctimonious and hypocritical personal attacks from McCain on Obama.

Now, however, it is clear that even as the McCain campaign was on the warpath against Barack Obama, they knew that his argument about the McCain campaign's coordination with the RNC was absolutely true.

First, ten days before Barack Obama announced his decision to forgo the public finance system, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told McCain supporters that the campaign had discovered a way around the campaign finance system that would allow McCain to raise at least as much money as Obama -- if not more.

Second, of the $62.5 million in private funds that McCain can use in the general election, $54.1 million -- 86% -- was raised before Barack Obama's decision.

So it is absolutely clear that even as the McCain campaign was telling reporters one thing about their intention to stick by the public financing pledge, they were actually raising tens of millions of dollars from private sources for the general election campaign.

In short, the McCain campaign brazenly lied to the media.

The issue isn't that John McCain will withdraw from the public finance system -- he won't -- but rather that he's devised a way to spend tens if not hundreds of millions in privates funds even as he takes $85 million in taxpayer funds. (Talk about a bridge to nowhere.)

McCain, whose campaign is predicting a campaign budget of $400 million through the November 4, is skillfully exploiting loopholes in a campaign finance law that he wrote.
Here's the nuts-and-bolts of the loophole: the money McCain is currently raising through the campaign committees which reported their quarterly results on July 15 is actually being funneled to the Republican National Committee, even though each campaign committee bears McCain's name.

There are two reasons why the money is transferred to the RNC. First, if it were not transferred to the RNC, the money could not be used in the general. Second, by raising the money for the RNC, McCain is able to take advantage of a much higher contribution limits, allowing each donor to contribute $70,000 to his campaign instead of the $2,300 limit that Barack Obama's general election campaign has.

(Although Barack Obama could exploit the same loopholes as McCain, he doesn't have access to the sheer number of wealthy donors that McCain does, so the loopholes are of far less value to him.)

Once transferred to the RNC, the money can be used on a number of McCain campaign activities such as get out the vote operations, advertising, or producing literature and signs -- without any spending limitations whatsoever.

The only restriction is that any advertising in excess of $19 million must be orchestrated by what's called an independent expenditure committee. Legally, there can be no coordination between the McCain campaign and this independent expenditure committee, but practically speaking there's no way to enforce that restriction. In fact, the McCain campaign offices and the expenditure vendor offices are just 3 miles apart -- on the same road.

The McCain campaign and the RNC are already running ads through this independent expenditure loophole.

Ultimately, what we've got here is a press corps that got completely bamboozled by a dishonest McCain campaign because the McCain campaign was able to deftly take advantage of the fact that most journalists don't know very much about the campaign finance system.

Given John McCain's personal familiarity with that system -- he helped create it, after all -- it's pretty clear that McCain himself knew that he was misleading the press corps.

Now, the question is how the media will respond to having been lied to.

I myself don't really see this as a detriment to our efforts, I just see it as a validation that we should not become self-satisfied in our efforts to FUNDRAISE for Team Obama. Money speaks volumes at the end of the day. So my efforts in this Blog have been to consistently and constantly encourage you to forward news of our efforts to friends in your INBOXES, and to make the effort to set up a Fundraising effort on each one of your personal profiles.

As an artist, I encourage other artists to make political art this year. Bring it to your local Democratic Headquarters, auction it off for whatever it will bring and just amp up the visibility. There's all kinds of ways to have FREE advertising. Link stories from your MySpace and Facebook accounts, and generally keep the information and VISIBILITY flowing.

And just SHOW up. At whatever local events you can. Create your own events. Above all: DO not be SHY. Democrats biggest flaws are always about thinking we are not strong enough, that we will are self-defeating, that we can sabotage our own efforts. Get over it. Go on the offensive. Be strong. That's what leadership is all about. Projecting an image, and thereby protecting causes dear to your heart. But wishful and artful thinking is not enough. Money is the name of the game these days, and while i encourage, I do not agree to self-satisfed non-action and self-congratualatory high fives. All this takes a sustained effort.

Thanks again,

Drew

How does this Money thing Work?

Drew — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:23:02 EDT

Call me a neophyte, a newbie, a non-understander of the economy---who knows, maybe I should be on McCain's staff.

But I just don't really get it. I thought Barack and the TEAM---with that I'll include even the newbie neophytes such as you (can Ipresume) and ME---had a pile of money raised compared to McCain.

Where is all his dough coming from, and apparently fast. I just read this in another Blog, and wanted to report and see if anyone is smarter than us newbie, neophyte, non-understanders. Here it is:

Greg Sargent at Talking Points Memo noted that the June haul puts Obama on track to achieve his goal of raising $300 million during the entirety of the general election - a total needed to match the likely loot of McCain and the RNC. And yet, Obama and his allies at the DNC still lag behind their counterparts. The Democrats have $72 million on hand, compared to the roughly $100 million brought in by the GOP.

"We remain at a massive disadvantage to our opponents," Plouffe wrote in an email before asking for additional $25 donations. "As I mentioned in my video message earlier in the week, the McCain Campaign and the Republican National Committee finished June with nearly $100 million in the bank.

So the above is what i read, but i swear i've heard not much of this type of talk until recently. How can Team Obama be raising so much money that it constantly gets the attention of the media, and yet it will only come close to what McCain will have. Maybe part of it is that we are currently spending much, much more. Tell me, educate me. Bring out the light, so that i can see.

Please enlighten me, shine a light onto the side of the CAVE were i am looking for signals of flickering light. Help me out of my chained confusion.

Thanks,

Drew

Oh, and P.S., obviously donate while you are shining your light!

