Last night, I attended an organizational meeting for OFA Miami-Dade. I, along with about 50 other people, learned about OFA's structure and mission and the ways in which volunteers can make a difference. I left the meeting once again "fired-up" and ready to help mobilize for change locally with the confidence that our success in Miami will lead to success nationally for President Obama's policies, particularly health insurance reform. We learned about the importance of data as well as the new technologies being employed (yes, votebuilder is still being used, those of us who volunteered during the campaing know it is a love-hate relationship). Because I hope to begin a Young Democrats club at my high school and become a volunteer for OFA, I will be attending the Leadership Training at the American Legion in Coral Gables this Saturday (August 8th) from 9:30-5:30. From what I understood, the OFA staff will educate potential team leaders and community organizers on OFA structure and the means and technologies OFA will be using to earn/show support for the President's agenda. Hope to see you there!
-Fran
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Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
Alachua * Alafaya * Alford * Aloma * Altamonte Springs * Altha * Altoona * Alturas * Alva * Amelia Island * Anna Maria * Anthony * Apalachicola * Apollo Annex * Apollo Beach * Apopka * Arcadia * Archer * Argyle * Aripeka * Astatula * Astor * Atlantic Beach * Auburndale * Aventura * Avon Park * Azalea Park * Babson Park * Bagdad * Baker * Bal Harbour * Baldwin * Balm * Barberville * Barefoot Bay * Bartow * Bascom * Bay Harbor * Bay Pines * Bayonet Point * Bearss-Plaza * Bell * Belle Glade * Belleair * Belleair Beach * Belleair Bluffs * Belleview * Beverly Hills * Big Pine Key * Boca Grande * Boca Raton * Boca Rio * Bokeelia * Bonifay * Bonita-Springs * Bostwick * Bowling Green * Boynton Beach * Boys Ranch * Braden River * Bradenton * Bradenton Beach * Bradley * Brandon * Branford * Brickell * Bristol * Bronson * Brooker * Brooksville * Bryant * Bryceville * Buena Ventura Lakes * Bunnell * Bushnell * Callahan * Callaway * Campbellton * Canal Point * Candler * Cantonment * Cape Canaveral * Cape Coral * Captiva * Carl Fisher * Carol City * Carrabelle * Caryville * Cassadaga * Casselberry * Cedar Key * Celebration * Center Hill * Century * Chattahoochee * Chiefland * Chipley * Chokoloskee * Christmas * Chuluota * Cinco Bayou * Citra * Citrus Ridge * Clarcona * Clarksville * Clearwater * Clearwater Beach * Clermont * Clewiston * Cocoa * Cocoa Beach * Cocoa Village * Coconut Creek * Coconut Grove * Coleman * College Plaza * Cooper City * Copeland * Coral Gables * Coral Springs * Cortez * Cottondale * Crawfordville * Crescent Beach * Crescent City * Crestview * Cross City * Crystal Beach * Crystal River * Crystal Springs * Cudjoe Key * Cypress * Cypress Gardens * Dade City * Dania * Davenport * Davie * Day * Daytona Beach * Daytona Beach Shores * De Leon Springs * DeBary
Hi everybody, I know it's hectic out there but can you share this link with some family/friends and ask them to please vote for our Miami for Obama pumpkin, Photo #1 in the contest (it's only a 24 hour poll) ... http://yeswecarve.com/contest/ and click "cast your vote now" to view the top ten pumpkins and vote for pumpkin 1 - please.
Let's give the country a preview of Florida going for Obama tomorrow night, Thanks!
ps -I can bear losing this pumpkin carving contest, but we absolutely have to win on Nov 4th, keep your chin up and keep rocking the vote!
GOBAMA! Kim, Juergen, Max and Gunnar
The following opinion piece was written by my boss Chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation Jorge Mas Santos.
