Posts with the tag hq-young-delegates

Road to Denver: Cori from Kansas

Bradley Portnoy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:33:08 EDT

At the HQ blog, we get to talk to a lot of supporters. Most of them point to Barack's speech at the 2004 convention or their experience reading one of his books as the point at which they become supporters. Cori, on the other hand, admits that her support was in some ways accidental. She hadn't settled on a choice in the Democratic primary, but the Obama campaign showed up in Kansas before any other campaign, and that made the difference.

I hadn't decided between the primary candidates, but the Obama campaign was the first to show up in Kansas since the 1980s, so when they set up an office in my home town it was a big deal. They had a caucus training and I really wanted to learn how to caucus since it was my first year. So I went. Everyone there was so nice and excited about Barack that I couldn't help but sign up to volunteer.

Cori decided to start a chapter of Students for Barack Obama at her high school. She was skeptical: a chapter of the Young Democrats that she had tried to get going has failed for lack of interest. This time was different.

The first meeting had 40 people at it. People were really committed not just to hanging out, watching debates, and having fun, but to canvassing on the weekends and phonebanking on school nights.

On caucus night, Cori volunteered as a precinct captain, but her assigned location hit its 2,000 person capacity, and people had to be redirected to the overflow location. Cori rushed ahead to set up and make sure that everyone was organized, and at the end of the night, a staffer suggested that she try to become a national delegate.

Cori wanted to be a delegate so that she could represent all the young people who had worked so hard during the primary campaign. She sees important issues that are affecting people her age, and will be essential to secure America's future. Cori will be leaving straight from the convention to attend her freshman orientation at Babson College, and she's seen first hand this year the effect that our flagging economy has had on her friends as they've made choices about college.

People I'm close to aren't able to go to the schools that they've been accepted at because they just can't afford it. They can't get loans anymore because of the credit shortage. So I think what Barack is talking about, making it easier for kids to actually go to college, will help a lot of my friends. Some of them got into really great schools or even just state schools but are struggling to figure out if they can make the loans. A lot of their decisions were based solely on money this year, and that made me really sad.

Cori knows that Barack's education plan will make college more affordable for people across America. Under his American Opportunity Tax Credit, the first $4,000 of a college education will be completely free for most Americans. That's two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university.

Denver isn't the end of the road for Cori. She's going to be volunteering through the end of the campaign, working to make sure that the opportunity to go to the college of your dreams isn't just for the wealthy. You can help too - sign up to volunteer today, and join our grassroots campaign.

With one day to go until the start of the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States.

Thursday, August 28th will be the biggest night of the campaign so far. Even if you can’t be in Denver, you can be a part of this historic convention by attending a Convention Watch Party in your area.

Road to Denver: Omaya from Arkansas

Bradley Portnoy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:47:23 EDT

Boots on the ground. In a political campaign, sometimes that's what it comes down to: how many supporters do you have giving up their time to help the cause? Our movement is built on our supporters, and in many cases, they had organized themselves in later primary states months before official campaign staff arrived. It was the difference between defeat and victory.

In Arkansas, Omaya was one of those volunteers.

Before the campaign came here formally, we were doing stuff on our own in terms of canvassing and going out with material that we'd printed up ourselves. The first real event that was did was in June of last year, when we organized a Walk for Change event. The campaign didn't come to Arkansas until about two weeks before Super Tuesday.

It was organization like that that earned us nomination, and it's the kind of work that we're going to need to win in November. Omaya's already traveled out-of-state to volunteer: he canvassed in Texas and Louisiana before their state primaries and he plans to volunteer through the general election.

He decided that being a national delegate was a good way to show his support for Barack. Omaya remembers the national online town hall that we held in March of last year: "There were other candidates, but Barack was the real deal. He seemed more genuine to me in his message and the policies he was putting forward."

Omaya's also supports Barack because he was against the war from the beginning.

I knew that he had the right judgment and the ability to make good calls. He was more aware of what was going on, and he wasn't even in the United States Senate with access to all the information that the senators who made the wrong decision had.

Omaya knows we need that judgment in the White House. That's why he's spending all of his free time helping out with the campaign. You can help out just like Omaya - sign up to volunteer today, and join our grassroots campaign.

With the tools available on My.BarackObama.com, it couldn't be easier. Create an account to network with other supporters, or sign up to volunteer and be a part of the movement.

Road to Denver: Theo from Utah

Bradley Portnoy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:31:15 EDT

Theo wasn't exactly Utah's most politically active citizen. Growing up in one of the most Republican states in the union, he was never very engaged in politics. In fact, his family leaned Republican, when they thought about politics at all. Barack Obama changed all that for Theo. Barack's message reached him even before the Senator announced his candidacy, and Theo saw the potential for a new kind of politics.

He has this very even handed way, being able to say "I like this idea, but I also like parts of this other idea." And I'd never seen a politician have this kind of level headed approach to policy.

Theo got involved in the Utah Draft Obama effort, which just lead him into more involvement with the campaign. His first stop was finding other supporters, and he did it through our network of supporters on My.BarackObama.com.

I went to the website, which is this wonderful community-based site that allows you to connect with other supporters in your area. And I started going to local Utah for Obama Meetings. I became secretary of that group, and we eventually helped get the Senator to stop and do a rally in Park City. One of the events that I put on was a fundraiser where the vice chair of Utah Democratic Party spoke on the subject of how to become a national delegate.

It was then that Theo decided to try his hand at campaigning to be one of the Obama pledged delegates. It wasn't easy - there were a lot of people who wanted the spot.

I got helped for advice by a local party official, and someone at headquarters who told me to make phone calls. I did that, and I got my friends and family to make phone calls as well. I created campaign material, did my own branding and stickers and fliers. I went to the county caucus meetings promoted myself. Honestly, I was skeptical that I'd win because I was competing against a local millionaire celebrity, but I pulled it off.

Theo's a true example of how open our movement is - we're built on the strength of our grassroots volunteers and small dollar donors. As Theo said, "George Bush and all these other characters have taught us you have to know someone to get involved. But you don't. If you want to get involved in the campaign or the party you just have to show up and be passionate and honest and work hard."

With the tools available on My.BarackObama.com, it couldn't be easier. Create an account there to network with other supporters, or sign up to volunteer today.

Road to Denver: Molly from Iowa

Bradley Portnoy — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:40:15 EDT

Things can be a little different growing up in Iowa. Every four years of your childhood, you see every presidential candidate come through town and campaign and anticipate the first year that your can join in and caucus. Molly absorbed everything she could during her first 18 years, and by the time she came of voting age, she knew exactly what she was looking for in a president.

"I was one of the people who was with him from the get go," she said, "I saw him the April after he announced his run and I was impressed. I liked his emphasis on community involvement."

Molly's enthusiasm for Barack was so great that she turned the tables on her family. After years of defaulting to her parents' political choices, this time Molly took the lead.

This is the first election in which I've gotten my family interested in a candidate instead of the other way around. I was just so excited from the get-go because of what I'd learned in my government class. When you're learning about the politicians of the past, Obama sticks out. I was persistent: my dad was a big Edwards supporter, but I got him to switch before the caucuses.

After Barack's victory in the Iowa caucuses, Molly was so excited that she flew to New Jersey to put her organizing skills to use in a new state. She relished the challenge of campaigning in a totally different environment from her home in America's heartland.

The reason that Molly campaigns is simple: she's afraid of a future where the things that we depend on as Americans have been stripped away by unwise leadership.

My main concern is making sure that the things you depend on don't disappear. My dad works for the state, so we've always had health insurance, but I had surgery in April, and then my dad had to be airlifted to a hospital in June. It was thousands of dollars in unexpected costs, and if we hadn't had health insurance, it would have been a crisis for our family.