Sometimes the Weather Plays a Role

Drew — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:01:55 EDT

Well, I tried, and the wind blew. It was the flash of lightning that got us in the end. But for setting up a BLUE tent along the Panhandle, emblazoned with all the Obama stuff we could collect, I am proud.

We protected the American flags we had up from the rain, and we protected ourselves from the Republican mayor and former County Commissioner from Ohio, a former Vietnam veteran, who somehow just wanted to heckle us. He was not very pleasant, even though i talked to him about his children. I am polite--- i don't even want children with my wife. Until we are able to sway the public. Until the huge seachange occurs. We can't bear to have any more years of this 20 plus years of the brand of Conservativism that the Moral Majority has gifted us.

I just want to have a vibrant democracy. No one need agree with my point of view. My friends often don't. But allow it to exist and be heard. Allow for a society that tolerates diversity. In my eyes, it should be celebrated for it's ability to RENEW and to BRIDGE. The lacunae between individuals.

But hey, despite the storm. Despite the lightning. We have weathered the storm. Now is a time to be strong. Not to be big-headed, but to be UNITED. To enlist the help of those who may have become weary over the years. To invite back those who just totally gave up on the process. The one thing I can respect about my heckler at this weekend's event is that at the very least, he is passionate about the process. I will still take that over apathy. Any day.

Much love and peace to all those we come into contact with. Don't forget that our tolerance is indeed our strength.

Drew

An inspirational reprint i just read from another Blog!

Drew — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:05:26 EDT

I must tell you---I am not normally "starstruck" or easily moved by powerful or famous people. However, this morning, at a town hall meeting in Powder Springs (GA), I almost...almost went there! It was surreal... when I realized Senator Obama was about to walk out toward the stage, I suddenly felt overwhelmed... it was if I was sitting smack dab in the middle of the "fierce urgency of now."

All of a sudden, I realized that I was standing there, seconds away from shaking hands with Senator Obama...not simply for myself, but moreso for the generations to come.
I had awesome front row seats which were to the left of the Senator. He spent quite a bit of time near the stairs which is right in front of where a group of Organizing Fellows sat.

In between Senator Obama's words I thought of my four year old son, Sovereign,(who already calls Obama President) and I decided I would continue on beyond my fellowship!

I shook his hand as he approached the stage and after he greeted supporters before he left. I am proud to work for his campaign.

Coretta Jackson, MBA
cjackson@gaobama.com

Historians see little chance for McCain

Laurie Singh — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:18:53 EDT

David Paul Kuhn Sun Jun 15, 8:05 AM ET Politico

One week into the general election, the polls show a dead heat. But many presidential scholars doubt that John McCain stands much of a chance, if any.

Historians belonging to both parties offered a litany of historical comparisons that give little hope to the Republican. Several saw Barack Obama’s prospects as the most promising for a Democrat since Roosevelt trounced Hoover in 1932.

“This should be an overwhelming Democratic victory,” said Allan Lichtman, an American University presidential historian who ran in a Maryland Democratic senatorial primary in 2006. Lichtman, whose forecasting model has correctly predicted the last six presidential popular vote winners, predicts that this year, “Republicans face what have always been insurmountable historical odds.” His system gives McCain a score on par with Jimmy Carter’s in 1980.

“McCain shouldn’t win it,” said presidential historian Joan Hoff, a professor at Montana State University and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. She compared McCain’s prospects to those of Hubert Humphrey, whose 1968 loss to Richard Nixon resulted in large part from the unpopularity of sitting Democratic president Lyndon Johnson.

Rupert Murdoch Predicts Obama Will Win in a Landslide

Laurie Singh — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:57:56 EDT

May 29, 2008Murdoch predicts McCain will losePosted: 03:30 PM ET
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
(CNN) – Rupert Murdoch offered a dire prediction Wednesday for John McCain's chances in the general election.

He will lose in a landslide, the News Corp. chairman said at a California conference, according to Reuters.

"You have got the Obama phenomenon, Murdoch said. "You have got, undoubtedly, a recession … The average American is really getting hurt financially and that all bodes well for [Obama].

"You have probably the making of a complete phenomenon in this country," Murdoch continued, referring to what he thinks will be an overwhelming victory for the Democratic presidential candidate.

The News Corp. chairman, often viewed as a messenger for the Republican Party given his holdings include several media organizations with a conservative bent, also showered praise on the Illinois senator, calling him a "rock star."

While calling himself a friend of McCain, Murdoch said his lengthy stint in Congress has led the Arizona senator to make so many compromises that it is not clear where he stands on the major issues. He also called McCain "unpredictable," and questioned his knowledge on economic issues.

News Corp's holdings include Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. The Post endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton earlier this year.

From: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/29/murdoch-predicts-mccain-will-lose/

Time to Donate!

! ! ! ! ! Matthew McGovern !!!!! — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:40:20 EDT

Time to Donate!

It looks like we will fall short of the outright victory tonight. But we still have lost very little ground in our march to the White House. There is one thing we can be certain about when we hear the Clinton campaign try and make tonight the victory of all victories. She will tout the money she has raised overnight.

She needs to be able to tell the super delegates in the morning that she had received X amount of donations after her victory. She can only win with the help of the super delegates, and her fundraising is a big question on their minds. She has sent out a mass email asking for $5 donations, not just to get a cash influx, but also by asking for a small amount she will get more numbers when it comes to people donating. She needs a large number to flash the super delegates with.

We need to counter this ploy from the Hillary campaign. We need to show the same support for the good Sen. Obama, and donate tonight. We need numbers to counter whatever she has to say in the morning. If the super delegates see that even in defeat we are not defeated, then her win in Pennsylvania will be like her words; empty, shallow, and vain.

Do it now. Anything! 5, 10, 15, 20 25, 50, 100. Whatever the amount, we need to get our day after number up.

