Road Blog: Day in Pictures, Florida

This past week, Barack has done wall-to-wall campaigning in four states. Today in
Florida was no different. Besides this morning's press conference, Barack held a town hall meeting in Titusville and spoke at the annual National Urban League Conference in Orlando.

Enjoy the day in pictures.

Arun Chaudhary
August 2nd, 2008
En route to Chicago

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Generation Obama in New Orleans: "Inspiring and
Heartbreaking"

In 2004, John Kerry’s strongest bloc of voters was 18-29 year olds, who voted in his favor 54 to 45 percent. At the same time, young voters have become more and more engaged in the political process. The youth vote grew significantly in the 2006 midterms, and according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, it rose to 17 percent turnout in the 2008 primaries, up from 9 percent in 2000.

The participation of 18-29 year olds may be more important this year than at any time before. According to E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post:

Young Americans show all the signs of being interested enough and upset enough to flock to the polls this year. If they do, they could be the most politically consequential generation since the cohort of the Great Depression and World War II. Think of these newcomers as the Engaged Generation.

This grassroots campaign has relied on Generation Obama, a national organization dedicated solely to helping organize young people to contribute to Obama's candidacy. More than 25 regional Generation Obama chapters are now up and running, in addition to the national one, and groups are tackling everything from fundraising and organization building, to canvassing and community service.

One Generation Obama event occurred on July 18th, drawing on a community service focus. Fifteen Generation Obama leaders, traveling from as far as Seattle, Philadelphia, and Orlando, went to New Orleans for three-days of community service and organizing training.

Lynn, a Miami resident, hosted the event.

We structured the weekend to split our time between community service and workshops on event planning, fundraising, and chapter building. We worked with the Episcopalian Diocese of Louisiana's Disaster Relief team on a house whose owners couldn't afford to rebuild. The house had been in this particular family for years and they were thrilled that it was finally being worked on.

Lynn feels extremely gratified by the response to her event, and now has even more admiration for the fulltime workers in New Orleans.

We were really glad to be able to help even for a day, but the volunteers who were there for weeks or months were truly amazing - none of them had any construction experience but had become pros in the short time that they'd been working on the house. It was an amazing experience that was simultaneously inspiring and heartbreaking.

Lynn says she was motivated to organize the event because she felt that often her generation and associated groups have a significant emphasis on fundraising. She felt that, while fundraising is critical to a campaign's success, it "can sometimes take us to far away from the reason that we support Barack Obama's candidacy - I wanted us all to remember that we can make a difference in other people's lives if we have the will to help."

You can join a Generation Obama chapter near where you live, or start one yourself, here.

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Videos: Town Hall in Rolla, Missouri and Cedar
Rapids, Iowa

Earlier this week, Barack was in Rolla, Missouri to speak at Missouri University of Science and Technology for a town hall on economic security. Check out the video of Barack answering a question during the town hall...

Before a town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Thursday, Barack met with local families and listened to the concerns of citizens affected by last month's devastating flood. Watch the video of Barack's response...

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Town Hall Videos

Earlier this week, Barack was in Rolla, Missouri to speak at Missouri University of Science and Technology for town hall on economic security. Check out the video of Barack answering a question during his town hall...

Before a town hall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Thursday, Barack met with local families and listened to the concerns of citizens affected by last month's devastating flood. Watch the video of Barack's response...

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Voices for Change: Dave in Glen Alpine, NC

Every Friday in western North Carolina, Dave sits around a table with a handful of former Marines for lunch. When the topic turns to politics, Dave shares why he supports Barack. “I support him wherever I go,” he says. Dave is 66 years old and is a former Captain in the Marine Corps who hails from Glen Alpine, a rural town with a population of just over 1,000. He is also a proud, lifelong Republican. A number of years back he worked on a Republican congressional campaign in Colorado.  “My daughter, who’s a Democrat, and I had an agreement that we would never talk about politics,” he says.

Then, last year, he started following Barack and listening to his message. Dave became convinced that in order to accomplish change, we need to work in a nonpartisan way. He even went so far as re-registering. “This past year I registered as ‘uncommitted,’ or independent, just so I could vote for Barack Obama in the primary,” he beamed.

Barack is going to be able to attract capable, courageous, people into government service. The president leads the country and encourages citizens to act. The last president who was a force in that office was Reagan. What drew me to Senator Obama was listening to him. He has his fabulous values, a lot of courage, and he’s unflappable. When McCain started talking about staying in Iraq for years, I was convinced. Democracy only works well through people; when they care and participate and when they’re inspired and led to do so.

In Dave’s view, people have been cut out of the process all too often in recent years, and his area is seeing the strains of this approach first hand.

The biggest issue for us here is the economy, the economy, the economy. North Carolina is suffering less than most, but the cost of petroleum, driving, fertilizer, and harvesting is exacerbating the agricultural problem and driving up the food costs. They’re destroying preserved land to produce energy here. Greed has run us into disaster when we have CEOs who make 400 times what the average worker makes.

Dave feels an urgency to be involved. “At no time since FDR led us out of the Depression, and not since then, has our country faced such a damaging prospect,” he says. “Nothing but dramatic change will save us.”