How to Win the Cuban American Vote By Jorge Mas Santos Saturday, October 25, 2008; Page A15
U.S. policy toward Cuba is at best static and at worst counterproductive, a source of increasing frustration to many Cuban Americans. This sad status quo contributes to the challenge that Cuban Americans will face on Election Day as, once again, particularly in Florida, our vote will probably help determine the next occupant of the White House. The overwhelming majority of Cuban Americans expect the next president to abandon today's failed "wait and hope" policy and adopt a policy of support and engagement directed toward opening new avenues of freedom for the Cuban people as well as enhancing stability in the United States. The Cuban American National Foundation, the nation's largest Cuban exile organization, has a predominantly Republican membership. Yet our fundamental interest is not partisan politics but helping to restore freedom to our brothers and sisters on the island. We entered the new millennium expecting U.S. policy toward Cuba to follow the effective model of the West's support for Poland's Solidarity movement and civil society across Eastern Europe. It was our hope that by seeking to empower Cuba's independent civil society through unlimited support for the brave men and women on the island opposing the Castro regime, the energy and resources of the Cuban American community would be unleashed. To this end, we have been sorely disappointed. As a direct result of President Bush's strategic blunder in 2004 restricting contact with the island, Cuban dissidents have experienced a significant reduction in material and humanitarian assistance. They are also subject to a ban on receiving cash remittances that help them and their families survive. The isolation of these and other Cubans has increased while Fidel Castro's departure from office caught the Bush administration off guard. Together, these developments have helped Raúl Castro consolidate control over the Cuban people. These failures in U.S. policy undermine important American interests. Just as a democratic Israel is a key U.S. friend in a critical region, a democratic Cuba would be a crucial ally in furthering democracy in Latin America. Cuba is important, also, because the dissatisfaction of its people under the Castro regime is bound to have a significant effect on Floridians and Cuban Americans nationwide. It has in the past. The next president must put a stop to America's spectator approach. To this end, we have presented the campaigns of Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama with simple recommendations based on two basic premises: (a) the status quo is unacceptable; and (b) change needs to come from within Cuba. Our specific recommendations are: • Change the rules that make it impossible to send cash aid and allow direct, substantial and unfettered aid to Cuba's dissidents. • Lift the 2004 restrictions on travel and remittances by Cuban Americans. Removing the handcuffs that have prevented us from becoming active participants in the development of Cuban civil society will make us agents of change. • Maintain sanctions that diminish the Castro regime's access to hard currency, which it uses to help fund its apparatus of repression. • Engage democratic and reformist forces in Cuba, including those in the military and in the civilian government. They need to know that they can count on the friendship and support of the United States. • Rebuild our intelligence capabilities in Cuba; they have been dismantled over the past decade, creating a vulnerability in this nation's security. Both presidential candidates have made clear that they want to help the Cuban people achieve freedom. But Barack Obama's forward-looking and proactive approach toward empowering the Cuban people is more in line with these proposals than John McCain's vow to continue the Bush administration's policy. More of the same will not bring about freedom in Cuba, and more must be done to directly assist Cuba's opposition movement. Cuban Americans are wary of empty promises. But on Nov. 4, before casting ballots, we will ask ourselves two important questions: Who will adopt a proactive policy toward Cuba, and if dissidents in Cuba had a vote in our election, for whom would they vote? The writer is chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation.
http://canf1.org/artman/publish/home_page/How_to_Win_the_Cuban_American_Vote.shtml
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For far too long the politics that relate to Cuba and it's people have been highjacked by the Republican party and it's goons here in Florida, and finally, for once, it seems like change is in the air!
PLEASE if anyone that's close to the campain reads this it is imperative that we take action and implement the points that Mr. Mas Santos has eloquently stated in his article.
As a Cuban/Venezuelan/American living in Miami I can say without any doubt that if real change in the policy towards Cuba is enacted by Mr. Obama the politics of this state will change from a "battleground" to a solid BLUE state for the Democrats!
This is a state that the Republicans have short changed with it's elected representatives since I arrived here and that is exactly the reason why it has always remained "at play" every election year.
It is time we change that once and for all, it is time we help the political prisoners and the people of Cuba not just with rhetoric but with action!
Go Obama Go Cuba!
John McCain just made a speech in Miami Florida misrepresenting the Obama Campaigne! McCain also raised up the rhetoric of FEAR! McCain also stated Obama will be raising taxes on the middle class and specifying SPREADING the Wealth! McCain also said there was NO DANGER with Nulear WASTE!
Palin also spoke about ENERGY at a ENErGY group! The same old drill to lower oil prices!
Yesterday, I had the honor of appearing in my role as a blogger on the UK's Sky News, which is covering the U.S. election extensively in several cities including Miami, where I made my appearance.