Think of it this way; can you, after 8 years of hearing the voice of George Bush, spend 4 years listening to the voice of a president Hillary Clinton?

Do it tonight! Donate Now!

Let us fight the good fight, and show the super delegates that we will not let the shillary continue.

Your comrade in thought and deed!

Matthew McGovern

What Obama’s Election Means to America

Laurie Singh — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:51:40 EDT

What Obama’s Election Means to America
New Europe, The European Weekly

Ray Bawarchi, author of the novel "The Dirt People" (Blue Throat Press)
21 April 2008 - Issue : 778

Barack Obama is a singular figure in American politics. Since George Washington, every single one of the forty-three (43) presidents of the United States has been a white male. Only three African –Americans have ever even been elected a governor of one of the fifty (50) states. Only one Native American has ever been a US Senator. Hardly what one would expect in the alleged “melting pot.” For the last eight elections a Bush or a Clinton has been on the presidential ballot. Hardly what one expects in a democracy.

That Obama should emerge now may be simply an accident of history or it may be symbolic of something far more. After 9/11, America had its best opportunity to lead the world. The outpouring of sympathy provided the chance for the US to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, with the rest of the world for our bullying, imperialistic foreign policy over the past 50 years. A foreign policy that spoke publicly of freedom while propping up dictators and ignoring the suppression of rights in oppressive countries with “friendly” governments.

The scale of 9/11 provided an opportunity to start fresh, to recognise that our actions were at least partially to blame for what happened. Instead, Bush heard the jangling of his spurs and engaged in cowboy diplomacy, he attacked. But it wasn’t just the militaristic nature of the response. It was the attitude that because the US had been wronged any response was justified. The rendition of prisoners to foreign governments was justified as was the debacle at Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo was opened specifically to circumvent the US legal system.

Our Victory in Pflugerville, Texas

Valarie Kaur — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:25:11 EST

We delivered our piece of Texas for Obama: precinct 222 in Pflugerville north of Austin, a largely white conservative town with a 9% African American population. For four days, my teammates and I canvassed the neighborhoods from morning to night, leaving personal notes on the doorsteps of 400 households for the morning of the election.

Election day was nothing short of extraordinary. There were record turn-outs for Democrats at the polls and at the caucus. Last time, four people attended our caucus. This time, nearly 300 people showed up on election night and voted 222 for Obama, 57 Clinton. Our precinct alone will send 21 delegates for Obama to the county convention.

What happened in Pflugerville happened all over Texas: one million people turned up to caucus on election night. Since one-third of the delegates from the state come from caucus results, Obama won Texas. Clinton's declared victory is more rhetorical and psychological than real. Obama leads in delegates, the popular vote, and funds. We need to keep fighting: donate, blog, call voters, grow the movement. Just like we did in Texas. Read on...

After four days canvassing Pflugerville, our team decided to go where we were most needed on election day: Laura stayed at headquarters to work with other lawyers on voter protection, George promoted visibility at a busy polling place in Austin, and Lutishia and I got permission to return to Pflugerville for our final get-out-the-vote effort.

From the minute we arrived until the minute the polls closed, Lutishia and I drove through the streets, knocked on doors, and literally sprinted through our neighborhood, passing out Obama signs and telling everyone we met to vote and caucus that night at Windemere Elementary School. We were shocked to find that most voters had no idea about the caucus, so we gave them our cell phone numbers and made people promise to come. Those who found our notes on their doorsteps in the morning called to ask us questions and thank us for all our work.

During our final rounds a half-an-hour before the polls closed, we pulled up to an open garage with a group of kids playing video games. "Any of you old enough to vote?" I yelled out of the car.

"I am," said Jevon, a 19-year with corn rows and baggy jeans and a shy mature way about him.

"Get in the van," I said.

Lutishia and I drove him to the polls and stood with him in a long line that ran down the hall. There was nearly no line for Republicans, but the turn-out for Democrats was record-breaking.

"I always liked Obama ever since Iowa," Jevon told me as we waited. "I just didn't know how to vote. I want to be a psychiatrist when I grow up. You know, to help people."

When Jevon got to the front of the line, they couldn't find his name in the books and turned him away. He was about to leave when I stepped up and demanded a provisional ballot. They gave it to him, and I stood aside and watched him vote for the first time in his life. When I dropped him home and told him I was proud of him, he said in his shy quiet way, "I appreciate you too."

Back at Windemere Elementary, they opened the doors at 7pm for the Democratic caucus. Last time, four people came to caucus. This time, 280 people filled the school cafeteria, sitting on the ground, standing against the wall, most of them African-American. Lutishia and I nearly cried. We recognized half the faces in the crowd; they simply would not have been there if it weren't for us. We stood back, eager spectators to the process.

The caucus began in chaos, questions flying about what to do and how. Lutishia and I stepped up with rules in hand and were swept up into the whole thing before we knew it. We explained the procedure, helped them elect the chair and secretary, organized the crowds, signed in and registered voters, even managed the tallying of the results. Despite the long wait, people was patient and gracious, no one complained, everyone felt something important happening.

After five long hours, we announced the outcome: 21 delegates to Obama and 5 to Clinton. We called in the results in at midnight, and I imagined the caucus numbers besides Obama's name on CNN going up by 21 -- because of us.

After it was all over and the cafeteria was empty, I slumped on the floor next to Lutishia. "Did that just happen?"

When we reported the results to our field organizer, he dropped his jaw. "I anticipated these numbers from precincts in Austin but Pflugerville?!" he told Lutishia and me. "You were in the heart of Republican country. I can't pay hard-core activists to go where you were begging to go."

We were directly responsible for the overwhelming turn-out, the smooth process, and the landslide results. We had never felt such a hand in our democracy. It was humbling and gratifying.

