Organizing for America | Mark Wiznitzer's Blog: Personal Message to Food Tasters and Tips for Using Online Tools

Personal Message to Food Tasters and Tips for Using Online Tools

By Mark Wiznitzer - Sep 16th, 2008 at 10:14 pm EDT

Also listed in: Food Tasters for Obama

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report Objectionable Content

Tags: Food Tasters for Obama, fundraising, Ground Game, New Hampshire, ohio, online tools, voter registration

Dear Food Tasters for Obama -

I wanted you to know that I am leaving this weekend to work (yes, I'm "coming out of retirement") for the Obama campaign in Ohio, and will be there through election day. For all of you who have kindly encouraged my blogging (my archive is here), this will explain my silence beginning September 22. During my absence, other carefully chosen administrators will assure this group's continued existence and maintain its selective standards for messaging, and the posting of events and blogs, to provide you only with the most enlightened and entertaining material.

Last Saturday I went to Manchester NH to help at the Obama rally (8000 people turned out!) and to canvass the working class neighborhood on the west side of town. Not surprisingly after these past few weeks and recent polls, I met many concerned voters. The number one question I heard was: "Can we win this?" The answer is definitely "Yes we can." But it will require Obama supporters to get involved. You've seen by now that John McCain will do and say anything to get elected, including his selection of an unvetted running mate who he had only met once before. And McCain is backed by Bush's political team for whom all tactics are fair game. So your vote alone just may not be enough this year. And you know from the last two elections that the religious right in this country knows how to get its voters to cast their ballots for the Republican candidate.

This election will be decided in crucial battleground state, like Ohio and New Hampshire. But the ground game is the same in all 50 states. There are three practical objectives in the remaining weeks: 1) register voters, 2) identify Obama supporters, and 3) get-out-the-vote (GOTV) either absentee, early or on election day. These tasks are labor intensive. If you cannot get away to NH or another swing state, there are activities scheduled almost daily at your nearest Obama campaign office. If you have not yet tried them, I've included at the bottom of this message suggestions on how to use the campaign's online tools from home. So you have no excuse not to participate actively.

There is one other thing I want to ask of you, especially if you have not yet done so or can do more. And that is Donate. I have not bothered you about this, but I am only asking you (US citizens and Residents only) to do what I and over two and a half million others have already done. So please go to my fundraising page on my.barackobama.com, click on "donate", and make a contribution of any amount you'd like, from $5 to $2300. You may not have agreed with the campaign's decision to forgo public financing. But the Republicans have already demonstrated that current public finance laws do not reduce the influence of lobbyist and special interest money on the electoral process. And the Obama campaign has proven that it manages its finances responsibly. So consider this a good investment in getting our country back on the right track.

Finally, make sure to register and vote. Voting early is now available and easy in most states. Take advantage of the online voter registration tool, ensure that your registration is up to date and make your vote count!

Regards, Mark Wiznitzer

*************************************************************************************************

Using the tools available at my.barackobama.com

Click on "Action", then "MyBarackObama.com".
When the page opens log-in or go to the second box to sign up to create your own page and account.

Once that is done, you can edit your profile, and this is where you can choose a screename so your identity is protected.

I suggest you check you're still properly registered to vote with the tool that was just added.
It allows you to find out also if you can vote early or absentee.
If needed, you can also request an absentee ballot from your state officials.

Once you are a part of the Obama network you will find "Contact Voters" at the top of the page.
That provides all sorts of opportunities to work from home contacting voters in your neighborhood.
At this time, the campaign needs to make sure that voters everywhere are properly registered and that we have identified all our supporters. This will be good practice for next month, when I expect the campaign will start to organize calls to get out the vote in the battleground states.

Other things you will find on the website:
-- what's going on in "My Neighborhood", which will show nearby events you can participate in,
-- online groups (of which there are thousands, including my own Food Tasters for Obama) you may want to join (like Women for Obama), and
-- a link to the online "neighbor to neighbor" tool that will get you started where you can have an immediate and tremendous impact, contacting people nearest you.

You can also use the tabs on the right of your My.BarackObama page to find more:
-- find "events" (by zip code)
-- find "groups" (by location, size or name)
-- find and invite "friends", and
-- read or write "blogs".
Don't ignore "Fundraising", because this campaign will require lots of money.
Most of our 2.5 million backers so far are small donors contributing to a campaign for the first time.
And after the past two weeks, you'd be surprised how urgently people are wanting to give.

I may have described a lot more here than you think you need.
But you will enjoy exploring all the possibilities available to you.
And feel free to send this message on to others you think may also want to become involved in this endeavor.

Reader Comments	Comments RSS
Comments are closed for this post.

No comments have been written yet.

Content on blogs in My.BarackObama represents the opinions of community members and in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign.