Posts with the tag young

Close the Deal! How??

Moiko — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:38:24 EDT

It is a one step process.

It has to be symbolic of everything Senator Obama has talked about from the beginning to the end of this fascinating campaign.

Starting immediately, we need to have the maps across America that shows blue states, changed to Red, White & blue.

Senator Obama has said, we are NOT red America, we are NOT Blue America, we are the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

So, change the blue to red, white & blue!

Who would want to vote any other way?

Why I'm voting for Barack!

Becca — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:30:36 EDT

There's my Youtube video why I'm voting for Barack.

Here's the link because the video isn't working on here.

Watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE41ZlSWC54

Thanks for watching

P.S. Side note-- Watch Keith Olbermann of MSNBC call out John McCain and Sarah Palin's lack of control over their campaign and the problem with their rallies--and what people are yelling out. It's AWESOME to watch, and even if you don't watch my vid, watch THIS one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj65cFLcpr4

To a Republican friend who was concerned about Obama's experience

Harley — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:09:52 EDT

This will be my one and only appeal... after which, I will never mention politics unsolicited again.

If experience is the issue that moves you, consider this...

If you look at the intelligence, vastness, efficiency and over all organizational quality of Obama's campaign in comparison not just to McCain, (who has led a unusually disorganized campaign thus far)... but also in comparison to political light weights, like the Clintons... I think it is an undeniable testament to his ability to lead. His organization is not "rhetorically good" or "sounds good" it is good. It's quite possibly the best run campaign in my lifetime... well... Reagan did a pretty good job... but I think you get the idea.

In addition, regardless of your general political views (mine not being terribly liberal to be perfectly honest) I feel that the last 8 years have been not only an embarrassment to our nation, but I believe, permanently scarring on almost every level. Russia is slipping back into the darkness, our international image is the worst it's been in my lifetime, Enemy states, for the first time have nuclear weapons (at lest N. Korea soon Iran) the war in Iraq has fueled terrorism instead of quelling it, and I don't need to tell you how our economy is doing under the guidance of the current administration.

All of this was not the result of just the failed polices of one man... G.W. I think it’s the Republican Party that has lost its way... and after such abysmal leadership they should not be given the reward of another presidency under any circumstances. As someone who has voted republican in the past, I can tell you that I would vote for my dog over ANY republican candidate in this election, because I think that the only way to make the party realize that it is accountable for it's mistakes and if we want a better republican party, its' not going to come from the people who are rallying to Sarah Palin... It is going to come from a chasten Republican Party that has to go back to it's roots and remember what it represents.

As for Obama, I think he has 2 things going for him that make him an exceptional candidate. One is that he represents, symbolically, to us and to the rest of the world, what is best about America. The idea that in America we are not bigoted and small... that we make horrible mistakes but correct them... we had a segregated country where blacks were relegated to the backs of busses, and less then 50 years later we could have a black president lead our nation. Only in this country is that possible, and that alone will go a long way to repairing our image in the world and reaffirm to our nation, that anything is possible.

The second thing is that he is young and good-looking. You think I am kidding, but I am dead serious. Think back to Kennedy. Why is he considered to be such a "great" president? In a lot of ways he wasn't... But he understood his generation and was able to push the nation forward during challenging times. An old president would have never desegregated the south, or gotten a man to the moon... done the things we needed to do, to move our nation into the modern world. Kennedy was young in a well-educated and worldly way, similar to Obama, not young in the Sarah Palin, well spoken but, arrogant, ill informed and overconfident, country, folksy kind of way.
And the good looking thing... think about it... What put the first real nail in the coffin of Communism? I don't think it was JFK's great policies. Honestly, I think it had more to with, the image he represented when he would travel around the world and everyone, in every gray, Communist country, saw what America's president looked like with his beautiful young wife. In comparison to short, fat, grim, Khrushchev and his babushka wife, it was clear that the American way was the way to go. You didn't need to understand Kennedy's policy's or even speak his language... he looked like everything you wanted the leader of the free world to look like... and people who were taught to hate America, secretly loved America, because they idolized him, they wanted to go t the place where people look like JFK and Jackie O.
Today have a new and equally dangerous ideological threat, the threat of terrorism... and a young, good looking, black American president, is the face that our nation needs to project, in order to win hearts and minds and keep us safe.

To end this novella I seem to have written, I will go back on your original issue, the risk of Obama's perceived inexperience. In comparison to the risk of 4 or 8 more years of the same policies that have gotten us into this mess, or 4 to 8 years of the unimaginable Palin (but statistically frighteningly likely) presidency, Obama is the clear choice for me.

That's it... I will never mention any of this again.

"Young women are the least likely to be registered and the least likely to vote."

KDenni, MPA — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:52:47 EDT

I was excited to see the following come across the Lansing for Obama mail list. Here's my two-cents:
Young women are the most likely eligible voters to be single heads of households, with jobs they can hardly afford to be away from, with children needing childcare, transportation and medical attention, to be enrolled in higher education so they may provide a better life for their kids. We must, as a nation, do all we can to offer to babysit, pick up the kids from school, cover their hours at work, take notes for them in class...do all we can to help them exercise their rights to vote. Who are you going to help out on November 4?

It is not enough to vote this year, it is not enough to register more voters than the opponent. We must commit ourselves, our time, our energy to helping others get out and vote. These young women in need are indeed the least likely to vote and most in need of the Hope and Changes that the Obama_Biden ticket will bring. Let's all do our part!

I tried following the links below and found no formal group heading up the registration drive for Ingham County including Lansing Community College, Cooley Law School and Michigan State University. The links provide contacts for other counties, and a link to the Secretary of State web site where voter registration forms can be downloaded. If someone knows of contacts in Ingham County working with areas with high populations of young women "potential" voters, this information should be passed along.

I'll be doing my part.

"Young women are the least likely to be registered and the least likely to vote." Change that: Time to GET OUT HER VOTE! http://www.feministcampus.org/vote/default.asp The Feminist Majority Foundation's massive Get Out HER Vote Campaign (GOHV) is the nation's only student voter education and registration initiative aimed at significantly increasing registration and voting by young women. GOHV legally targets young women and students of color because they are traditionally underrepresented Here's your chance to get involved!

The Feminist Majority Foundation has compiled an action Tool Kit and this website to help you launch a successful Get Out Her Vote (GOHV) campaign on your campus. With these materials on-hand, your FMLA/affiliate is empowered to get out the feminist vote. Remember - your national campus organizers are available and more than willing to help! Feel free to contact us with any questions! -- The Campus Team can also be reached via email at campusteam@feminist.org. Call the

East Coast Campus Organizers in the Washington D.C. office at 1-866-444-FMLA
West Coast Campus Organizers in the Los Angeles office at 1-866-471-FMLA

My Story - Remi Aregbesola (Madison, WI)

Young and Powerful - Madison — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:41:51 EDT

Young and Powerful for Obama

I never expected to be involved in the political process of America. For a long time, I thought it would be better to just organize in my community so I wouldn’t have to deal with all of the backstabbing, smearing, and party dueling of politics while making a positive impact in society. No, it is not that I’m not cut out for it. I felt that it was a waste of time, and a part of me still feels that it is. I am an individual who has overcome many obstacles--big & small. I was born and grew up on the South side of Chicago with two parents who emigrated from Nigeria. Most of my child-hood friends are still poor, have been killed due to violence, or sell drugs. I recently graduated from UW-Madison, one of the top universities in the county, via a POSSE full-tuition scholarship. I have a started my career in Finance and organize in the community as President of the alumni chapter of my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. I organize because always thought it was best to keep the common touch and politicians usually lack that. But one day I decided to organize for a candidate. His name is Senator Barack Obama.

One of my frat brothers, Jarvis Houston, was visiting from DC and crashed at my place while attending a political training in Madison, WI. Later that day, we were helping another brother of ours move out who recently graduated from medical school and Jarvis began to talk to me about Young & Powerful for Obama (YP for Obama) and the fundraisers they hosted in the past year. He stated that YP for Obama has one final fundraiser left which would occur in six cities (Madison being the seventh) on the same day. We rambled back and forth and I was really reluctant because I had a lot on my plate with the alumni chapter, new job, and new life as a “grown up.” Senator Barack Obama was someone I was familiar with—politically and I was going to vote for him in the election. And even though I really like him as a candidate, I still didn’t want to get involved. Jarvis left after his training was over and told me to think about it. What made me change my mind was all of the training and organizing I experienced in school, in the frat, and in the community. I knew that my involvement should not go in vain and if I were ever going to get involved with real politics this would be the time. YP for Obama was founded by young professionals who were leaders and organizers in college, and now, as young professionals, are still involved only part-time. Besides the issues, the more I learned about Obama’s personal life, my life, and how the other city chairmen’s background intertwined, I was almost certain this was the right route to take. Months after, when Senator Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech, my mother called me as soon as Senator Barack was done. She started screaming with her still “fresh” Nigerian accent, “Remi going to be President, Remi going to be President.” I don’t honestly think she believes I’m going to be President one day, but that Senator Barack Obama was giving her and me inspiration. I never heard her speak like this about anyone. I can tell, she doesn’t have to actually utter the words, but his message and actions epitomize the true principles of America. For me, there is no turning back. YES WE CAN.

Remi Aregbesola
City Chair
Young and Powerful for Obama - Madison,WI
YP4OBAMA.COM

:::::::::
Young & Powerful for Obama Fundraiser September 25th
BE SEEN...BE HEARD...BE POWERFUL! Networking::Music::Social::PoliticalDonate/RSVP Today @ http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpg3qwMADISON, WI
WASHINGTON, D.C.
CHICAGO
LOS ANGELES
NEW YORK
ATLANTA
DETROIT

7 cities...1 day...1 goal! YP4OBAMA.com
youngandpowerfulmadison@gmail.com
:::::::::

My story: Young and Powerful for Obama by Remi Aregbesola

Young and Powerful - Madison — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:09:15 EDT

Young and Powerful for Obama

Remi Aregbesola
City Chair
Young and Powerful for Obama - Madison,WI
YP4OBAMA.COM

:::::::::
Young & Powerful for Obama Fundraiser September 25th
BE SEEN...BE HEARD...BE POWERFUL! Networking::Music::Social::PoliticalDonate/RSVP Today @ http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpg3qwMADISON, WI
WASHINGTON, D.C.
CHICAGO
LOS ANGELES
NEW YORK
ATLANTA
DETROIT

7 cities...1 day...1 goal! YP4OBAMA.com
youngandpowerfulmadison@gmail.com
:::::::::

Where were you when...

Crystal Harris Blount — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:46:36 EDT

Today I am excited to be preparing to host my first event for the Senator. This fundrasing dinner was designed as an opportunity for others like me to take a stand. When I look back after this campain is over, I dont want to have any regrets. I want to be able to say that I did my part. I dont have a lot, but I have enough.

I can make a make a difference and encourage my friends and neighbors to also make a difference. We need to ask every one we know: "Are you registered to vote?" Why not? How can I help? In addtion, we can vote with our wallets. This is a grassroots campaign, and they need us. This movement begins and ends with our committment to create change in Washington.

It seems so clear to me at times that the McCain-Palin tickent holds NOTHING at all for working people, and unemployed people are certainly NOT on their minds. So, how did they manage to high-jack the "CHANGE" movement that Senator Obama began over a year ago?!

I encourage you to make the next 8 weeks count. Create the time to attend an event. Mine on September 20th at 5pm or someone else's event. Better yet, get your own party started.

Yes, WE CAN!

Crystal

Michael Moores Film - Slacker Uprising

Deb — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:08:52 EDT

Encourage everyone you know to go to www.slackeruprising.com where they can sign up for and spread the word about Michaels latest film. It can be downloaded free on Sept 23. It's being done this way to get young people to get out to vote. The trailer is great! "This is being done entirely as a gift to my fans. The only return any of us are hoping for is the largest turnout of young voters ever at the polls in November." – Michael Moore

Hillary supporters for McCain: What to do about them?

Golem — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:54:36 EDT

The polls are reporting about 27% of Hillary supporters who say that they will now vote for McCain. I would submit that these fall into 4 categories.

1- Those who would never vote for a black candidate.

2- Those who were never Democrats in the first place. For example, those used by Rush in his attempt at electoral fraud.

3- Independents who are clueless about political facts.

4- Those who are still living in the primaries.

There is nothing we can do about groups 1 and 2. They never had any intention of voting for Obama, and never will.

As for group 3, McCain has been drowning them in ads full of lies. And every time a lie is exposed, there are 4 more new ones waiting in line. They just throw whatever they can come up with hoping that some of it sticks. We just have to hammer them with facts. And point out that there is no "sitting this one out We should encourage those who like the way things are going to vote for McCain.

Group 4 is a bit more complex. I think that most of these simply don't have enough information about Obama yet. If they understand that the issue is not Hillary, but the economy, the war, energy independence, healthcare, women's rights, etc. they will come around. But right now its just "comfortable" to say to the pollster on the phone that they are voting for McCain just to "get even". All of them will look at the issues, look at Obama's proposals, and they will choose wisely.

The rest in this group are people who will just absorb the swiftboating campaign. They have made up their minds to become Republicans. Let's face it: they are probably lost forever. So we need to substitute them. And there are huge numbers of young voters who have registered in record numbers. They don't show up in the polls you see on TV, because traditionally they don't vote. What we need to do is to get them to the voting booths.

Last Night Was Super, Super Amazing

Madama Ambi — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:26:12 EDT

What it's like to be in your 20's and at the Democratic National Convention...highlights from Danielle...

click here to listen...16:51 min.

New Poster Design

Tim from Long Beach, CA — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:17:28 EDT

Hey all. I am trying to come up with a cool poster design for the younger crowd. I came up with this, what do you all think?

AMAZING!

1 "Bitter" Yvonne "Hussein" Raphael from California, a "Typical" American — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:11:16 EDT

Will the blockbuster news never quit?! While I was roaming around the 'net this evening I read an Associated Press item reporting that Senator Obama's campaign sent an email (to the AP, I suppose) announcing that he and Senator Clinton will campaign together (beginning) next Friday, June 27th. It also reported that the two senators are planning a joint fundraiser this month. Wow! The AP article is at:

http://www.rnntv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8530156

Senator Obama's ability to work with people is truly AMAZING! We will surely be welcoming a majority of Hillary Clinton's supporters into our campaign in the coming weeks.

I SO ADMIRE his consensus-building skills. He is an INCREDIBLE role model for ALL of us, especially for those young people who are (temporarily) at odds with their parents, as well for those youth who are currently involved in the deplorable cycle of teen-on-teen violence.

Today I also read an email from an Obama 'sister' from Italy who is coming to the U.S. to help rock the vote for Barack in Ohio. She said there is a website of Italians who are very HOPEful that Senator Obama will be President Obama come November. This is just one of several news emails, blogs, and news articles telling of people in a variety of countries around the world who are counting on the positive changes that Barack Obama's presidency will bring about in the global context.

The amazing amount of support for Senator Obama attests to the fact that his ability to build bridges is the HOPE we all have for harmonious relations among the diverse groups in this country, and around the globe. Our candidate is THE ONE WHO THE WORLD NEEDS NOW!

GOT HOPE?

GOBAMA!!!

Welcome to the table

Crystal Harris Blount — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:51:07 EDT

While I have always been a political junkie, the product of two civil rights activists born in Montgomery, AL, this year I have stepped up my game. No longer a CNN spectator, I have risen (or descended... depending on your perspective) to level of active participant.

First, I gave a small amount of money which is a huge feat for anybody who has even seen the stipend of a graduate student. Then I wrote to the lady who matched my donation. Next, I volunteered to call some people. After voting in the primary, I was clearly addicted (in the healthy sense, of course). I gave again. I called some people who really had money or who at least had jobs! They gave too! WOW!! A few minutes ago I signed up to attend an event, and I am also planning to host an event. So what happened? Why do people, like me, move from sideline to center line of a cause like this?

For me, it's complicated. This cause moved both my mind and my spirit. My mother and many of my family members dreamed about a time in America when children of color could do anything they dreamed of. While they are not here to witness this, I am, and my children are. I am here for them, and for myself, because hope has been recsued in the hearts and minds of young people all over this world!

YES WE CAN!

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Rock on Mr. President!! — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:55:45 EDT

Wake up and Smell the Coffee!!

The first, “Obama Weekly,” was held at Starbucks Coffee in Tustin Plaza Saturday morning. (5/31/08) Steve Young, Democratic Congressional candidate for the 48th District in Orange County, California and an elected delegate to attend the Democratic National Convention in August for Barack Obama brought remarks, Obama gear, and promotional materials.

Obama's Influence on the Youth of America

Together We Stand for Change! formerly K. Bell — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:43:48 EDT

Hope. It's what so many youth of today are void of. I see it in schools all around the country. Being educated isn't cool, being articulate is being a nerd. There are more middle schoolers seeking to be Paris Hilton or on American Idol than there are seeking to be an attorney or a doctor. Why? Because for many of America's youth these are not only unpopular careers, in many cases youth think they are unattainable careers. This hopelessness leads in many cases to taking or selling drugs. It leads to violence in gangs or teenage pregnancy and eventually jail or death. Hope?

This is a defining moment in America's history. It is defining because our children are the future of America. This moment in politics will be with us for the rest of our lives, just as JFK and Bobby Kennedy are with the generation before us. This moment is the moment of hope that is missing in our generation. This hope is the savior of the confidence of a young generation that when they stand up, when they fight, when they work, they are empowered and they make a difference. It infuses them with this Hope and screams that they MATTER. That they can change the world, one person at a time, and most importantly, starting with themselves. Hope.

Time to Pass the Baton

Coonsey — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:35:11 EDT

Who in the congregations today will carry the baton of leadership. There are those who want to stop the baton from being passed to the next generation. They use suspicion and fear to drive a wedge between the generations. The result is a gap between young and old.

It's time we all stood up and demanded the baton be passed to the future generations and that the older generation, while they be our heros and guides of the past, step aside by accepting what is to come.

Young and energetic

George W. Heath, R.N. — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:12:24 EDT

I have spent some phone banking time calling people in Missouri to go to Indiana to sign up new voters. Overwhelmingly, it has been young voices on the other end, as in high school young. Obviously, the can not run of to Indiana easily. However, they are excited by the offer alone. I have helped several of them to sign on my.barackobama to do phone banking to PA. I have warned them that the moment some people hear the word "Obama" they issue a foul word and slam the phone down. They seem not deterred.

I am having a bit of deja vu' since I remember the doing same in high school. We may be creating a large group of political activists that will chill the bones of Cheneys, Bushes, and Limbaughs for nearly a century!

George W. Heath, R.N.

Where's the love? An introduction

KevinL — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:49:56 EDT

What's good, Obama fanatics?

Let me make this short: My name is Kevin Limiti and I support Obama for a number of reasons.

1. He is well spoken and has the ability to unite this country

2. He is young and therefore the least likely to be corrupt of all the candidates.

3. He has sensible stances on many issues, even though I sometimes go much further then he would.

and finally

4. He is a vote for change. The fact that we are voting for a black president is, in itself a change. I want to send a message that we can change the fabric of this nation, to make it a better place for myself and one day, hopefully, my children.

With that aside, I am 18 years old and a full-time student. Despite my age, I've actually been studying politics for three years and am well informed on a variety of subjects. I don't consider myself a "liberal" or anything else, but my stances do tend to lean to something of a libertarian socialist posistion (the names libertarian and socialist have become somewhat tainted over the years unfortunately).

I consider myself a serious writer. I have been featured in Writersbeat.com's online magazine called 'In Pencil' for prose, and I have aspirations of doing this full-time. I also play guitar and am a fan of Various punk bands such as Rancid and the Dropkick Murphys, as well as folk artists such as Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. Other things I enjoy include lifting weights, watching MMA, watching anime, and browsing internet forums.

I smoke marijuana and I don't apologize for it. I was very happy to see that Obama has taken a sensible posistion on the war and drugs and will not lock me in jail for something that I consider harmless, as well as very relaxing and enjoyable. Hopefully, he will continue to keep this strong stance because although decriminalization isn't a very popular political strategy, it is the honest and sane one.

Now for a few shameless plugs:

Please visit writersbeat.com I do not own or work for this website, but its a place where one of my works has been featured and if you want to read more of what I've written, it's a great place to start ;)

My email address is CitizenKane2601@yahoo.com in case you want to ask me a question or comment on something. I love getting email so don't hesitate.

That's about it.

DON'T COMPROMISE ON THE ISSUES.

We need to aim higher, people. In a few years, much can be achieved. For starters, let's get Obama elected.

This is Kevin Limiti signing out.

Need Assistance For Reporter Doing Story On Young Voters

Mark Ungemach (Democratic Committee Person, Franklin Township, Landenberg, PA) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:58:05 EDT

I just got off the phone with a reporter from the Wilmington (Delaware, on the Pennsylvania border) News Journal. She is doing a story in response to a recent C.I.R.C.L.E. report that says that 18 to 25 year-olds who are not college students are less likely to vote (college students are more likely to vote, about 4 to 1, than non-college students, http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/FactSheets/FS_Non-college_corrected.pdf ), and she would like to talk with some young people who are not on the college track, but she may also be open to speaking with a few college track kids, as well.

Do you know anyone who may fit the demographic the writer wants? This may be an opportunity for young Obama supporters to tell their story. Obviously, the reporter has to give the story a local angle, so it is best if the prospects are in or are from this area (PA, MD, and especially DE). Please let me know!

Thanks,

Mark Ungemach

Cell: 302-530-9851

PS. Check out this report on how to win over younger voters: http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/Young_Voters_Guide.pdf

Democrats Eat Their Young

Eran Thompson — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:43:21 EDT

I remember my first vote for President in 1996; it wasn’t really a vote for President Clinton—it was a vote against Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich like him. In 2000, it was a vote against George Bush; in 2004 it was an emphatic vote against W and his war. So 2008 will be the first Presidential election I hope to vote for someone…but not just anyone….Barack Obama.

I haven’t been uninvolved in my local political circles; but have always felt sidelined—I’m a good 25-30 years under the average age for the local Democratic Party establishment. I’ve never “known enough”—democrats eat their young. This year I hear them all explaining how Hillary has earned her chance—it’s more about privilege and entitlement; less about earned. Fredrick Douglas said power has never been given without a struggle.

This year, I notice that more folks like me are paying attention— being inspired and getting active. They’ll continue to tell us where we are so wrong; why we need to wait. It was after the New Hampshire loss I heard Obama say “We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics.” YES WE CAN. We will be the new Democratic majority. We are young. We are energized and we want change. YES WE CAN.

Another Reason to Veto Clinton

Shawn in Iowa — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:13:30 EST

The Democratic Party cannot afford to give the nomination to Clinton. The “Get Out the Vote” campaign spent several years attempting to get young voters interested in politics. There was little success. Now the young voters are out and voting. A quick look at the exit polls show they are coming out in record numbers to vote for Obama. The same is occurring with the black vote. Both of these groups have historically been members of the Democratic Party but rarely active participants. These are groups the party needs in order to have a real presence and future in politics. If Clinton gets the nomination all the youth and black voters will again be disenfranchised - confirming their previous belief that their voices and votes do not count. This will push these voters back into the “closet” and the Democratic Party will lose them again until someone else can inspire voters like John Kennedy did and Barack Obama is doing. History tells us such a candidate is few and far between.

Someone should tell Hillary--Stop saying Age is all you got--you're killing yourself

Sue — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:21:17 EST

The great thing about Barack is he is talking to all of us. We need to stop making our own barricades. Age is one of the biggest barricades we put up--and we do it to ourselves. Barack is trying to tell us--it doesn't have to be so. That is what I love about young people today. They seem more open to thoughts instead of false representations. When mature people talk about--those kids--or how it used to be--or been there done that...and that's the end of it---they are shutting the door. Not to say all young are open---but it's starting to happen--let's keep it going and show each other respect and all will grow. Here is a poem I wrote last year. Hillary seems to want us to respect her for her age, earned or not. That won't work. It's a new age! Go Obama!

Do We Get Better With Time?

Life provides inspiration;
inspiration provides life.
Years pass by.
Retrospect is ingenious
when analyzed with eyes wide open,
combining "what you knew" with "what you know",
altogether making it so.

This revelation only has power
when thoughts are infused with scents of flowers.
Revelations filled with clouds and static
render thoughts acrobatic,
flipping them back to "what you knew",
remiss in the challenging of "what you know".

Therefore maturity and time
does not automatically earn you
intelligence, knowledgeable acclaim,
honor, exaltation and fame.
Rather the responsibility to temper past with future
is the key to richness in thought;
otherwise contributions will be fraught
when "what you know" becomes static and slow
void of elasticity to soar
forevermore.

Maximize the gift of accumulated time.
Savor the magic of retrospect, perspective, and change.
Bravely walk the walk of metamorphosis, rebirth,
transformation, adaptation.
Realize that time moves forward.
Finally you perceive, grasp and understand.
Make no illusion -you can now admit
we are all in confusion.

S. Shields 2007

Kosovo situation - We need CHANGE

A Goner — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:11:05 EST

How long did it take for President Bush to react to the attack on 9/11?

How long did it take for President Bush to react to Hurricane Katrina?

How long will it take before he personally has something to say about Kosovo?

That's water under the bridge now.

It underscores to me in these days and times, we need a pro-active leader not just a reactive leader who keeps a cool head and thinks through solutions thoroughly, and reacts in a timely fashion. We have been conditioned by this Administration to settle for mediocrity in so many arenas. Although some people say Senator Obama is "too young," I think the clear judgment, energy and vitality he brings will be refreshing considering the lethargic responses of our current administration to real emergencies, and gung-ho response to false emergencies.

VA Beach Rally was AWESOME!

Dianne — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:46:26 EST

Man, that was so much fun! Congressman Scott said that's the most people that have ever gathered in VA Beach for a political rally and I believe it. All the parking was full, the lines snaked around the building, around the parking lot and made a U before I got inside and people were STILL coming! The mix of people was great, too: people I know from academia, from making music, writers, marine scientists, parents, cool little kids...everybody wanted to be a part of history. I was going to call my parents, who had a conflict at the last minute and couldn't come, and describe the crowd, but I realized there really wasn't one adjective, unless it was "heterogeneous." I know what the polls say but the crowd wasn't particularly young or black or anything, really. (People seemed smart, but I probably think that because they agree with me.) Look at the pictures and decide for yourself. Oh, and, funny thing: in the AP pic, there's a little girl in bright orange on her dad's shoulders in the top right hand side of the crowd scene. I'm the one in bright blue behind her and to the left. (As if you can make anyone out in that sea of faces! ;)

Difference: Obama leads in new directions, Clinton follows political winds

Karen from Hope, ME — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:12:50 EST

Yesterday Obama told a story about going against the grain. When announcing that cars we build should meet a 40-mile-per-gallon standard for the sake of our environment, he chose to say this not in front of a friendly audience such as the Sierra Club, but in Detroit. The room was silent, he said; nobody clapped. Obviously, he had said something his audience did not want to hear, and his point was that this is how change happens. New ideas and priorities emerge and new directions for our country are set when you dare to dream, even when the dreams are not easy to achieve and even when nobody claps.

To me, this is the mark of a leader. If we're looking for a difference between Hillary and Obama, it's exactly this point. Obama is a creative thinker, willing to not just talk but to step outside the box so that others will follow. He dares to go against the grain, and even in the tightest of tight political races, even in Detroit, he dares to tell people what they don't want to hear. This is the difference that we can bank on: the Clintons are so political that they will bend in the wind toward opinions of others, like a slender tree in a forest during a storm.

It's clear to me, watching my teenage daughter become engaged with her whole generation, that going with the grain doesn't really work anymore. The kids know that. They are wise, and their insight is instinctive and in my opinion wholly admirable. Dreaming has become essential to moving our society forward. We're forced to imagine new ways of doing things because the old formulas just don't work anymore. My daughter's generation thinks for themselves because, frankly, they have to. In an age of over-stimulation, where a boundless source of information exists literally at one's fingertips, differentiation directly leads to survival of the individual and continuity of the soul. Dreaming has now become the only way we can breathe and the only path to new directions.

Barack Obama looks to the future and speaks his own interpretation of this phenomenon. Daring to dream is what the young people of our country are instinctively being called to do in this election, and they are leading the cause, as they should. We can't be afraid now to strike off in a new direction. In their own way, it's what all my grandparents would have wanted. They understood despair and prosperity, and if they were alive today they might see how essential dreaming is to the transformation of our society and indeed, the world.

A New Democratic Party

Henry Lopez — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:52:37 EST

This election is an opportunity to change the Democratic Party. This transformation will only be possible if Barack Obama wins the presidency which will ultimately set the precedent for how elections are to be won.

One of the hallmarks of Obama's campaign is honest and common sense answers and a focus on unity, common ground, and problem solving. This should be the new paradigm of the Democratic Party. The old guard of the party has stuck with the liberal orthodoxies of bigger government versus the conservative idealogy of smaller government. This debate is one that the Party and the People can't afford to become mired in.

As it turns out, the Democratic Party is at a wonderful opportunity to take the best ideas of the conservatives of the past: balanced budgets, ending unnecessary wars, and an honest respect for religion (Religion is not a vehicle to bash gays or be pro-choice. It is one to foster empathy and care for the less fortunate.). The Party should shed the identity politics of the sixties. We all have our groups: black, white, Asian, Latino, male, female, young, old, etc. These should be recognized but we should emphasize our great and rich history to inspire us all.

Obama has frequently emphasized working with Independents and Republicans. We have no interest in the idealogues. And it is these that we should use to characterize the radical elements of the Republican Party and send them back to the stone age. With all of their vile rhetoric and contradictory principles and deluded pundits, it shouldn't take much effort to leave them as a minority for a long time to come. Straight answers and the rule of reason should be enough to expose them. (See Obama's debate with Alan Keyes in 2004.)

And what should the Democratic Party remake itself as? Simply as the party that wants to solve problems and use government wisely. No big government vs. small government. No liberals vs conservatives. No welfare state vs. personal responsibility. These are false dichotomies that the Party cannot fall trap to. The Democratic Party should take the lead in setting the dichotomy to: honest answers vs. pandering, common sense vs. idealogy, reason vs. irrationality, leading by example vs. forcing through domination, the politics of hope vs. the politics of fear, the Party of the People vs. the Party of the special interests, a policy of transparency vs. secrecy.

This is just a rough outline of what I might term what should be the Democratic Party's "Project for a New American Century." (This name I stole from the neo-conservatives' vision for a horrible world marked by American domination over a submissive world.) I don't think that the old guard of the Democratic Party will be able to fully realize this and that new blood will have to make these reforms. Like Obama, the young blood will not have mastered the pointless pandering and grandstanding of their predecessors, and hopefully, will reject these and remake the rules to serve the People.

So are there any takers? Is there anyone out there inspired to be a Representative and implement what I've vaguely talked about?

New Orleans February 7, 2008

Mike Cutno — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:32:56 EST

The movement among young people for Barack Obama is not just amazing and cute as the media would suggest. It's a bone fide phenomenon that is getting media coverage but not enough coverage. He's filling out every seat in every arena that he appears.

Facebook is the forum for young people in this country. The internet is by far more influential in the lives of the educated young than television. Barack Obama has nearly 5 times as many supporters as Hillary Clinton on Facebook. Furthermore, he is getting over 20 new supporters per minute. Mrs. Clinton is getting almost 5 new supporters per minute. (yes I'm obsessed)

This is more than something that is "cool." And he does have substance not just "Barack-Star" status. He has an optimistic aura that resonates with young people. He speaks of optimism (hope, change et al) as if it is a substance. A currency that can be exchanged and invested. Barack wants to invest optimism in the furtive minds of young American adults. The potential return on investment is astronomical for the billions of people in this world.

notes:

Category 5 levees by 2011
Improve wetlands and barrier islands (who told him about barrier islands?)
Iraq is bad
Education good
Give back to your country and the world.

Why I became an Obama supporter after Edwards dropped out

SeniorMoment — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:37:33 EST

I was an Edwards supporter until he dropped out of the race. My primary reason was that he was a non-controversial choice expressing his own life values and experience without handling by professionals. I have been reluctant to support any sitting Senator for President because only about once in 40 years is a sitting Senator actually elected President. The most recent was J. F. K. a Democrat and then you have to go back to 1921 when Republican Senator Harding won.

I picked Obama in spite of his being a Senator because the remaing viable candidates are all Senators and Obama's shorter time in the Senate may be an asset, particularly if the Republicans nominate Senator McCain.

I also get the feeling that Obama, as a great orator, a thoughtful politician who carefully considers his words and when to take a stand, and a relatively young President can unite Americans in a bi-partisan, multi-ethnic way that other candidates cannot. Many of us have in fact been convinced to support him by our own young adult children, and they are the future of democracy in the United States. I am not a fan of the President ever being the de facto head of his political party because it promotes partisan solutions to problems we all share when the President needs to rise above party political considerations to lead all of us, and I believe Obama can do that.

Vote Louisiana!

Niqueta — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:11:42 EST

Delegate Watch: Hillary Clinton - 783 Obama - 709

It is important that we Louisiana people, please take the time to get out and VOTE in Saturday's Caucus.

Some information regarding Saturday:

The Presidential Preference Primary/Municipal Primary Election is February 9, 2008.

Only voters registered as being affiliated with the Democratic Party may vote for the following offices:
- Democratic Presidential Nominee.
- Democratic State Central Committee members.
- Democratic Parish Executive Committee members.
Only voters registered as being affiliated with the Republican Party may vote for the following offices:
- Republican Presidential Nominee.
- Republican State Central Committee members.
- Republican Parish Executive Committee members.
All local race(s)/issues(s) in the election will be open to all voters regardless of party affiliation (All or part of 32 parishes: Acadia, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson, Lafayette, LaSalle, Madison, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Sabine, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, and West Carroll)
The deadline to register to vote in the February 9, 2008 primary is January 9, 2008.
The early voting period will be January 26 - February 2, 2008.

Voting in the 2008 Presidential Preference Primary (February 9, 2008)

This election has not changed; it is a closed party election. There are only two political parties involved, the Democratic and Republican parties, because the Election Code (18:1280.21) specifies that it is restricted to parties with 40,000 or more registered members.
Democratic voters may only vote on candidates for the offices of Democratic presidential nominee and Democratic state and local committees, plus any local offices and/or propositions.
Republican voters may only vote on candidates for the offices of Republican presidential nominee and Republican state and local committees, plus any local offices and/or propositions.

Please REMEMBER this is a CLOSED PARTY CAUCUS. You may only vote for your respective REGISTERED AFFILIATED PARTY. Go DEMS!

Registered Voter Statistics: Click here to access voter registration statistics, either statewide or by parish.

Displaced Voters: Displaced voters may vote by mail, vote early in person at the registrar of voters office of their parish, or on election day at their precinct.

Get Election Results Online
Polls close at 8 p.m. for all elections in Louisiana. Complete up-to-the-minute returns are available from our online Elections Returns Database as soon as they are transmitted electronically by local elections officials to our elections system in Baton Rouge.

Election Night Results Maps are available at the GCR & Associates, Inc. site.

GENERATION X, PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO YOUR MOTHER!

PEOPLE N MOVEMENT — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:35:31 EST

A Post from My Mother! Please share with your Mother!

My name is Debbie Aldrich, the reason I'm supporting Barack Obama for President is because of my children!

I was very involved in politics as a national delegate, state committee woman and even an elector in 2000. My husband had a heart attack and almost died and I made a deal with him that I would get out of party politics if he would get out of hospital politics and I retired. As JFK told my Father-in-Law when he recruited him to start the Children's Clinic at NIH, "You'll be in Washington, where it's politics" Bob replied to JFK that he was in hospital academia, nuff said. Heart attacks occur. But, my daughter and her husband, who has been working on the Obama campaign for about a year, asked me to come back and help and I came out of retirement with my husband's blessings. I told the campaign that I had not been this inspired since JFK!!

I grew up in Southern Maryland and our schools were segregated until I was in the 9th grade (the same year President Kennedy was killed). I sat at the lunch table with the first four black girls that came to our school and was harassed for doing so. By the time I was a senior our school was fully segregated but some students left school, some went to private schools. Strange, because a lot of our Fathers worked for the government at the same level with no problems.I moved to Washington DC to go to college and work 1967 to 1971 where I met my husband going to Medical School (one of our first dates was to Woodstock). We were activist in the civil rights movement, against the War, burned my bra and left just after Earth Day to move out west. We were tear gassed at least four times. When Martin Luther King was killed I lived in the heart of DC and my black room mate and I laid on the floor hearing gun shots while building were burning around us.

When my husband Aand I moved to Washington State we continued to be activist and helped stop a nuclear power plant here dragging my baby girls to hearings and to the music festivals I helped produce to raise the money for our cause. My mentor in this cause had me take a resolution to my first Caucus in Washington State for this. So, I became active in the Democrats and again my young children came along to all the rallies and fundraisers I helped with. The kids got see got to go see Dukakis and even though I was his delegate we worked with Jesse Jackson's people to win Washington State in the general election. My daughter was in her teens and the youngest member of the Rainbow when we marched with Jesse Jackson at the border with Canada against NAFTA.

My daughter and her husband may someday have a child who will be of mixed race; White, Native American and Black. I want a future for my grandchildren that I have been hoping and fighting for all my life! Like President Kennedy, Obama could bring recruit the brightest people (like my Father-in-Law was) to the government to serve our country and to help solve our problems of now. Barack Obama is the one person who I think can bring this future to us for the better of the environment, economy, world affairs, out of the war, into a life we have all been working for!!!

Sincerely,

Debbie Aldrich

A Mother Of Hope!

Blog group: PIMP

Never too young to volunteer! My 6 &4 year olds go door to door for Obama

Susan in Crofton — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:22:28 EST

We had a great day today! We are fired up and ready to go. Myself and my two kids, Anna (6) and Matthew (4), went door to door for 4 hours for Obama in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The kids are real troopers handing out pamphlets and asking people to support Obama. I love that my kids are getting to see what it really means to be active citizen in a democracy. It takes more than just holding opinions, it means taking action, so that those opinions can make change happen.

We had been to an Obama rally and decided it was time to kick it up a notch and get out there and volunteer for the campaign. It was great to get out and talk to people about what would be best for our county. We talked to people who hadn’t even thought about the election yet, and we talked to people about their hopes and fears, and we asked those undecided voters to imagine the possibilities with President Obama.

I truly believe that Senator Obama will give our County and my kids will have a better future then we would have without him. So, I urge all of you who feel the same to make phone calls, go door to door, or do what every you can to help. Your candidate and your country needs you. And you are never too young or too old to help.

PS We also got to meet 2 great guys that were in our canvasing group. It was great fun Khalid, and Eaves.

Lets Get the Word Out!

Big Rob — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:03:37 EST

Hello Out there lets get the word out there especially to young voters....finally we can actuallly say ouir vote counts for something. If us young voters 18-35 get out there and vote we can change this country and make it ours again...............The People run this country and Barack is the perfect candidate to be the voice of the People...all people!!

What the Kennedy endorsement means. NYT Op Ed

Peace Now - Roseville, CA — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:23:04 EST

The Kennedy Mystique By DAVID BROOKSPublished: January 29, 2008

Something fundamental has shifted in the Democratic Party.

David Brooks

Blogrunner: Reactions From Around the Web

Last week there was the widespread revulsion at the Clintons’ toxic attempts to ghettoize Barack Obama. In private and occasionally in public, leading Democrats lost patience with the hyperpartisan style of politics — the distortion of facts, the demonizing of foes, the secret admiration for brass-knuckle brawling and the ever-present assumption that it’s necessary to pollute the public sphere to win. All the suppressed suspicions of Clintonian narcissism came back to the fore. Are these people really serving the larger cause of the Democratic Party, or are they using the party as a vehicle for themselves?

And then Monday, something equally astonishing happened. A throng of Kennedys came to the Bender Arena at American University in Washington to endorse Obama. Caroline Kennedy evoked her father. Senator Edward Kennedy’s slightly hunched form carried with it the recent history of the Democratic Party.

The Kennedy endorsements will help among working-class Democrats, Catholics and the millions of Americans who have followed Caroline’s path to maturity. Furthermore, here was Senator Kennedy, the consummate legislative craftsman, vouching for the fact that Obama is ready to be president on Day One.

But the event was striking for another reason, having to do with the confluence of themes and generations. The Kennedys and Obama hit the same contrasts again and again in their speeches: the high road versus the low road; inspiration versus calculation; future versus the past; and most of all, service versus selfishness.

“With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion,” Senator Kennedy declared. “With Barack Obama, there is a new national leader who has given America a different kind of campaign — a campaign not just about himself, but about all of us,” he said.

The Clintons started this fight, and in his grand and graceful way, Kennedy returned the volley with added speed.

Kennedy went on to talk about the 1960s. But he didn’t talk much about the late-60s, when Bill and Hillary came to political activism. He talked about the early-60s, and the idealism of the generation that had seen World War II, the idealism of the generation that marched in jacket and ties, the idealism of a generation whose activism was relatively unmarked by drug use and self-indulgence.

Then, in the speech’s most striking passage, he set Bill Clinton afloat on the receding tide of memory. “There was another time,” Kennedy said, “when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a New Frontier.” But, he continued, another former Democratic president, Harry Truman, said he should have patience. He said he lacked experience. John Kennedy replied: “The world is changing. The old ways will not do!”

The audience at American University roared. It was mostly young people, and to them, the Clintons are as old as the Trumans were in 1960. And in the students’ rapture for Kennedy’s message, you began to see the folding over of generations, the service generation of John and Robert Kennedy united with the service generation of the One Campaign. The grandparents and children united against the parents.

How could the septuagenarian Kennedy cast the younger Clintons into the past? He could do it because he evoked the New Frontier, which again seems fresh. He could do it because he himself has come to live a life of service.

After his callow youth, Kennedy came to realize that life would not give him the chance to be president. But life did ask him to be a senator, and he has embraced that role and served that institution with more distinction than anyone else now living — as any of his colleagues, Republican or Democrat, will tell you. And he could do it because culture really does have rhythms. The respect for institutions that was prevalent during the early ’60s is prevalent with the young again today. The earnest industriousness that was common then is back today. The awareness that we are not self-made individualists, free to be you and me, but emerge as parts of networks, webs and communities; that awareness is back again today.

Sept. 11th really did leave a residue — an unconsummated desire for sacrifice and service. The old Clintonian style of politics clashes with that desire. When Sidney Blumenthal expresses the Clinton creed by telling George Packer of The New Yorker, “It’s not a question of transcending partisanship. It’s a question of fulfilling it,” that clashes with the desire as well.

It’s not clear how far this altered public mood will carry Obama in this election. But there was something important and memorable about the way the 75-year-old Kennedy communed and bonded with a rapturous crowd half a century his junior.

The old guy stole the show.

What's wrong with idealism?

Patrick McQuaid — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 12:29:10 EST

Why are the young people's hope for a better future being portrayed by the elders as blind idealism? I am in my 30's, from DC, have a son of my own, and have been watching this game being played my whole life. Dems point at Reps and say they are the reason for every problem in this country, and the Republicans return the favor. Now here is a guy that comes along and wants to end the partisan bickering that has gridlocked politics since I can remember, and some "progressive" Dems blasts him for naivete and idealism. Older people: you (we) have screwed this system up for long enough.

Why do we have any credibility that our experience of doing things the completely wrong way is justification for our continued leadership?

Can we, as adults, accept responsibility for giving our kids a dysfunctional system and pretty horrible circumstances, get out of their way, stop playing what we all thought was a brand of "Republican politics", and stop acting as if we know what is right and wrong. Hillary's comment that "some people are right, and some people are wrong", after the waterworks, were, I believe the clearest argument against her brand of politics. We are not right or wrong, but all critical and valuable parts of this soup that we call the USA.

We don't know any better than anyone else, and if we did, then why is this country so messed up?

This crazy american (political) life

Michael Parker — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 11:01:41 EST

Well, let's see. Our economy is in the toilet, the war isn't going so well (like those of us with brains thought it was really going too? YEAH RIGHT!), and the world in general hates us.
     So what is an American to do? I have a friend of mine who has suggested for a few years now that we should just chuck it all and appeal to England to take us back in a sort of 'crying home to mama, prodigal son' approach to world affairs, or at the very least we should (separately not as a collective group of the nation) just pick up and move to the country of our choice and admit that the 'great experiment' didn't work.

     Then came the 'Great White Hope' (in the form of a black man...)

                                      Barack

     Now I will admit I have been a political junkie for a long time. I have followed it ever since my father watched the national conventions in 1988 and (if for no other reason to just be different than my parents) I was a supporter of Michael Dukakis. I am also a historian and I know many of my nations great speeches by heart as do most Americans if they were really honest. One of the things that has always fascinated me about our past great presidential leaders is their gift for rhetoric and the formation of the English language into almost an artful song of patriotism and hope.

     Until the junior senator from Illinois stood up at the Democratic Convention in 2002, I thought the time for eloquent men was over.

but I was wrong...

Listen to any of his speeches and you'll understand.
This is a time of great men with great plans, and great passion with great intelligence.

This time didn't die with Washington or Lincoln or King or Kennedy (or Kennedy, both men were capable of this kinda of rhetoric)

Obama brings new hope for those starving for this kind of politics again. The reason why so many young people have captured the Obama spirit is very simple. We have never heard any one talk like that in our lives, in person, alive, before. It was all written down as great deeds of dead men, not living breathing history in our time.

He is our generations
John,
Martin,
Abraham,
Thomas

And he will win...

Because our nation needs it
deserves it
hungers for it
wants it
strives for glory
and in the end will receive its reward
by the providence of God

Amen

"First thoughts"

Eric Bueling — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:26:34 EST

I'm young, I'm a Democrat. I believe the religious right will be the ruin of democracy, and I'm not afraid to let them know how I feel. Bush's "cronyism" has corrupted so much of Washington. Obama takes the hardest line on making changes away from that.
Global warming will be the death of our planet... within my lifetime. Obama outlines comprehensive programs for making changes necessary to stave off "end times."
Gay marriage is the civil rights issue of our time. Move all further discussion of the issue to your churches and grant equal rights to all people (preposition here) law in order to preserve our democracy.
Enough rant for now... more to follow.

E for Endetta

Young Americans

Henry Vasquez — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:41:50 EST

Last night we saw the power of young Americans. Last night we saw a young presidential candidate bring out thousands of people ages 17-29 to voice their opinion. It has been customary that young people tend to vote a much lower rates than their elders. For whatever the reason, this has always led to a government that caters to a specific class, a selective demographic. A large portion of America, one which is less financially stable, less geographically rooted, and less economically compelled, is downplayed in the process of government decision making processes.

If young people rose up and put forth the effort, they could surely become a part of this democratic experience. If young people, with their passion and fervor, turned out in massive numbers to every primary in these coming months, we could finally "get ours." If young people decided once and for all that they had a voice, America would wake up November 5th (a la V for Vendetta) with a new face of change.

Young people, unite.

Westin for Barack!

Westin — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:04:53 EST

I wish i could vote. Im just a 12-year-old kid thats not allowed(witch is compleatly absurd i must say). He would be my pick, out of everyone! And im not just saying this cause my parents are convincing me to(heck, my parents dont want to vote Barack but want to vote Clinton..I have been trying to convince them not too, but they don't take me seriously). Well i just wanted to say that. More posts coming soon(if you are even reading this now..?)!

-Westin

Inspired by Hull House

Alexander Jones — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:43:36 EST

I'm just now finishing my first reading of Jane Addams, and so I thought it appropriate to register to vote. Too bad we can't do that electronically yet.This will have to do for now, however. My first impressions of the race are not exactly good for Barack, but I definitely support him and hope he triumphs over Hillary. Most students here at Hendrix College are solidly in her camp, especially most women here. I would say that Obama comprises the second-largest portion of support here though, and I think that's the national trend under a microscope.We'll see how it plays out, but I don't think Hillary will win without a fight, as Obama's newly-announced 5-city Iowa tour focuses on stealing a key bloc of her support. We'll see how it turns out, but if I can ever get some money together, I'll get around to donating to Obama.If by chance anyone from Hendrix reads this, let's setup an Obama fundraising drive on campus, or at least try and build his support.

Keeping The Faith

Kevin — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 20:19:54 EDT

Barack Obama was the media's sweetheart; now he hardly gets any attention except when the media points out his position in the polls. The Media seems to have chosen Hilary Clinton as the Democrat's Nominee and frankly I'm disgusted. Because I know those polls mean nothing but, not everyone does and it hurts Obama's campaign. It's hard to not scream at Wolf Blitzer and all the others when they seem to forget to mention the fact that the majority of the Primary States have yet to pick but, what's even harder is to keep the faith that Obama has a fighting chance because I'll admit for some time I almost gave up. That was until I saw Obama's interview on the situation room where he begin to point out the very clear distinctions between him and Senator Clinton and where he called her out on her lies. Now I once more feel that there is a real chance there will be an Obama 08 General Election Campaign.

Ever since that interview I have longed to get involved in the campaign and help make my hope for an Obama Presidency a reality. Unfortunately I lived on Staten Island and very few people even know what's going on in the Presidential Race. Still, I'm trying and have begun to ask who'd be interested in helping the campaign and of them I've managed to snap a few! Still it's a long way to go before we can call ourselves anything more than a club but, to not try seems like a crime to me where the sentence is four years of another unbearable presidency.

This blog is an extension of the burning fire within my seventeen year old self to do something positive for the campaign. It is a tool to exercise my frustrations I have a feeling a few of the people here share with me. It might seem naïve of me for thinking that a seventeen year old could do something in such a large and complex city, much less a nation but, I'm staying true to Obama's ideal that it is the individual that matters and the individual that will bring about a great change in America that will be the talk of historians for ages. You can call this idealism if you want but, I call it faith.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin Elkins

Why poll results in critical states are not as important as in previous years

Mr. Mr. — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:10:45 EDT

Why poll results in critical states are not as important as in previous years. Obama is attracting thousands of new supporters in these states that are not showing up in polls. A lot of these supporters are newly registered or have never voted, so pollsters do not have their phone numbers to call to ask poll questions. Many of these that Obama have attracted to politics are young people with cell phones who’ll not be called by pollsters. It’s interesting that in straw polls, for example one straw poll at a fair in Iowa, Obama came out on top. The key is, we must continue to sign up people for Obama, get them registered, and get them out to vote in Jan-Feb. If this means picking them up, finding baby sitters for them etc; we must get them out to vote.. It will be tough getting the young people out to vote in the primaries. They have let down past campaigns who relied on them, but we can change this. We must strategies on how to get EACH person we enroll in the Obama dream, out to vote! Iowa, NH, South Carolina, Nevada, and Florida are critical. Let’s individually make a difference. We all know people in one or more of these states. Think on how you can individually be a campaign manager for Obama, marshaling forces to get him nominated as the Democratic candidate. Hold those who support him close so you can get them out to vote on that crucial day. My favorite mantra is: ‘If it’s going to be, it’s up to me!

Why poll results in critical states are not as important as in previous years

Mr. Mr. — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:10:05 EDT

Why poll results in critical states are not as important as in previous years

Mr. Mr. — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:08:12 EDT

Why poll results in critical states are not as important as in previous years

Mr. Mr. — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:03:37 EDT

Why poll results in critical states are not as important as in previous years

Mr. Mr. — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 18:02:14 EDT

How to Individually Help Obama (repost all over the net)

Mr. Mr. — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:14:55 EDT

There are many of ways to help Senator Obama get elected for President:

*DONATE to the OBAMA campaign (barackobama.com)

*REGISTER New Voters

*GET CONNECTED with a local OBAMA groups and their events

*MEET UP in your area! SPEAK for OBAMA in your neighborhood or community.

*ORGANIZE an OBAMA Playgroup

*FUNDRAISE Online for OBAMA (barackobama.com)

*Recruit 5 friends or family to support OBAMA

*Paste an OBAMA bumper-sticker on your car, laptop, stroller, etc.

*WEAR your OBAMA shirt when you run your errands, shuttle the kids to school/activities, walks, at the gym, at your next family or friend reunion, etc.

*WEAR your OBAMA button everyday - put on your purse or hat

*ADD an OBAMA website or message as your EMAIL signature

*ADD OBAMA as your #1 Friend on MYSPACE

*POST OBAMA comments and bulletins for your friends in your ONLINE Community

*BLOG about OBAMA

*POST an OBAMA sign on your front lawn or in your front window of your home

*HOST an OBAMA House Party or bar-b-que

*Post OBAMA articles and flyers on community boards at school or in your community

Name recognition and knowledge about Obama will gain votes. Your personal story of why you support Obama is the sincerest way to communicate why Barack Obama should be our next president.

Thank you for all your efforts,
Louise...Moms for Obama

The Audacity of Young Voters

Jeff Stumpf — Sun, 20 May 2007 19:56:33 EDT

I wrote a letter to Senator Obama. It reads as follows:

Senator Obama,

First let me provide a little background as to who I am. I am a 21 year old student from Portland, Oregon who voted for the first time in 2004 for Kucinich and subsequently lost interest in voting. I wanted to thank you for being genuine, and whether or not you win the presidency, which I have faith you will, you still are an amazing role model. I used to harbor such a disdain for politics and government that I wished for a revolution, but I could never quite imagine it working. And then a friend pointed me to a video on youtube of Barack Obama speaking at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and I thought, "This man is our revolution." Subsequently you started looking into the possibility of running for president. This whole time I'm checking in on your website, just waiting for a clue. Finally when you announced your candidacy I was up at the crack of dawn watching the video. I've paid attention to you, you have captivated me. You've inspired me to do something with my life, to go back to school and deal with mounting debt because I believe that you can guide my generation and help us to fix a bond that has been broken longer than I've been alive. I want to have the skills to stop climate change and to help universal health care take off and (especially) to reform student loans.
I have a blog on your website and you're one of my top friends on myspace because it isn't enough for you to inspire me, I need to get my friends involved and I have been trying. When it comes down to it I am going to lead them to the polls or pay for the stamps for their voter registration forms. And the reason I'm doing it is because you have convinced me that it matters. So when the campaign trail gets tough, remember that there are people like me all over the country who look up to you and who stand behind you in support. That's why we show up in the thousands at your speeches and that's why you're going to be the next president.

Thanks for reading this, if you actually did.
-Jeff Stumpf

I also wrote a blog on myspace trying to inspire some of my friends to vote and here is that:

Here in Australia I have plenty of time to keep tabs on American politics since I'm not allowed to work and days seem to pass slower and slower. For those of you back in the busy land of America, let me break it down for you:

Everyone from the Boston Globe to Foster's Daily Democrat to the Chicago Tribune and even Yahoo! News are saying that voters between 18 and 30 are showing increasing interest in politics. They're saying that we're the only reason Obama is a top tier candidate and they're also saying that we aren't really going to vote. They're saying that statistically we won't take the time to vote even if we show interest initially. So to all my friends, this is important and you really better fucking vote. Young adults not voting is part of the reason our presidents are usually old and distant, it's the reason we feel like we aren't being represented. It's the reason student loans will keep you poor long after you've landed a good job.
So if you aren't registered to vote yet, or if you're not sure if they've got the right address, go to www.govote.org and print a voter registration form, maybe make sure other people in your house don't need a copy, too. Then fill it out, sign it, stamp it, and mail it in. (Remember to register as a Democrat if you want to vote in the Democratic primaries - at least in Oregon)

So when election day comes around I think I just might volunteer a little of my time to try and get as many young voters to vote as possible. I don't really care if they vote Obama or Clinton or Giuliani as long as they let their voices be heard. Still, up until Election Day, I'm going to be trying to reinforce support for Obama. This guy really is amazing. Actually, I'll link to two different articles about the same speech because it really is an amazing story as far as politics goes:

<A href="Link Globe Story</A>

If you have a minute, check them out. He's really inspiring.

If we don't come out in full support of a candidate we will probably lose. If it's Hillary or if it's Barack, we'll have an uphill fight to get either the first woman or the first black man elected. We'll have to fight against old outdated ideas and stereotypes. But all it takes from you is one vote, one stamp or short bus ride, one tick of a box. This is a movement that has catastrophic implications yet requires only a very small personal investment. If you don't get off your ass and vote you are letting down all of those people in our generation who do. For every person between 18 and 30 who stays home, we're outnumbered by 1 more. We need as many people as possible to commit to this and to actually follow through.

Vote if you value your life. (accidents happen)

How to use myspace to campaign

Mr. Mr. — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:34:24 EDT

No more drama...Vote for Obama!

The key to Obama's presidency is the primaries. Do you know people in Nevada, South Carolina, Iowa, New Hampshire, California, and Florida?
Let's start winning them for Obama. If you don't know anyone in these states, let's start making friends with them online. In the two links below you will find zip codes in New Hampshire and Iowa. Use Myspace's Browse feature (at top next to Home)with one of these zip codes to find and add voting age friends to your friends list. Subtly, overtime, don’t overdo it, introduce these new friends to Obama and his website by using your blogs.

New Hampshire Zip Codes:
Link zip codes
Link primaries are soooo important. Let's keep talking about Obama to everyone. Obama's greatest threat presently is Hillary, Edwards, and Richardson. Feeling good about Barack is not enough. We must defeat these candidates for Obama to have a chance of pursuing the presidency. We must campaign to all for him to win the primaries. Let's tell, tell all. Get them to sign up at BarackObama.com

outta the box with swagger and respect

Akin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 08:09:57 EDT

Anti-Clinton and Anti-Edwards merchandise is bothering me. Anti-Clinton and Anti-Edwards merchandise worn, created, or propagated by so-called-Obama-supporters is pissing me off. While malicious attacks have found fertile breeding ground in America’s political conversation, the whole point of Senator Obama’s message and the engine driving genuine supporters is a desire to redirect the conversation’s ethical compass. True supporters have got to think outside of the box.