As we left Pflugerville, Laura called and told us about the reports of voter disenfranchisement and caucus problems all throughout the state. And then it hit us. If we as spectators found ourselves essential in getting people ballots, telling people about the caucus, and even organizing the whole thing, what had happened around the state? Who was turned away at the polls who shouldn't have been? Where was the paper trail for Texas voting machines, and who was overseeing the count? How many people never knew about the caucus at all? And in all those caucuses that began in confusion and chaos, who stepped up and were they honest and fair? Suddenly, our democracy felt extremely fragile and volatile.

We didn't get the news about the popular vote going to Clinton until we drove back to Austin. We were deeply disappointed -- we had all hoped the nominee would have been decided that night. Even worse, we couldn't help but feel weary about the fairness of the entire process. In an election this close, when there is so much at stake, we cannot risk voter fraud, disenfranchisement, and misinformation. I shudder to remember how Florida's recount disaster in the 2000 presidential election changed the course of human history.

Now that I'm home and have slept fifteen hours, I wake up to the reality that Obama still leads in delegates, the popular vote, and funds. And that he could very well win Texas once the caucus results come in. When Clinton called her victory in Texas, it was more rhetorical and psychological than real.

In the days leading up to the recent election, Clinton and her supporters have turned to shocking negative attacks steeped in racism and xenophobia. For them, the ends justify the means. They will say and do anything to win. In response, we must learn to be tougher and smarter, but we cannot -- we must not -- give in to the temptation to use sexism, ageism, or fear to defeat our opponent, whether Clinton today or McCain tomorrow, even if it costs us in the short-term. For our fight is not just about winning. It is about bringing about a new kind of politics, a new kind of unity, where each one of us owns our integrity and recognizes the humanity and intentions of those different from us. Our lasting victory lies not in the outcome but in how we fight the fight.

As we face desperate tactics of fear and racism, our commitment to truth, justice, and unity will be tested. I stand with Obama because I do not believe he will compromise himself. Neither must we.

We can draw resolve from how far we have come already and our very-real victories on March 4th, starting with Pflugerville, Texas.

Door to Door in Pflugerville, Texas

Valarie Kaur — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:08:24 EST

Good morning from Texas! The polls are just opening around the state, and my team and I have spent the last three days knocking on doors in Pflugerville, Texas from morning to night. Before we begin our day's work, giving people rides to the polls, let me steal this moment to tell you what it's been like here.

Pflugerville, Texas is a suburban sea north of Austin: an endless maze of cookie-cutter houses divided by wide country roads. Driving into our assigned neighborhoods, we passed the occassional Texas Music Hall and the typical strip mall with the Starbucks and Subways. Most of the voters here are Republican, and their progressive neighbors are too scared to put signs in the yard: "I don't want my car scratched."

My teammates Lutishia, Laura, George, and I spent hours each day, knocking on doors up and down the endless streets. We met many Ron Paul supporters, only the occassional Clinton supporter, and many undecideds. We met people leaning toward Obama but not enough to show up at the polls -- until we talked to them. We helped people who didn't know to caucus or even when or where to vote. We became advocates for democracy, thanking even the Ron Paul supporters for exercising their right to participate in the political process.

Each of us has our own stories. I will remember the kindness of people when I told them I flew all they way from California just to knock on their door and ask them to vote. I will remember the Texan who said he could never support the Clintons, because he lost friends in Waco: "It's personal for me." I will remember the Vietnamese woman who learned about the candidates for the first time when we talked, and the young black man who liked Obama but wasn't planning to vote until we gave him the address of his polling place.

And I will remember the undecided black mother who told me her son wants her to vote for Obama. He stood behind her, a shy smiling 10-year old. His school becomes a place where people vote and caucus today. "Do you know what that means?" I asked him. "Something historic is going to happen at your school tomorrow. The whole country will be watching what happens at your school, and your grandchildren will remember it too."

He grinned from ear to ear.

Most of all, I will remember the incredible resilience of my teammates, all who flew out here on their own dime to do something that scared them. George is an academic, Laura a lawyer, Lutishia a novelist, and I a filmmaker. We each have our own story, we we are all different colors -- black, latino, south asian -- and we all came here from different corners of the country to work together as one team and walk the streets for a movement greater than ourselves.

And this is why each of us decided to write our own story about why we're here in Texas, volunteering for Obama. We printed these stories on cards, personalized and signed them, and jogged through the streets last night delivering these notes on the doorsteps of 400 households in Pflugerville. Hundreds of people will wake up this morning with our stories on their doorstep. Our hope is that it will change the mind of just one undecided voter. (We had the idea after I first did this in my neighborhood in California, where we won our precinct.)

The movement is filled with stories like ours -- people taking the campaign into their own hands. In fact, our campaign headquarters in East Austin is a little house painted blue with two rooms filled with hand-made signs and people from all walks of life working away inside. It feels as grassroots as it can get.When I first arrived at the little blue house, a black man walked past me with a handful of Obama signs for his neighborhood. A Vietnamese American woman handed us a hot plate of egg rolls she had just made. And a 7-year old white girl walked by with a t-shirt of Obama that read "He is black and I am proud."

"There is no color in this house," one volunteer said to me. Her mother is a superdelegate in Idaho, a white woman who was one of the first to support Obama. "We're all different people coming together. That's what I love about this movement."

We have come far as a nation, and I see this in Texas. Walking the suburban streets of Pflugerville, I imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago, open fields where different peoples and cultures fought for their own survival. After 11,000 years of life on this land, native tribes were conquered by the Spanish, and Spain fought with the French to keep it. Texans joined people to the south to fight for their independence from Spain and won freedom as Mexico, only to then fight Mexico for their own independence. Texas was its own country for nine years before joining the union -- and then fought with the south in the civil war to keep its black slaves. It wasn't until 1944 that Texas allowed blacks to vote in the primaries.

Native tribes conquered by Spanish blood, Mexican heritage inherited by Anglo-American immigrants and black slaves. All different people battling out the right to live. A beautiful tapestry woven in blood. That is what we are. That is what Texas is. That is what America is.

We caught a glimpse of Michelle Obama at the little blue house last night. I asked Lutishia what she would say to her if she had the chance. "I would express my absolute joy, amazement, and gratitude..." -- she paused for a moment -- "to have someone in the white house who looks like me."

I felt the tears well up in my eyes and realized that I'm used to it by now. This political campaign, now movement, has become a deeply emotional and spiritual journey, which is how I know it's real.

All eyes on us tonight, Texas. We have come far. Let's go farther.

---

A deep thank you to our friends and family who donated so that Lutishia, George, Laura, and I could volunteer in Texas this week!

Why I'm in Austin Tonight

Valarie Kaur — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:26:04 EST

It's late at night here in Austin, and I've just settled into my hotel room downtown. My second time ever in Texas, I am here to call and knock on doors for a campaign -- but not just any campaign -- a movement. And like all movements, once you realize that the stirrings of your own heart don't belong only to you but to an entire generation, it has you.

Some warn that all this enthusiasm is setting us up for disappointment. President Obama will not be perfect, he won't usher in a golden age, and he won't make everyone happy. This is true, but it's also missing the point.

Obama is here to lead us, not save us. It is our time, not his. The movement is not about him; he is simply the face of it. And he knows it.

"I'm asking you to believe," reads his central message. "Not just in my ability to bring about change in Washington... I'm asking you to believe in yours."

This movement is about all of us who are ready to believe in our own sense of empowerment again. It's about fulfilling our desire for own renewal and transformation. It's about our willingness to work for it.

This is why I became a precinct captain in California, calling and knocking on the doors of neighbors and strangers, asking them to get involved in a process I never believed in until now.

It's why I took the risk of offending my own faith community and shared my political conviction with Sikh Americans who traditionally back the Clintons.

It's why my best friend and I stayed up all night before California's primary making 300 hand-written notes to tell our neighbors why we support Obama, only to jog through suburbia at 4 in the morning delivering them on front doorsteps, hoping they would sway just one undecided voter on election morning. (We won our precinct).

It's why I wept when I punched his name on the ballot. It wasn't his name on the ballot; it was mine. It was the name of all of us who are in this movement together.

And this movement is the reason why I accepted a place at law school this fall. I am beginning to believe again in my own power, and I'm not alone.

I saw this tonight when I stopped by campaign headquarters downtown, a loud cavernous office filled with rows of people on phones, with laptops, sitting beneath hand-painted signs with messages of hope. Colorful chaos with order and purpose.

"You know what I'm dreaming of?" I heard a field organizer say. "Sleep."

She's been traveling with the campaign ever since she graduated from college last summer. Others are still in college, on leave. And I remember taking time my own leave from college after 9/11 -- to document stories of hate violence against my community. What a different moment this is. It is not a moment of tragedy that is defining these college kids, this generation, but a moment of hope.

This hope is shared by all generations, I was reminded when talking with my father tonight. He is a life-long Republican who temporarily switched to the Democratic party just to vote for Obama in the California primary.

"You know, I was thinking about it and figured out I could do something from over here," he told me, in epiphany. "I could make calls! Can I help you make calls?"

It's been a big enough deal for my dad and me to want the same person to be president. Now working together to get him elected... this is getting to be too much.

"That's what's so amazing about this campaign," a friend told me in response, "watching so many different people come together. I wish I could be there in Austin with you," he said.

He is a turbaned Sikh American who canvassed neighborhoods for Obama in New Hampshire.

"You know, I never felt fully American until I knocked on those doors and talked to people," he said. "It really makes you feel part of a community." A democracy. A country. That's what it feels like.

That's why I'm here.

No matter what the outcome. This campaign has already changed us.

Message to Sikh Children: Yes We Can

Ravi — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:11:23 EST

The birth of my first child, Arza Kaur, a nine-month old (a.k.a., Obama's littlest supporter), has changed a lot of little things in my life. But it has also made me think about larger issues, and the historical moment we are in right now, from both the standpoint of an American and as a Sikh.

When I was Arza'a age, Richard Nixon was President and the Watergate hearings had just finished. Members of the Nixon administration were pleading guilty to criminal wrongdoing and/or resigning as a part of the Watergate investigation. At that time, there were few Sikhs in the United States. They were mostly scattered on the east and west coast and would meet periodically for kirtans at a family home.

Now fast forward to the year 2008. There is an air of hope, progress and optimism in a new generation of young Americans and in young Sikh Americans. Young people want to become involved in the political process because they know they can have an impact. They know much is as stake in this next election. A misguided war in Iraq and its costs in lives and our hard earned tax dollars have taught us this much.

In 2008, look at how far we have come as a country and as a community. For the first time in history, an African-American has a real chance to become President of the United States. When spent a week in January knocking on doors in Hollis, New Hampshire for the Obama campaign, I saw strong support for Senator Obama from two particular groups: young people and older folks. I heard from many younger people who do not relate to Senator McCain or Senator Clinton but feel that Senator Obama provides them with a connection and a motivation to get involved with the political process. I also listened to many older citizens, including several who have served our country in World War II and the Korean War. They told me they support Senator Obama because in their experience, he is a rare public servant who is intelligent and trustworthy. They told me they hope Americans see the inside of a person, rather than the color of one's skin.

I have also witnessed how much progress the Sikh community has made since I was a Nixon baby in the early 70's. We had only one Gurdwara in Richmond Hill on the east coast when I was born, but now we have many across the east coast and other parts of the country, like Atlanta, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Maryland, California and other states. The Sikh population has grown tremendously and many Sikhs have earned millions and achieved great success in many fields of profession. Even in the last decade we have made noteworthy strides. When I attended college at UC Berkeley, we had the only Sikh Student Association (SSA) in the country. Now there are many, many SSA's at college campuses around the country. Recently, Sikh Americans have also formed non-profit organizations to promote, protect and preserve what we as a community hold dear, from civil rights, to education, to arts literature.

So when I hear Senator Obama's message "Yes We Can" I think about it in a deeply personal context. These three words remind me of the progress of our country, the United States, and my Sikh community over the last three decades.

When I hear the words "Yes We Can" I remember my childhood and the naysayers who told my parents I could not handle being teased at school if they raised me as a Sikh. They said it was better to play it safe and blend in. But Sikh adults in America who were raised in public schools across this country over the last three decades have show that yes, we can be Sikhs and raise our children in public schools.

When I hear the words "Yes We Can" I think of members of our community that have discarded their articles of faith for fear they somehow conflict with their ability to achieve prosperity in America. But the thousands of Sikh physicians, software engineers, and small business owners show that we need not give in to doubt and fear. They are living proof that yes, we can succeed in America without compromising our articles of faith.

When I hear the words "Yes We Can" I think of those who doubted that as I, as a Sikh attorney, could appear before judges and juries in courtrooms and succeed as a trial lawyer in America. Now, ten years later, I can say that yes, we can succeed as lawyers in America. I am truly confident that no matter what you want to do in America, yes, you can do it as a Sikh American.

When I hear the words “Yes We Can” I am reminded that Barack Obama, like many Sikhs, also beat the odds to succeed in life. He was born to a teenage mother in Hawaii and was abandoned at 2 years of age. He wasn’t supposed to be successful, neither are most practicing Sikhs, but he was successful and so are many proud Sikh Americans.

My daughter and thousands of her fellow Sikh children in America today have a historic opportunity I have never seen in my lifetime. We can elect an individual who believes, as I do, that "Yes We Can" represents not just empty words, but the real possibilities of future generations. I would urge Sikhs to support Senator Obama's campaign and send a special message to Sikh children that I know to be true: Yes We Can.

Ravinder S. Bhalla

If You Were Around in 1960, Would You Have Helped JFK Get Elected President?

Amar Singh — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:24:14 EST

The message title says it all. Yesterday we had an incredible win in Wisconsin. With God’s grace, we’re on a journey to the nomination and then the Presidency.

So I ask, what would it feel like to tell your grandchildren that you knocked on a door, made a phone call, or contributed $5, $10, $25 to help JFK get elected in 1960?

I’d feel very uncomfortable making the comparison to JFK if his own daughter didn’t make the comparison in her op-ed entitled “A President Like My Father” or if JFK’s brother Teddy Kennedy didn’t make the comparison (see from 16 minutes in) when he endorsed him for President.

I definitely want to tell my grand children that I did more than just watch the news during an important moment in America’s history. I want to actively take part in change.

Here Are Our 2 Requests for Today:

Action One: Donate Now Through Sikhs For Obama. Donate $5, $25, $50, any small affordable amount to show that grassroots Sikhs specifically support the campaign.

Note: Do not make the mistake as some have done of donating generally to the campaign. Make sure you donate through Sikhs for Obama.

Action Two: Forward the text below in an e-mail to your friends.(click on Read More link below).

The Three Reasons Why I Support Barack

Amar Singh — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:19:44 EST

I finally got around to putting together my 3 main reasons for supporting Barack. Here's what I sent to my family and friends yesterday afternoon:

"Dear Friends,

I hope everyone is well. Since there are only 2-6 hours left before polls close depending on where you live, I’ll get to the point.

As some of you know, I’ve been spending a great deal of my free time campaigning for Barack Obama. In January, my brother Ravi and I walked door to door in New Hampshire in support of Barack. Since our experience in New Hampshire, which was amazing, we’ve been actively engaged with the local campaign in Hoboken where we live.

In case you are still deciding who to support, I want to throw out 3 reasons why I support Barack and why you should as well:

1)   Running Against the Republican Party vs. Running to Transform Politics – Hillary is running to change of parties in Washington, while Barack is running to transform the political system. What do I mean?

Barack’s approach to politics is post-partisan. From his perspective it doesn’t matter whether you are Republican, Democrat, or Independent when it comes to making good policy. What matters is that your ideas make sense.    It’s an approach that I believe has worked well here in New York where Michael Bloomberg has been a Democrat, Republican, and now an independent in the span of 7 years but constantly remains focused on running a good government.

Barack, like other politicians such as Corey Booker in Newark, is part of the same school of thinking. It’s a change that’s very much needed in Washington.

2)       Judgment vs. Experience – If folks are worried about Barack’s supposed lack of experience, I’d asked them to consider that Abraham Lincoln was a one term Congressman before he ran for President; John F. Kennedy was a one term Senator; Woodrow Wilson was a governor for just two years; and Franklin Roosevelt was a governor for four years before they all became President. (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/opinion/20kristof.html).

There is a difference between experience and judgment. Barack’s judgment ----- whether on the war in Iraq, or being open to talking with Iran, or in how he conducts himself when discussing Republicans --- is more valuable than experience in a broken, bitterly divided partisan system

3)       The Community Organizer vs. the Leader – For the first time, we have a Presidential candidate who has a background as a community organizer. It’s a made a a HUGE difference in how his campaign is run.