I had two separate appearances, actually. The first was a "stand-up" with just me on camera, talking with an anchorperson in London and a representative from the conservative blog RedState.com in Washington, and we were asked about the election and, specifically, the electoral chances of John McCain. I pointed out that, no matter what the national polls (which the anchor cited) might say, we actually have what amounts to 51 separate state elections (including D.C.), and "unless Karl Rove has some new math we're not aware of," it was going to be very hard for McCain to make a comeback.
My second on-screen took place about an hour later, with the anchor of on-site coverage in Miami, facing off one-on-one against the infamous Republican operative Roger Stone (a well-known disciple and former partner of Bush 41's dirty-tricks guru Lee Atwater). We were asked to discuss negative campaigning, in particular the historical references of the 1988 "Willie Horton" ads and the 2004 swiftboating of John Kerry. I made the point that the smears don't stick to Obama because they simply have no truth to them. Stone tried to paint Obama as a "closet Muslim" again (as though there might be something wrong with that), to which I objected but was interrupted as we ran out of time. Definitely a learning experience, as a novice going up against a seasoned political veteran ...
Naturally, when I commented about Obama's big electoral lead, I didn't mean we can be complacent. I am continuing to volunteer and will be serving as a Voting Rights Attorney in Palm Beach County, Florida on Election Day. Everyone needs to keep working hard, right through next Tuesday. Get out the vote, make phone calls, drive people to the polls, and don't forget to vote yourself!
Please look for more coverage from my Sky News appearances, as well as from tomorrow's local appearances by Joe Biden and Barack Obama, at Blast Off!, http://flprogressive.blogspot.com.
Obama's appearance in Miami was well attended today; around 30,000 people showed up! There were even hundreds of people who couldn't get in but standing outside for Obama. Unfortunately my family and I were some of those people. But before the rally started, my family got to see Barack's motorcade enter the park, and we saw him waving out of the bus! What an experience! This guy is a rock star!
We wandered around so we could try and hear a little bit of his speech from afar, but we couldn't make out much of what he said. Oh well, it's good to see how many people are supporting Barack Obama here in the Sunshine State, and it shows just how much people want him to be the President of the United States of America.
On an interesting note, on the children's website Nick.com/kpp (Kids Pick the President), Obama won with the American kid population! I hope in the next couple weeks that their parents will make the same decision. They're the future America, listen up! Barack-on! Go-Bama Go!
OpEdNews has been the site of choice to post the growing list of major and minor newspaper endorsements for Obama. The Editorials are quoted generally in full, with interspliced commentaries from major editors and commentators, explaining what is behind the Editorials.
Part I Obama's Editorial Endorsements: including Washington Post, Fidel Castro, Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel, & more!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-s-Endorsements-The-by-Stephen-Fox-081016-633.html
*******
Part II Editorial Page Endorsements of Obama Denver Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francsico Chronicle, Los Angeles Times
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Editorial-Page-Endorsement-by-Stephen-Fox-081017-544.html
********
Part III New Endorsements: Salt Lake City Tribune, Bangor and Brunswick, Maine, Philadelphia, Miami, Portland, Kansas City
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Endorsements-Salt-Lake-Ci-by-Stephen-Fox-081018-476.html
More Obama Endorsements IV: Sacramento, Katie Couric, Malaysia, Houston Chronicle, Detroit, Waco Tx (sort of)
http://www.opednews.com/articles/More-Obama-Endorsements-IV-by-Stephen-Fox-081019-492.html
(Letter sent to El Nuevo Herald and Diario Americas)
Quiero por este medio expresar mi desconcierto y mi frustración por la reacción (o la falta de reacción) de McCain ante la actual crisis económica que afecta a toda la población del país.Después de expresar que los fundamentos de esta economía eran fuertes, completamente ignorando los obvios síntomas de la crisis disparada por la crisis hipotecaria, intentó erigirse en paladín del acuerdo de salvataje de las instituciones financieras. Por supuesto, no lo logró. Pero además, cómo explica a sus votantes su apoyo a semejante medida intervencionista? Cómo congenia su prédica desregulatoria con el máximo apoyo a una intervención del estado? Más aún, cómo explica el origen de la crisis después de ocho años de gobierno republicano, de su mismo partido? La incongruencia es apabullante.Apoyo a Barack Obama por ser la única opción clara para las familias americanas, cansadas de estar en el centro de una batalla signada por errores enormes de visión y de ejecución en casi todos los aspectos de una realidad complicada de un mundo del siglo XXI.