Get outta the box and onto a memory stick.

I caught the live SEIU Health Care Forum in Las Vegas webcast on thinkprogress.org and I must admit that Clinton and Edwards were both quite impressive. I’m still full on pulling for Obama but I think all three of them are exceptional Americans. Everyone from exceptional Americans to ordinary folks from other countries deserves respect. I waited tables at a Mexican restaurant in Tribeca my first semester at Columbia, and contrary to popular belief, even waiters speaking sub par Spanish deserve respect. The candidates are claiming to be here to serve us. It is nearly impossible to effectively serve someone when respect has turned its back.

During the forum, Obama got hit with the toughest questions but it was a blessing because he came across as the most thoughtful and intelligent as a result. As I watched, I felt as though Obama was being attacked while other candidates were being handed silver platters on which to pontificate. Then I got excited: we all know that animals attack when they feel threatened. There was one young lady in particular who nervously critiqued Obama’s site before asking her question which was in truth a statement with a question mark added to the end. This nervous young lady was on the attack because her interests were threatened. And this is why we grassroots Obama supporters must not wear, create, or propagate any merchandise that is anti-anyone; first and foremost because we mustn’t let them see us sweat. There are some vile anti-Clinton shirts out there that in actuality do little more than admit fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Any Obama supporter wearing malicious merchandise is admitting fear, uncertainty, and doubt. We should sweat courage, confidence, and conviction. Secondly, our party must not arrive at the general election as a bloody mass of battered barracuda. We must arrive at the general election with the swagger of an NBA first-round draft pick.

I’m cutting and pasting an excerpt from a blogger named Sven on the Health Care Forum

Link

Who do you think would be the BEST president on the issue of health care?

Hillary Clinton 34%
John Edwards 16%
Barack Obama 9%
Bill Richardson 4%
Dennis Kucinich 0%
Chris Dodd 2%
Joe Biden 0%
Mike Gravel 0%

Now, please note that they're just asking who would be best on health care. Clearly, Hillary has an edge here both because of name recognition and because of her work on health care during the Clinton presidency.

What I found really disturbing about these numbers though, was that 50% of the respondents were 65 or older. How representative are numbers when you have a sample of only 5% below 40 years of age? And it really made me wonder how representative other poll numbers are that do not publish the age range of respondents.

One of my goals within the grassroots effort has been to get more Generation X & Generation Y voters out to the polls because this country’s political goliaths have been sleeping on us. We are the ones whose Social Security benefits are in the gravest danger. We are the one’s who will pay through the nose for this war (many of us with our lives). Remember that line in the movie Troy, “War is old men talking and young men dying”? Goliath has been sleeping on us because we have been sleeping on him.

It usually takes a massive shift in the global consciousness to move young voters to get out to the polls. Vietnam was a shift that gave rise to an increase in voter turnout amongst younger voters. So guess what? This is our shift. Anyone who has waited tables knows that if the shift before you had a rough time, you have got to be on top of your game. So guess what? This is our shift.

This is our shift.

Akin

www.atthatdrop.com

Wow!

Karon O. — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:21:49 EST

When I started this group I thought it was going to be tough finding Obama Democrats in my area. We do have the only Republican Alderman in the city. But the response has been surprising. Our meeting Sunday is going to be very interesting. People have been asking if they can bring other people, mom's want to bring their teenage kids who want to get involved, mom's with little children want to come and baby boomers who remember what the "Bobby Kennedy" feeling was like. This group is going to be quite diverse. I'm looking so forward to seeing this election through from so many different perspectives and through the eyes of so many different kinds of people. This is what it should be like!

Let's keep it rolling!

Karon O. — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:44:19 EST

I have been watching everything I can find on news about Iraq, the upcoming Presidential election, and the state of our representation in Washington. I have been pleased to hear so much being said about how Barack Obama seems to be igniting a new spirit and hope for our future...especially in younger voters. Believe me when I tell you, it is not just the younger voters that he is igniting! There are many of us older folks who are feeling hope for the first time in a long time! I just listened, again, to The Audacity of Hope (while painting my bedroom). It's been a very long while since any political movement made me want to get involved in anyones campaign. Let's try not to lose this feeling. It's a long time until this election. We hear many good things and may be tempted to sit back and watch for our dreams of a better, fairer, more responsible government to become a reality. The enthusiasm we feel now must be a snowball rolling downhill gathering size and weight along the way. Let's not bask in this sun so long that we melt. Talk...even tho it may seem a bit early...talk...to your family, your friends, your neighbors. No more sitting on the sidelines waiting for someone to send us in. Let's get in there and change the game. Let's get other people talking! Gimme' an O!...

Thoughts from a young democrat...

Brian Noel — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 19:41:36 EST

February 10, 2007

Today’s news of Senator Obama’s official entrance into the ’08 presidential election did not surprise me. I was not surprised that there were thousands of people standing outside in the shivering cold to hear him speak. What’s surprising is how several states away, in the former Capital of the Confederacy, a young Caucasian male in sweatpants, watching a stream on a laptop at his girlfriends apartment, could relate to a black Senator from Illinois.

What is great about Barack Obama now officially being in the race for our great party's nomination for president is that I have something to focus on. Now I have something to which I can direct all of the energy that is boiling inside of me. Every day I am frustrated by the cynicism and negativity that surrounds our country's politics.

Being a young student of politics, I thirst for a news outlet to keep me abreast of the day’s news as I go about my day to day activities. Considering that I don't possess a satellite radio, I am stuck listening to conservative radio shows in my city that offers only a biased AM radio selection. It is here that I rely on the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck to name a few, to keep me motivated with their outlandish commentary to stay a Democrat and get involved.

Although the outrageous semantics of these radio shows is great motivation, it isn't enough to activate me. To become politically active I needed something that gave me something to work for, not something to work against. Something that was positive, rather than pointing out what is wrong with our world. Barack Obama's campaign offers this cautious optimism.

In listening to the politicians that have polluted our televisions, and listening to the entertainers that dilute truth and change stories to benefit their own agenda I had become uninterested in our country's government. Feeling like these folks, who may physically resemble my family, couldn't relate to me I have longed for something different. I have longed for the emergence of a leader who can not only bridge the gap between our political parties, but also unite our own political party behind a common view.

Barack Obama speaks this language. He understands the weakness that is created by a divided government. In his book, he speaks about the experienced politicians such as Virginia's own Republican John Warner, who can have a casual and comfortable association with someone from the other party after debating their political views to an effective outcome. Our partisan politics, and partisan media outlets only weaken our nation and places unnecessary hurdles into our beautiful political process. Negative politics is only one aspect of politics that is wrong with our country. The other is the voters, the users of our political system, the beneficiaries. Considering how low the voter rate is in our country, it would benefit us to educate the ones who do chose to vote. My family represents what I feel is a large portion of our country's voters; voters that can not site more that one view of any candidate in any election, no matter how large the consequence. As an example, during the most recent gubernatorial election for the Commonwealth of Virginia my brother and I had a heated debate over who was the better of the two candidates. Republican Jerry Kilgore was running against Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine for the office. During this argument, I stated all of the reasons that I believed made Tim Kaine the better choice. After this barrage of policies and personal attributes that I shot at my brother from my lips, I expected a loaded response. It didn't surprise me that since the presidential election in '04 that my brother hadn't changed a bit. He spoke so adamantly about voting for Jerry Kilgore, but couldn't articulate why. The driving factor in him even voting in that election was that his friend told him that if Tim Kaine was elected he would lose his gun rights. He knew that when he drove around town, he saw signs that said "Sportsmen for Kilgore". But he couldn't name one other reason to vote for him. He voted for Jerry Kilgore, just like he voted for George Bush in the '04 election...blindly.

These voters crowd the polls of our nation. It is our job to activate ourselves, and help educate our friends and families about the policies that make a difference in our day to day lives. Sure the Iraq war is a huge issue in the '08 election, but can the majority of our population speak intelligently about any other issue facing our country today? We must commit ourselves to starting today to become as familiar as we can with our candidates stance on all issues. Start today so that we can articulate clearly why it is that we prefer Senator Obama over any other candidate on the political scene. What would feel differently about the United States of America with Barack Obama in the White House? Educate yourself, educate each other...get involved!