Unlike any other candidate, Barack has relied on unprecedented network of over 250,000 small donors, people who give $50, $75. He has refused money from political action committees.

In New Hampshire, where Ravi and I campaigned, Barack’s volunteers on the ground vastly outnumbered any other campaign’s grassroots organizers.   In Hoboken, Barack’s grassroots supporters have been campaigning for more than a month now. Hillary’s people just met last Saturday. I think this speaks volumes to his ability to get average folks involved in our government.

In short, the numbers --- as measured by small donations and number of grassroots unpaid volunteers --- bear out that Barack unlike very few before him, is getting the grassroots involved in our political system. It’s a very health development for America. We need to get people engaged in our democracy.

If you read this far thanks for hearing me out!   Let me know if you don’t want to receive these messages in the future

Best,
Amar

p.s. The proceeding is sent by me as an individual, not as an employee of the Sikh Coalition which can not endorse a candidate for political office."

Barack Pulls Dead Even with Hillary in NJ and Ahead in California!!!!!

Amar Singh — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:13:11 EST

How awesome is this: http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1445.

And we all know about the Star Ledger endorsement: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/sarahramey/CPNr.

PLEASE WORK TO GET OUT THE VOTE TOMORROW!!!! Call and e-mail your friends and get them to the polls. Volunteer for the campaign tomorrow! Drive people to the polls!

We’re so close! Momentum in Jersey and America is on our side! We can take NJ tomorrow! Yes We Can!!!!!

Fired up and Ready to Go!

Amar in Hoboken

Barack, My Father, and Me

Valarie Kaur — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:03:13 EST

This morning, my father called. He is a principled Republican who voted for Bush twice. For the last seven years, it's been hard talking to him about politics at the dinner table, but it's been even harder hearing my progressive friends talk about "all those stupid people who voted for Bush." "My father is not stupid," I would retort, exhausted by the political rancor. That's all beginning to change.

"I read the book you gave me," my dad said this morning, after finishing The Audacity of Hope. "I don't agree with all of Obama's politics, but I hear myself in him. He doesn't demonize people. He's the voice of a new generation; reminds me of Reagan and Kennedy. I'm a pragmatist, but I feel really hopeful and inspired by this movement. It could really bring the country together."

My father has switched to the Democratic party for the first time in his life just to vote for Barack Obama in California's primary on Tuesday. I take it as a sign. Obama alone can reach people like my father, who would never support a Clinton dynasty in the general election. Obama alone can unite conservatives and liberals, young and old, people of faith and non-believers, black and white and everyone between. Obama alone can inspire an entire generation of disenchanted young people like me to take ownership of our country.

In the end, the choice between Clinton and Obama is not between their policy differences, which are nuanced, nor between their respective experience, for Obama's two decades as a public servant is plenty preparation. The choice is between two different kinds of presidents: Clinton is an executive, Obama a visionary. Clinton proposes to accomplish a set of goals, Obama aims to transform and revitalize our very culture. Cliniton reinforces the old walls, Obama breaks them down so that my father and I find ourselves standing on the same common ground.

The choice is between a well-polished argument that only reaches people on the same side and a poem that touches the very core of who we are:

http://www.dipdive.com

If we listen carefully, there is a bit of hope singing inside of every single one of us. Yes. We. Can.

Why I Support Obama as a Sikh American

Valarie Kaur — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:38:28 EST

As a Sikh American whose family settled in America 100 years ago, this election is different than any other my family has seen. This is the first election where I believe the future of my community and country rests on our support of a single presidential candidate: Barack Obama.

Sikhs will have a choice on February 5th: we can stick to politics-as-usual, or we can join a movement in this country. A movement where people divided by race, religion, and politics are finding the courage to recognize themselves in one another and come together in a common cause. A movement that would end the old politics, in which Sikhs are forever minorities asking to be accommodated, and usher in a new politics of unity that ties Sikhs to all Americans in the same struggle for freedom.

Obama alone represents this movement. Its momentum is real. We are already part of it. I have witnessed it.

For more than a year, I have been living out of my suitcase, traveling the country with my film Divided We Fall that features stories of Sikh Americans after 9/11. From California to New York, Nebraska to South Carolina, our community's stories have reached tens of thousands of people – white, black, brown, liberal, conservative, non-believer, believer, young and old. After the film, people applaud with tears in their eyes and talk about how attacks on Sikhs threaten their freedom too.

"My father was a guard at a Japanese-American internment camp," says a white woman in Montana. "I refuse to be gripped by the same fear and hatred."

"Just as I stand up for the right for gay people to come out of the closet," says a gay man in New York, "I promise to stand up for the right for Sikhs to wear their turbans. It is the same freedom."

"Your story is my story," an evangelical Christian in Nebraska tells me. "I too remember when I was seen as an outsider."

And in rural Illinois, an African-American man points to his braids, and says: "My braids are my turban."

People see themselves in our stories.

It is time that we, as Sikhs, return the gesture. We must stop thinking only of our own struggle, our own pain, and begin to see that we are not alone in the fight. We have a stake in the freedom of every other community in this country – Black, Latino, Jewish, Muslim, Gay – all of them, because all of us ache for a country where we can be recognized for how we see ourselves.

This recognition means we must confront our own community's discrimination against African-Americans, Muslims, and homosexuals. It means opening our eyes to the hate violence other communities face as well as the issues at stake for our country -- the coffins coming home, the threat of global warming, the growing poor, the crumbling schools in the parts of town we never visit, and the sick who can't afford to see the doctors in our families.

And it means ending the old way of fighting. For too long, Sikhs have learned to depend on individual politicians in halls of power to champion our cause. We have given our money and votes to any politician who promised to pose with us for the cameras and defend our community when needed, regardless of whether they were Republican or Democrat, George W. Bush or Hillary Clinton. This is politics-as-usual, the only way we knew how to fight for our right to be seen as American.