Gabriela Sabaté
Is Barack Obama an elitist? Liberals hate being labeled elitist by those Republicans who are millionaires or even billionaires. They genuinely do not understand how the party which is fighting for the middle class and the poor or the minority can be labeled 'elitist'.
They call that the dumbing down of America. They fight the label and claim they are more ordinary than ordinary Americans. But the elitist label stick. Recently some liberal columnist like Maureen Dowd and others are fighting back in a different way. They are claiming, it is necessary to be an 'elite' if you are trying to run a country like the United States. They make fun of the 'hockey mom' or the 'Joe six pack' labeling. They cringe at the idea that Republicans win election by identifying with the 'hockey moms' or 'joe six-packs' even though their policies destroy these very people. Why is this disconnect?
These elite columnists and commentators are missing a very important trait of the American Character. Let me explain.
Obama considera su política hacia Latinoamérica, y dice que llegó el momento para una "una nueva alianza de las Américas. Después de ocho años de políticas fracasadas, necesitamos un liderazgo nuevo para el futuro", manifestó.Criticó la estrategia del presidente George W. Bush hacia la región, al señalar que desde que el Gobierno inició una guerra "equivocada" en Irak, su política en Latinoamérica ha sido "negligente hacia nuestros amigos e ineficaz con nuestros adversarios".
El nominado Demócrata aseveró que como presidente se fijará "la meta clara, de acabar en 10 años nuestra dependencia del petróleo del Oriente Medio". Obama dijo que hará eso aprovechando con cuidado la energía nuclear e invirtiendo en fuentes de energía renovable."Así como mantenemos nuestra promesa la próxima generación aquí en el país, de la misma manera debemos mantener la promesa de Estados Unidos en el extranjero", aseveró Obama, también Obama afirmó que "establecerá nuevas asociaciones para derrotar a las amenazas del siglo XXI".
How Cuba will determine the 2008 Election.
Whether you are pro-Cuba or anti-Cuba, the debate may continue for centuries. One thing is certain. The nearly fifty year old, U.S. Embargo on Cuba has not worked, does not work and will not work. In stating so, we are not acknowledging, supporting or condoning Cuba’s current government.
We are saying it’s time for some of America’s voters, politicians and media to evolve with Cuba, perhaps more than any other issue. It could be said; how politicians act and vote towards the five decade old failed U.S. policies with Cuba is a clear reflection on their character.
We are saying that continuing the anti Cuba embargo policies is a clear reflection of a persons character. Whether running for President of the United States, Senate, Congress or any government leadership position; a person should demonstrated the ability to change course, try new directions and see different points of view. Especially if the policy they supported has failed for fifty years.
The anti-Cuba politicians, lobby and community is a small percentage of all populations, including the Cuban population itself. Yet the anti-Cuba movement has controlled the presidency of the United States and both political houses; including this elections Republican candidate John McCain for nearly fifty years. John McCain is anti-Cuba, while Barack Obama is pro-Cuba.
Why would any politician, business person and human continue enforcing on themselves, and worse others; a failed Cuba policy that the majority of people in America, the world and mostly the island of Cuba itself do not want? See the Election 08 FREE CUBA FILM SERIES and you will find out.
Then it’s up to you to decide when you cast your vote on “Election Moment”, if you are voting for character.
Election moment is the truest moment in any election when you, the voter stand there in the privacy of your own mind right before you vote. Only you will know if you cast a vote for character, and only you can determine the issues that reflect a person’s character. Cuba is one of those clear character issues.
Election 08 FREE CUBA FILM SERIES, is committed to bring the real Cuba to America. We’ve selected three diverse films that provide audiences with a modern day love story set in Havana, Cuba. A film that gives you a glimpse into the future with the childhood version of The Buena Vista Club, and lastly, an impacting documentary that brings to life, the hidden true history of Cuban terrorism, the U.S. Politicians directly related to Fidel Castro who continued to master mind the anti Cuba movement in the U.S. and the political families who continue to enforce their historically failed policies against Cuba on the world through violence, economics and political warfare.
Will you vote for a person who is pro-Cuba and promises to create a powerful future for America uniting the world.
Or will you vote for a person who is anti-Cuba and promises to bend history to make sure America stays the current course isolating the world.
Only you will know on your “Election Moment.”
Luis Moro
www.EveryThingCuba.com
