Weekly Grassroots Round-Up

Every week we feature some of the best grassroots events from the previous week. We want to highlight your creativity, enthusiasm and hard work. After you host an event, make sure to let us know how it went!

Here's a snapshot of what was happening across America this past week:

Film screening: When longtime supporter Lisa of Austin, TX saw a documentary about Barack in New York City that inspired her in a whole new way, she knew she had to show the film in her hometown.

“I felt that this would be a non-intrusive way to bring people together and share a wonderful message.”

In the documentary, Barack narrates his journey across Africa – from Nelson Mandela’s old cell in South Africa to the Kenyan village where his father grew up to a Darfur refugee camp in Chad. Lisa dubs the film “part personal odyssey and part chronicle of diplomacy in action.”

She held the screening at a local restaurant, raising more than $300 from the 30 attendees. At the end of the screening, Lisa shared her personal story and why she supports Barack. Many people hung around after to discuss the film and more ways to get involved in the campaign.

Barackfest: Every first Sunday of the month since March 2007, Dan of Ft. Collins, CO, has been serving up a hearty Barackfest – that would be breakfast Obama-style. About 25 supporters came out for the 18th Barackfest, trading campaign and personal stories over huevos rancheros and breakfast tacos. They try to mix up the menu, having done omelets, crepes, stratas, and oven pancakes. Dan estimates that he’s peeled 250 pounds of potatoes, fried 75 pounds of bacon and cooked probably close to 100 dozen eggs.

He’s discovered that nothing brings people together like breakfast:

“We've started to see local politicians regularly. It was a real starter for the caucus organization. I think Pat got an office, housing for 10, his first batch of callers and breakfast in just one event.”

Usually Dan raises $200-$500. This week the number was $213, owing to the start of school. He gives credit to Don and his neighbor, Mary.

Barack Birthday Bashes: Roughly 80 people celebrated Barack’s 47th birthday with a pin the tail on the Democratic donkey game, a cardboard cut-out of him for photos, a giant birthday card, a list of 47 Reasons to vote for Barack, a birthday cake, children's poster coloring acitivities and a showing of the A&E documentary Biography of Barack Obama. The party had everything except the birthday honoree himself.

The fun and games led to more serious work later with party goers calling to recruit local volunteers and talk to Spanish speaking voters in New Mexico.

“It was a huge success and we signed up several new volunteers,” said April of Montara, CA.

Meanwhile Dennis in Prescott Valley, AZ, was throwing Barack his own birthday bash. About 35 people attended the potluck, capped off by his wife's Texas Pan Cake. The chocolate cake was decorated with strawberries, blueberries and frosting in the design of the Obama logo.

Not even a thunderstorm was enough to keep 35 supporters home, though Dennis suspects that some potential party goers were unable to come due to flooding.

Dragon Boat Festival Voter Registration: 11 volunteers registered about 35 voters attending the Dragon Boat races and dumpling eating contest in Queens, NY. The annual races turn out the Chinese American community and provided the perfect opportunity to do voter reg, according to Elizabeth of Whitestone, NY, who coordinated the effort.

“I think it was a really great event. And all the volunteers were very impressed with the Dragon Boat races, which we all watched!"

Ready to host your own event? Create an event now, use our flyer templates to help promote it and let us know how it goes.

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http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amyhamblin/gG5z3p

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Road Blog: Barack in Youngstown, Ohio

Our economy is in turmoil. I don't have to tell that to the people of Youngstown, Ohio. - Barack Obama

At a time when Americans are earning less and the cost of gas and food continue to climb, 2,400 people from Youngstown and outlying areas packed into the Austintown Fitch High School gymnasium for today's town hall meeting. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown was also in attendance to hear Barack address many of the key issues at stake in this year's election, focusing in particular on charting a new energy policy.

One of the biggest factors crippling and endangering the stability of our economy as well as our national security is our addiction to foreign oil.  "It is one of the most dangerous issues we face," says Barack.  His plan calls for investing $150 billion over the next decade "to harness American energy and create five million new American jobs."  By investing and leading the way in alternative energy development in here in America, we will be reduce and eliminate our dependence of foreign oil.  

But what about right now?

The Obama plan for the short term includes relief to working families in the form of a $1,000 energy rebate, paid for in part by taxing big oil companies. These oil companies have been benefiting greatly from record high gas prices, coupled with tax breaks.  Barack believes that it doesn't make sense that big oil companies continue to post record profits while the American people keep paying more.

We had a chance to catch up with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, who was also in attendance.  He is thrilled about the prospect of an Obama administration and what it would offer a diverse state like Ohio.  Take a look at what he has to say right here:

video details and more

And here is an excerpt from Barack's remarks...

video details and more

Arun Chaudhary
August 5th, 2008
Berea, Ohio

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How to Celebrate a Birthday

Yesterday was Barack's 47th birthday. Over the last three days, supporters across the country marked the occasion by giving their time, energy and passion to help build this campaign.

In Iowa:

Last night we held Barack’s Birthday Cake and Canvass events across the state. We had hundreds of people at our offices reaching out to their friends and neighbors to talk about getting involved in their precinct team.

We even had over-sized birthday cards that were being personalized with messages to send to Barack, and one of our best supporters dressed up like Uncle Sam!

In Indiana:

Throughout this past weekend and on Monday, people across the state of Indiana celebrated Barack Obama's birthday with cookouts, organizational meetings and voter registration events.

In North Carolina:

Last night, supporters from across North Carolina went door to door to talk to their neighbors and help spread Barack's message of change. There was excitement in the air as people knocked on doors. Last night was also Barack's 47th Birthday, and North Carolina delivered Barack a special gift--hundreds of people contacting thousands of voters.

At the beginning of the night, volunteers came together for a canvass training--and a special guest call by former governor Hunt. After getting everyone fired up, Gov. Hunt sent everyone out to canvass.

Everyone's favorite part of the night, following the canvass of course, was the post canvass birthday cake. Supporters had an opportunity to come together and share stories, laughs and cake.

And in Ohio:

Well, it's pretty clear what Barack Obama and Ted Strickland must have both wished for when they blew out the candles on their birthday cakes today. All across the Buckeye State, Ohioans came out in record numbers to get involved in this movement. They came out to celebrate, and they came out to spread the message of change.

They came out in Ironton and Ashtabula, in Dayton and Defiance, from Marietta to Bowling Green, from Warren to Wilmington, from Celina to Cincinnati to Columbus to Cleveland, from Sandusky to Xenia to Zanesville. All told, more than 2000 volunteers from all over this great state came out today.

The Lima headquarters was overflowing with more than 40 people. We didn't have enough phones or chairs, so all the extra people ran out to register voters. And were are five additional phonebanking parties in the region!

In the Akron there were eight different phonebank locations, but none bigger than our efforts at the Regional HQ on W Market St and Merriman St. Throughout the day, well over 100 volunteers were active making thousands upon thousands of phone calls.

Max, our regional Field Director in Summit County couldn't say enough good things:

"The best part about so many voices calling in the room is so many different stories about how this campaign embodies the change that we crave. There were 16 year olds talking about social security and seniors talking about education. So many have talked about their neighbors who are squeezed by our struggling economy, many speak of a war that could have should have never been waged, and a constant theme is the shared disappointment in a broken political system in Washington DC."

Across the country, supporters gave the gift of their labor, not just for Barack but for their families, their communities and their country. 

Read The Full Article:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gG5zcx

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More Obama News from Monday

Academy Award winning actor George Clooney is organizing a big fundraiser for Barack Obama in Switzerland on Sept. 2.

There will be a reception with tickets at $1,000 followed by a dinner at the house of NFC member Charles Adams for guests who raised at least $10,000 from multiple sources.

Why the event is taking place overseas is not explained, but the campaign states that only U.S. citizens with passports will be allowed to donate.

Tire pressure claim correct

Barack's claims on oil savings from simply keeping your tires properly inflated and getting regular tuneups is correct. The savings in fact, if practiced widely, could easily exceed the amount of oil obtained from any new offshore drilling.

McCain had mocked Obama's suggestions pointing instead to his plan to expand offshore drilling.

Also, it has been widely reported that Barack now supports some offshore drilling himself. Haven't seen the evidence though. He has said that he might consider some new drilling as part of a compromise plan were the good gained would offset the negatives of new drilling.


