Dec 8, 2007. 10th day of volunteering in Fairfield, Iowa.Today, I came to the office to find my field organizer printing and sorting campaign materials in fast forward mode. He said 10 volunteers are coming from Peoria, Illinois to canvass. So I helped him sort out maps and directions, sign-in sheets, volunteer sign-up forms, caucus brochures, and Michelle Obama's Dec 11 event flyers. The last time I canvassed, it really helped to place all the materials in a bag, so we scrounged around for 10 grocery bags, one for each canvasser. I thought we sure can use nicer bags, but that's wishful thinking.Then the Illinois volunteers came in, bright-eyed and smiling. Mind you, it was very cold, the streets were icy, and they've driven over three hours.Here's a picture of Graham, giving instructions to a couple of the volunteers. They came earlier than the rest because they had to drive back sooner for previous commitments.The rest of the volunteers came, Graham objected to me taking pictures - "There's no time for that" - but not before I took this one.The young man (he's barely out of his teens)with the leather jacket is Jos Muzuma, one of the Muzuma Twins. I love love their music, which I'm playing right now. I remember the campaign using their instrumental piece called "Generation Obama" or was that "President Obama." Just in case you want to listen to some of their unique music, and friend them, here's a link to their MySpace.comhttp://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=39135738What else happened yesterday? I'll write about it, but beware this is my recollection and opinion, thus it's subjective, even biased.
I do not pretend to be a writer or a photographer, but I wrote notes and took pictures to share with everybody here in my blog.Well, five of us were carpooling to Cedar Rapids for the Oprah-Obama event, but after several phone calls and weather checks, they decided not to go. "It's too risky." So much for the rally, Graham already printed me a long list of phone calls for the evening, and I would have been happy to do phone banking. My secret wish though is to go to the rally. The phone rings, and one of the local supporters asks if by chance we have extra tickets, since he heard about people cancelling due to treacherous weather. As we talked, I asked him if I can carpool with him and his wife, and without preamble, he said yes. He had met Barack, he hasn't watched Oprah. He said "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." And "Don't worry, I've been driving since I was 14. This is a once in a lifetime event, we don't want to miss. We'd drive back if the roads get too dangerous." I was so scared and almost told them I had changed my mind, when I saw that their van had no back seat, no seatbelt, instead there was a futon mattress for me to sit on with my legs stretched out. They got pillows for me to lean on. It was a two-hour drive, and the windshield iced, but we made it to Cellular Center. We were there over a couple hours early, but the lobby was already packed. The energy was electric. Little girls all dressed up were chanting "I-O-W-A Barack Obama All The Way". And now and then somebody would lead the chant "Fired Up, Ready to Go". I chatted with a lady, who said she was host to a volunteer from Oregon, his name is Kevin. We were able to get one of the best seats on the preferred seating section. They -Eric and Kathy- were puzzled that I wanted to leave very early; seeing the crowds streaming in (9,575 of all colors and ages, there were babies and toddlers) they said they were glad we did that. They were meditators, so they meditated while waiting for the program to begin. They were concerned that it's starting late. I told them that Barack et al are coming from a previous rally in Des Moines. We waited, appreciating the singers who had us swaying and dancing on our seats and the students who presented a caucus skit that had us laughing, and informed. As it turned out, Kathy has never caucused although she's lived in Iowa for 25 years as an adult. When somebody passed out supporter cards, I encouraged her to sign up which she happily did. Then after a while, Kathy said "Oprah is in the building, I can feel her."When Michelle came out, the audience gasped because of her model looks and stylish dress and boots. There were loud, loud cheers for her. She introduced Oprah who came out to thunderous cheers. She seemed humbled by the crowd. Nobody can ever question that the audience loves Oprah. I thought the building might collapse because of the loud noise that won't stop. How she spoke about Barack was very persuasive, dignified and compelling - you probably have seen this on youtube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaQ3w_QSqEwOprah is credible and people trust her because her words come straight from the heart. She is a class act. She's genuine and real, just like our candidate. There were a few people who were curious about Oprah, and came out convinced the lady is just fine.Oprah brought the crowds in to get to listen to Barack. For those undecided people: If Oprah can't convince someone to caucus or vote for Barack, nothing will.When Barack came out, again I thought the building would break down due to the loud cheering and screaming. He said "Thank you, Honey" to Michelle -that's when he was acknowledging the two strong women with him. His speech was great, very powerful as you must have now seen on youtube.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTDTXdCVyLY&feature=userIn person, it was radioactive, yes definitely radioactive. I saw Oprah wipe her tears at some point during his speech. Both Barack and Oprah had some of the audience, including me. crying, because what they say is touching and true. They inspire hope. They empower. They uplift. They connected fully with the audience. He looks younger, very handsome. Kathy said that Barack (paraphrase) is at the zenith of his spiritual and intellectual powers, and like Oprah said, he is The One to lead the U.S. and the world at this moment in history. I agree.We brought extra clothing and food in case we got stranded in Cedar Rapids, but we made it back. It took us over two hours to get out of the parking garage. We watched people go to their cars, chanting O-O-O Obama, still high energy from the rally. We talked and waited, until it was our turn to drive out. On the way home, we saw at least three cars that had fallen into the ditch, and one accident. We hope there were no serious injuries.I'm glad I decided to go. I feel blessed to witness this moment in history.
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