Molly won't let her involvement with the campaign end at the convention. She's going to be out working hard to turn Iowa blue. You can help in your own state. Sign up to volunteer today and join our grassroots campaign.

With five days to go until the start of the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States.

Thursday, August 28th will be the biggest night of the campaign so far. Even if you can’t be in Denver, you can be a part of this historic convention by attending a Convention Watch Party in your area.

Road to Denver: Ryan from Alaska

Bradley Portnoy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:01:33 EDT

Ryan comes from a long line of Alaska Democrats. As far back as his grandmother, who advocated for herself and other First Alaskans in the North Slope, his family has fought to improve the lives of Alaskans across the vast state. When he first learned of Barack's plan for America, Ryan felt a connection to his family's work in Alaska.

I appreciate his character and vision and what I see that he can do for this country. We've seen it already, not only in the course he's set nationally but internationally -- like we saw in the Berlin speech. I think young people are gravitating to him because he'll say "This is an issue, this is the way we can solve it. Let's come together to solve it." That really appealed to me.

When asked about how involved youth are with politics, he's quick to dispel the myth that youth are apathetic. In fact, he says that it's quite the opposite now.

A lot of people, pundits, and older professors will spend months talking about how strange it is, but I don't think it's as strange. This new millennial generation has a different dynamic. We grew up in a world where we've always had computers and the internet. We don't turn to the mainstream media for our news. We seek out our own news. If we want to find information, we can do that; if we want to start a national group, we can do that. A lot of people in this generation don't like to be tagged as apathetic, and using the tools of this new generation we can show that we're going to be decision markers and part of the process.

Ryan can think of a few issues that he thinks young people can begin to address. He's interested in mass transit solutions to help with energy costs and the climate crisis. He's also concerned about college affordability.

I have to spend most of my money on tuition, and I come from the mindset that the country should invest as much as it can in its people through education. And that's what creates a good economy -- having a well educated and well rounded workforce.

Ryan belives we have to look to the future. According to him, "It's not just about me, it's about people less fortunate than me and the people that will come after me." He knows that solving tomorrow's problems require strong action today and that Barack Obama's campaign is a great place to start.

You can join in the effort. Sign up to volunteer today.

Road to Denver: David from Texas

Bradley Portnoy — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:37:24 EDT

David is only 19, but you wouldn't know it from the length of his resume. Growing up in Texas, he completed over 2,300 hours of community service. He was involved with the Dean and Kerry campaigns in 2004, knocking on doors and making phonecalls from local offices. He later interned for Congressman Lloyd Doggett before moving to Connecticut for school.

It was in Connecticut that David became involved in our campaign through a youth organization called Obama Works, which does community service as they help to spread Barack Obama's message of real change.

On my first trip with Obama Works, we went to a neighborhood and swept and cleaned up the streets. We really just did community service. We wanted to show that Barack Obama's message was one that people could be proud of.

Action is a big part of David's philosophy. He doesn't want to be dismissed because of his age or his politics. He wants people to see that Barack and the Democratic Party are bringing real change to America.

I think a lot of people look at college students like me and say, "It's great that you're getting excited about a candidate, but I have real problems. Gas prices, healthcare, food prices...do these people really understand my problems? Or do they just like him because he's charismatic?" We do understand. A lot of us have done community service and come from families with the exact same problems.

Part of the reason that David wanted to become a delegate was to dispel the notion that young supporters were just a bunch of tabloid-reading fans. It was on one of his clean sweeps with Obama Works that he made the decision.

When the first person said, 'I didn't know you guys really meant this and worked for it and had a stake in it,' that's when I decided to run.

David brought the same fervor to his campaign for delegate that he brought to volunteering -- going door to door to the homes of all the precinct electors.

That was touching because of the precinct allocation. I had to be in every single nook and cranny of Austin. I met with people who had lead the civil rights movement back in the 60s who had marched down the streets I was driving across for their right to vote. For them to then say, 'I want you -- a 19 year old white kid who goes to Yale -- I want you to be my voice,'... That's a very humbling feeling.

It's too late to become a national delegate like David, but it's not too late to empower yourself and help change America. Click here to sign up and volunteer with the campaign today.

With seven days to go until the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States. As the convention approaches, we will follow these delegates and share stories of the grassroots supporters participating in this historic event.

Road to Denver: Lauren from Michigan

Bradley Portnoy — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:59:03 EDT

It's safe to say that Lauren's passion is youth politics. As the president of the College Democrats of America, she's charged with representing the next generation of political leaders to the party stalwarts in Washington.

She started as a student at Smith College, where she organized not only the Smith campus but also worked with other New England schools to send volunteers to New Hampshire. The hard work of volunteers, especially those from New England schools, is largely credited for John Kerry's success in New Hampshire.

Impressed by her organizational efforts, Lauren's friends and fellow volunteers encouraged her to run for CDA president. She won, and by virtue of her position is a delegate to the convention. She supports Barack because of his commitment to youth activism.

His power with young people was very moving and motivating for me as someone who has been involved in politics since I was 17. It seemed he was the first serious candidate to really pick up on the power of young people. So for someone who's given their all to youth activism, that really meant a lot.

Lauren's concerned about the economy. She sees that eight years of the Bush Administration have made things difficult for middle class Americans and hopes that Barack can help.

When I graduate next year, I want to be able to get a job in Michigan. The ability to have some economic opportunity in my state and not have to move away would be great. I want to stay in Michigan and have my life here.... Tax breaks for the wealthy don't help and normal family. And I'm going to be kicked off of my parents' health plan soon, so I won't have health insurance like so many young people.

Still, Lauren knows that it's up to young people like her to get out and volunteer, working to create change in their communities.

When I was looking for a way to get involved, I just went online and saw what I could do in my community. The Oakland County Democratic Party seemed to be the easiest way to volunteer, and they sent me to places to go door-to-door or to help out at a rally.

Not everyone can be the CDA president, but everyone can volunteer in their community to create change right where they are. Click here and sign up to volunteer today.

With 10 days to go until the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States. As the convention approaches, we will follow these delegates and share stories of the grassroots supporters participating in this historic event.

Road to Denver: Alex from Texas

Bradley Portnoy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:26:48 EDT

Alex has been involved in politics since he was 17, when he joined Congressman Lloyd Doggett's campaign. It was there that he learned the value of a strong grassroots organization. He spent his time phone banking, knocking on doors, and coordinating volunteers. After the election, he moved to the Congressman's district office, where he continued working with the community to make sure that ordinary citizens were getting the help they needed from the government.

Having worked at the community level, Alex understands that solutions to problems don't always fit into party molds. He appreciates that Barack is able to transcend partisan politics, reach across the aisle, and offer real solutions tot he problems that are facing our country.

It's always inspiring when intelligent people take office. Barack has this understanding that the world is nuanced and that things aren't always black and white. He's done a very good job of making a policy that is exactly what we need to get things done, even though it might not fit into any of the convenient party boxes that we've set up.

After being active the UT Austin Democrats, he decided that he wanted to work to elect Barack Obama. His work on the campaign ended up with him running a campaign of his own.

I decided I wanted to help Barack Obama and do things to try to get him elected so I worked here in Austin on it. Then I got the idea to try to be a national delegate...it was the first campaign I had ever run myself, and I ended up making a website and handing out flyers at all the local club meetings.

One of the reasons that he wanted to get involved is to make sure that his issues are discussed at the convention. He's especially concerned about repairing America's image in the world.

It was great to see Barack go to Europe. It's good when people overseas can see that we're the good guys and not the bad guys anymore. I'm looking forward to seeing Senator Obama recreate the kind of image that my grandfather created when he fought in World War II.

It's too late to become a delegate to the convention, but it's not too late to get involved. If you're still in school, join a local chapter of Students for Barack Obama. If you're not in school, look up a Generation Obama chapter in your neighborhood.

With 12 days to go until the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States. As the convention approaches, we will follow these delegates and share stories of the grassroots supporters participating in this historic event.

Road to Denver: Jennifer from Pennsylvania

Bradley Portnoy — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:17:32 EDT

Jennifer's dream is to be an intelligence analyst for the federal government. She was dismayed when she learned about the pressure that that Bush Administration placed on intelligence agencies to provide evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. She wants to make sure that that never happens when she's helping protect our nation.

"It's important for me to have a president who isn't going to stand over my shoulder and tell me what kind of intelligence I'm supposed to produce. And the only person in politics that I've ever believed in to not do that is Barack Obama." Jennifer knew that she had to get involved.

I started a chapter of Students for Barack Obama at my school, and I guess somewhere someone had my name on a list. I started getting email about meetings of Erie for Obama. I went to those meetings, and at one of them they passed around the form for people who wanted to be a delegate. It just went from there.

Jennifer is concerned with the issues that are facing young people, and thinks that Barack is the right set America back on track.

I think a lot of kids are generally apathetic about politics, and it takes someone like Senator Obama to get people to give up the attitude that all politicians are the same... Since I'm a college student, making college affordable has been a really hard thing. I've been lucky that I was able to get a scholarship to help pay for college, but if it wasn't for that I don't know that I would be able to afford it.

That's why she's glad that Barack has made college affordability a big part of his campaign. Jennifer is proof that not all young people are apathetic about politics. If you're still in school, join a local chapter of Students for Barack Obama. If you're not in school, look up a Generation Obama chapter in your neighborhood.

With 13 days to go until the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States. As the convention approaches, we will follow these delegates and share stories of the grassroots supporters participating in this historic event.

Road to Denver: Andrew from Portland, Oregon

Bradley Portnoy — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:06:28 EDT

When Andrew decided to get involved with the campaign, he jumped in with both feet. As campus coordinator for Students for Barack Obama at Bard College in Upstate New York, he did everything from phone banking and canvassing to representing the campaign in a televised debate on a local station. His hard work paid off. When the primary came around, his local precinct cast 80% of its votes for Barack.

He's home in Portland, Oregon for the summer, but that hasn't stopped him from putting in long hours to bring real change to America. He's the campaign manager of a race for the Oregon legislature and has been coordinating among local races to help them incorporate Barack's message of change. Andrew knows that electing Barack is important and that he'll also need a strong network of like-minded public officials to get the job done.

Andrew doesn't see all of his political activity as unusual. He thinks that Barack has really inspired his generation to get involved.

I think it's a myth that most young people are apathetic. I think most young people I know really care about one or many issues, and it's just getting them to see the connection between the issues they care about and the political process. I don't know any young people who don't care about anything. Sometimes it's the environment, sometimes it's financial aid, but across the board we care about stuff. So I like to connect that with the political process, so people know that there are public officials like Barack who can help us with these issues.

Andrew has his own set of issues that he's concerned about.

I'm really concerned about Social Security and what's going to happen in 20 and 30 years when the baby boomers have retired. And I think there are long term issues like Social Security and energy independence that we don't talk about, beucase we're often so obsessed with the short term that we lose sight of the long term and some of the issues that we really need to address.

He decided that becoming a national delegate would be a good way to show his support for Barack and to take his participation that much further, so he decided to run a campaign for himself.

I was thinking about the convention, a few months ago, and I thought it'd be really cool to be a delegate. I know that most of the delegates were older, so I contacted the state party and they said to run a campaign and talk to people about it. People really responded to the idea that we needed at least one young delegate and so they selected me. I'm looking forward to showing everyone that the Democratic Party and Senator Obama really support and respect young people.

It's too late to become a delegate to the Convention, but it's not too late to get involved - if you're still in school, join a local chapter of Students for Barack Obama. If you're not in school, look up a Generation Obama chapter in your neighborhood.

With 14 days to go until the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States. As the convention approaches, we will follow these delegates and share stories of the grassroots supporters participating in this historic event.