We can no longer afford to fight this way. We must end self-interested politics, for as long as we advocate only for our own equality, we will never fully own our place as Americans. And we will always be dependent on politicians who defend us when it benefits them.

Hillary Clinton is one such politician. She stands up for the Sikh community when politically expedient. On the campaign trail, she made several cancellations to appear with Sikhs in public and refused to join Obama in supporting the Sikh Coalition's appeal to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to protect turbans from searches at airports. Trapped in the political and racial binaries of the 1960s, she represents a political left that aims to accommodate minorities only when convenient.

In this great hour of need, it is time for Sikhs to support a leader whose vision integrates all of us into one nation, a leader who inspires us to take action together, a leader who not merely accommodates diversity but stands for it in his very being and breath -- a leader who truly represents us.

Like us, Obama inherits a mixed racial, religious, and national heritage. Like us, he belongs to multiple identities and moves between them. Like us, he has learned to claim that in-between space as his own and speak from it. If he can speak from it, we can speak from it. His voice is our voice.

Last week, in honor of Dr. King, Obama voiced the need to "recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper." He beckoned us to "stand in somebody else's shoes" and change "the division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating" in our own hearts.

Yes, it is time for Sikhs to join the movement. It is time for us to draw upon the courage we are famous for and fight with Obama in the name of unity.

Our very future as Sikhs and as Americans depends on it.

--
Senator Barack Obama has dedicated his life to public service as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, a leader in the Illinois state Senate, and currently as a US Senator from Illinois. His historic campaign for the US Presidency is remarkable for bringing together a broad coalition comprised of progressives from across the racial, economic and religious spectrums from throughout the United States. His political vision has much resonance for South Asian Americans. On issues such as immigration, hate crimes, racial profiling, religious freedom, the War on Terror, small business promotion, and educational access, Obama has consistently emphasized his desire to work in the interest of the South Asian community. To learn more or to get involved, please visit www.safo2008.com

Join Sikhs for Obama on Facebook and on My.BarackObama.com

Valarie Kaur is a filmmaker, writer, and lecturer in religion presently on tour with her documentary film Divided We Fall. She is also founding director of Harvard's Discrimination and National Security Initiative. She can be reached at valarie@dwf-film.com

Hosting Our First Campaign Event!

Amar Singh — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:30:31 EST

Dilly and I are hosting a Phonebank and Nevada caucus watching party this coming Saturday!

Here are the event details: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4vbyz.

Volunteering and meeting like-minded people is so wasy on my.barakobama.com. I encourage everyone to take 5 minutes to sign-up.

Photo Essay from New Hampshire

Amar Singh — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:38:11 EST

Mine and Ravi's super experience canvassing for Barack is probaly best expressed in this photo essay:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22599242@N05/sets/72157603681531990/

Fired up, Ready to go!

A Bit of Hope Singing

Valarie Kaur — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 14:27:51 EST

A letter to my friends on the morning of the Iowa caucuses -- Jan. 3, 2006

I woke up this morning a mess of nerves, and I realized it was because the Iowa caucuses are tonight. I walked along the ocean and prayed hard, and then I realized that perhaps my prayers would be better served if I shared them.

My days protesting the war in college left me deeply disillusioned with politics and the political process. In a chance meeting with John Kerry when he was running, I told him this. He told me not to be disillusioned. That still didn't change anything.

For the last year and a half, I have been traveling with my film Divided We Fall all over the country talking to people. All kinds of people. Students, liberals, conservatives, evangelicals, believers, nonbelievers, immigrants, people in the south and the north, white people, black people, and everyone in between. And I discovered I was not alone. Whether in a red state or blue state, a small town or a big city, I heard the same thing -- people are tired. People are tired of war and car bombs and coffins. People are tired of the environment going to hell, terrorist threats, and hearing about how the world hates us. People are tired of hearing how divided we are. And the funny thing is, I began to see how we are all united in this longing -- this ache -- for something better. We are aching for a better country, a country where we can be seen for how we see ourselves. And for personal authentic leadership to take us there.

The cynical part of me believes that this is not possible. It's the same part of me that shrinks away from turning on the news. The part that would rather not hear about the violence in the world than face my own smallness to it. But there is another part of me buried deep inside...

A few weeks ago, I heard Barack Obama speak. With an edge of fatigue in his voice, he spoke with passion and conviction. He spoke about his own impossible journey and his vision of unity. I heard my voice in his voice. He saw what I saw. He wanted what I wanted. His vision was my vision. And he could be president. Despite myself, I began to cry. Had it been this long since I felt any faith that my country could produce a leader who spoke my truths?

I could be wrong. He could not be the one. All I know is that the part of me that was buried is alive and singing. It is the hope in me. It is the dreamer who sings. He could be president. He could change the world. I could change the world.

And so I read his books, learn his positions, watch speeches, make donations, talk to people. This is the first holiday season my family did not have a political argument. For the first time in our adult lives, my Republican father and I want the same person to be president. I take it as a sign. The very best article I have read about why Obama should be president was written by a conservative commentator -- his reasons are mine: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200712/obama

"At its best, the Obama candidacy is about ending a war—not so much the war in Iraq, which now has a momentum that will propel the occupation into the next decade—but the war within America that has prevailed since Vietnam and that shows dangerous signs of intensifying, a nonviolent civil war that has crippled America at the very time the world needs it most. It is a war about war—and about culture and about religion and about race. And in that war, Obama—and Obama alone—offers the possibility of a truce."

Thanks for reading this. And whoever you choose to support, may there be a bit of hope singing inside you. It's a bright shiny new year.