I just got off the phone with Angela Berg, who, despite her teacher's salary, contributed $100 to this campaign.
Angela was a bit out of breath. She'd just received a phone call from Barack.
"I can't believe it. I'm so excited, not just because I got to speak with Senator Obama, but because this whole campaign is so different," she said.
No one has ever asked me to be a part of a campaign before-- not locally, not statewide, not nationally. And frankly, I've never wanted to be involved in a campaign before this. I think the way this campaign is bringing in people through the the website, through MySpace, through Facebook, getting new people involved, it's revolutionary in that way.
Angela said she's always been interested in politics, but never took the extra step of participating (beyond voting) because she always felt like "it was a choice between the lesser of two evils." She saw Barack at the DNC in 2004 and then read his books, and, she says, "the more I learned about him, the more excited I got."
"He’s so unbelievably fresh and real and logical," says Angela. "Everything I think politics should be, but has not been."
Angela was inspired to give after reading some of the thousands of stories that have been posted on BarackObama.com in the past few days.
I was reading other people’s stories of why they felt inspired, and I was crying. My husband came home and I told him I’d been crying for the last half hour. When you read other people's stories, people saying 'I'm a single mother,' 'I'm a retired army officer,' when you see all the different types of people represented, that gives me so much hope. It's not just people like me; it's all different kinds of people that identify and connect with Barack and his campaign. People whose stories we’d never know. But now we can know and see that we really are all in this together.
She decided to give $100. "We’re not wealthy, but we wanted to be significant," she said. "I said if I believe in something this strongly, I cant be idle, I have to be proactive."
I asked Angela if she felt like she could sustain her energy and passion. "Absolutely," she said. "I'm not losing any steam whatsoever. Any chance I get to talk about him and spread the word."
Recently, Angela and her colleagues held an end of the school year banquet. She began talking to another teacher about Barack. Soon, a few others overheard the conversation and joined in.
Once I started talking about getting involved in the campaign, it was amazing to see how many secretaries, janitors, teachers, and support staff all came to join in the conversation and share their support for Obama.One secretary said to me, "So, do you really think he's got it?"And I said, "I do, I think he's our hope."
Once I started talking about getting involved in the campaign, it was amazing to see how many secretaries, janitors, teachers, and support staff all came to join in the conversation and share their support for Obama.
One secretary said to me, "So, do you really think he's got it?"
And I said, "I do, I think he's our hope."
Angela will begin her eighth year of teaching next fall. She started teaching right out of college because, "I know it will sound cliche, but I wanted to make a difference."
A lot of people drop out of teaching after the first couple years, because it can be an extremely difficult job," she said. "It's not great every day, but the high moments keep you going. They inspire me to be a better person. I feel like I can change things by leading by example, and I think that's part of why I respect Senator Obama-- he leads by example.
Angela plans to keep staying involved and give more when she can.
"One of my favorite quotes," she said, "is 'There are people who have money and there are people who are rich.'"
"I feel like-- by teaching and by getting involved in things like this campaign-- I live richly."
UPDATE: Here's an audio recording of the conversation Angela had with Barack
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