Every single day between now and the general election I’m going to be supporting Barack. They just opened up a headquarters near me in North Carolina. I haven’t been down yet, but I’m going to be. I’ll make telephone calls, write, speak, and advocate for Barack.

This campaign is changing the way we view electoral politics and Americans of all backgrounds are taking part. Join Dave and the millions of others who have made a clear statement that the time for change is now. “My mother, who is 89, gave birth to me as a Republican,” he said. “She too voted for Barack.”

Voices for Change is a series featuring profiles of Barack Obama's grassroots supporters from across the nation. The people who make up this movement come from all walks of life, but they share a common goal – to help bring about fundamental change in Washington.

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"Cynical", Racist, or Both

Barack has said that he doesn't think the McCain is racist, but is cynical. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/02/obama-mccain-campaign-cyn_n_116505.html

read more

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Barack Addresses National Urban League

Barack was in Orlando, Florida this afternoon to address the National Urban League Annual Conference.

He told conference goers about his time spent as a community organizer in Chicago, his economic plans for this country, and how each person can make a difference in this election. Barack said...

As some of you know, after college, I moved to Chicago and went to work for a group of churches to help families that had been devastated when the local steel plants closed down.  I knew change in those communities wouldn't come easily – but I also knew it wouldn't come at all if we didn't start bringing people together.  So I reached out to community leaders, and we worked together to set up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe, and to help people stand up to their government when it wasn't standing up for them.  

That work taught me a fundamental truth that has guided me to this day: that change doesn't come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up.  Change happens when you teach a child to read, or get a worker a job, or help an entrepreneur set up shop.  It happens when you send a young person to college or help a family keep their home. That's the kind of change all of you are making every single day.   

Because you know that civil rights and equal treatment under the law are necessary, but not sufficient, to seize America's promise – as Dr. King once said, "the inseparable twin of racial justice is economic justice."   

You know that you can't take that seat at the front of the bus if you can't afford the bus fare.  You can't live in an integrated neighborhood if you can't afford the house.  And it doesn't mean a whole lot to sit down at that lunch counter if you can't afford the lunch.  

Here are some pictures from the event...

Read Barack's full remarks, as prepared for delivery...

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Come Celebrate Obama's Birthday! Mon., Aug. 4th,
8pm, Travis County Campaign HQ

Immediately following our Travis County Policy/Issues Forum, please join your friends from Texans for Obama as we celebrate Barack Obama's birthday!

We'll eat birthday cake and sign a Texas-sized birthday card for Barack. We'll also discuss the latest volunteer opportunities, so come learn how you can get involved on the local level.

WHAT:
Barack's Birthday Party
Featuring Council Member Mike Martinez and other elected officials

WHEN:
8:00 - 9:30pm
Monday, August 4

WHERE:
TCDP Coordinated Campaign Headquarters
1107 North I-35
Austin, TX 78702

Best,
David Kobierowski


Read The Full Article:
http://blog.texansforobama.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1273

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Organizing Fellows: Delia in Colorado

As part of a continuing series, we followed Obama Organizing Fellows as they shared their stories and their experiences. They discussed the people they met, the hardships of organizing, what the campaign means to them, and how this summer is changed their perspective.

Delia was an Organizing Fellow in Colorado.  Her stories appeared each Saturday.

Looking back on the past six weeks, I can’t believe what we have accomplished here in Colorado Springs. When I first started, I knew no one. Now I feel like I have lived here all my life.

What I have found my short time working on the campaign is that an Obama supporter could be anyone. I was making phone calls the other day, and I spoke with a gentleman who told me he was leaning towards voting for Senator Obama. We spoke for about 10 minutes when I discovered that he was a Republican. He told me that he liked the fact that Senator Obama was trying to pull us all together again. For so long people have identified with being a Republican or Democrat or Independent that we have forgotten that we are all Americans. We all want our kids to do well in school and not have to worry if we can afford to send them to college. We all want healthcare when we are sick. We all want alternatives to foreign oil and be able to use clean energy instead. We all want a better America and Senator Obama calls us to put our words into action.

I have had people cry when they discover that they can vote after believing for years that they couldn’t. I have had countless people open up there homes to me and share why they are supporting Senator Obama.

So now that my fellowship has ended, I will continue working for the campaign as a field organizer. I am very excited to be a staff member. I feel humbled by the task and the next 94 days are going to be insane, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Are you fired up? Are you ready to go? Let’s go change the world together.

Visit our Flickr page for more of Delia's photos.

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Road Blog: Barack Obama in Titusville, FL

Good afternoon and welcome to Titusville, Florida or "Space City, USA."
 
This town in Brevard Country, known for the Kennedy Space Center and NASA, was the site for Senator Obama's town hall meeting. The gym at the local community college was packed with folks eager to talk about economic challenges facing Floridians.
 
In his opening remarks before the questions, Barack took some time to address the issue of space exploration and scientific research, tying it to the economic challenges that America faces:

This is an administration that has been anti-science, whether on the issues of stem cell research or climate change. I want to promote a science based economy and I want to invest in science, that is what is going to drive our economy in the long term.

You don't have to be an expert (a rocket scientist for instance), to see that America's economy faces serious challenges. One of the surest ways of putting it back on track is by putting an emphasis to the things America
excels at, technology and innovation.
 
Arun Chaudhary
August 2nd, 2008
Titusville Florida

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