When Jill first read Dreams of My Father, she immediately knew that Obama needed to be president. After seeing him speak at Brown University the following fall, the Delegate from Rhode Island became a proud supporter of the Senator.
Jill has been part of an active volunteer group in Rhode Island since September, 2007. Interestingly, serving as a delegate to the convention wasn’t so much a focus as having the honor of being on the historic primary ballot along with Senator Obama
“I’m representing the grassroots involvement that was the story of the Obama Campaign here in Rhode Island and across the country. A group of long time Obama volunteers helped each other gather signatures to get on the ballot as delegate candidates – so this is for all of us.”
Collectively, Jill and her team are supporting Obama due to his interest in improving many of the current problems in our society that Jill particularly cares about. First is education. “I believe a good public education should be a birthright in our country – not the luxury of those living in the ‘right’ zip code.” Jill likes Obama’s ideas about how to retain and reward good teachers – which would improve the opportunity gap immensely.
: Additionally, Jill is concerned with the war and improving our country’s image abroad. “Obama speaking out against the war in Iraq from the beginning impressed and continues to impress me. I believe he can change how we are perceived by the world, and undo some of the damage done to our reputation during the past eight years.”
Before her fervor for Obama, Jill interned for Senator Paul Simon in 1988 and was the Caucus Delegate to the Iowa State Convention that same year. “It was the Bush administration that galvanized me back into political action.” Jill served as a phone bank supervisor and election day team leader at Kerry’s Boston Headquarters in 2004. For the Obama Campaign, “I’ve been a leader of a grassroots group that organized informational happy hours for young professionals as well as canvassing trips to New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.” Jill is also part of the Rhode Island Steering Committee and Rhode Island Women for Obama.
Jill has spread the Obama enthusiasm to her family as well. “My parents in Omaha, Nebraska, and my brother, in the Minneapolis area, are all Obama volunteers, so my family’s doing all we can to get the Senator into the White House from our respective parts of the country.
Jill knew that she was part of something special when she was hosting a canvass party at her house for the upcoming Rhode Island primary. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t 100+ volunteers showing up! It was such a fantastic group of people from every walk of life. One of the most rewarding parts of my experience campaigning for Obama has been meeting the panoply of everyday people who’ve jumped into the political fray, often for the first time, because they believe in Obama.”
Comments are closed for this post.