Barack in Ohio

In the following video, Barack talks in Ohio about his new energy plan and other economic matters. He notes that during the last eight years it has been the wealthy, the oil companies, the big contractors and lobbys who have gained, while the American people have suffered. He promises to shift the emphasis back to the people.


video details and more

Paul Kekai Manansala is a freelance author and blogger from Sacramento, California.

 

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/lajr/~3/357041142/more-obama-news-from-mo
nday.html

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Uniting All Who Can Be United vs. McCain

GOPer vs.
The Main
Danger

By Frank Schaeffer
Huffington Post


This is a great day for those of us who have been fighting for Senator Obama! I'm a good example of why he'll win in November. I'm the least typical Obama supporter. And there are many more like me.

I cut my political teeth in the seventies through the early eighties as an organizer in the antiabortion religious right. I'm a fifty-five year old white man who has been a conservative most of my life. I've been a Republican activist who campaigned for McCain in 2000. I'm a big fan of the military. My son served in the Marines. If Obama can reach me he can reach anyone.


My support for Obama has cost me friends. For instance the Bush family gave one of my recent military-related books (Keeping Faith-A Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps) a ringing endorsement. After Laura Bush read an excerpt out on Meet The Press sales skyrocketed. I probably won't get too many more of those sorts of endorsements. But the chips are down and the presidential choice this year is too important not to not fight for.

We can't afford McCain. He'd be a president with a desire to be vindicated and "win" at all costs in Iraq. Iraq never attacked us. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The terrorists were not in Iraq while Hussein was in charge. We opened the door for them. We aren't bringing democracy to Iraq. This was a war of dumb choice launched in a part of the world that can't ever be fixed by our military.

The next president will inherit the mess George W. Bush created with a big assist from Senator McCain. Above all we need a completely fresh start. And of only Senator Obama can provide that.

McCain has taken his lack of judgment about Iraq to the next level. McCain won't do do what is good for America, or even good for our military men and women. For instance, he is against the new GI Bill that would give fair educational benefits to our men and women. McCain doesn't want to give them anything that might entice them to do anything but go to war, again and again and again. McCain serves the warrior god of his warrior ancestors, not America's best interests.

As I see it our choice is between a heroic old man whose time has long past and who will perpetuate failed policy, and a brilliant, openhearted new founding father of the new post-racial, post-divided America the likes of which we have not seen.

How do my old pro-life views square with Obama's pro-choice beliefs? Very well. Today when I listen to Obama speak (and to his remarkable wife, Michelle) what I hear is a world view that nurtures life. Obama is trying to lead this country to a place where the intrinsic worth of each individual is celebrated. He is a leader who believes in hope, the future, trying to save our planet and providing a just and good life for everyone. This makes him someone who is actually pro-life as opposed to Bush who paid lip service to right wing religion but did the opposite of nurturing life at every turn, including senselessly killing our soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

The society that Obama is calling us to join him in striving for is a place wherein life would be valued not just talked about. As he said in his speech delivered on February 6 in New Orleans, "Too often, we lose our sense of common destiny; that understanding that we are all tied together; that when a woman has less than nothing in this country, that makes us all poorer." Obama was talking about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but his words also apply to our overall view of ourselves.

How do my pro-military views square with Obama? Very well.

Republicans may talk about patriotism but through their stubborn support for Bush's Iraq war they have become our military's worst enemies. And many of us in the military family have had it with the Republican's bellicose nonsense -- Bush's "Bring it on!" and now McCain's version; "I'll chase bin Laden to the gates of hell!" and "We'll win!" Enough is enough.

Obama comes to us from outside the system that has produced our present multiple crises of wars of choice and a failing economy. He does what all truly great leaders do: he speaks to the soul in plain self-revealing words of hope.

I think we all vote on an emotional level, whatever we say about our "reasons." And I know that I'm not the only tired culture warrior from the right who feels relieved and uplifted and -- most importantly -- believes Obama when I hear him talk about bringing us together to shape a better future. I also believe that he is an authentic man of faith. His sincere inclusion of Christian faith in his conversation with us rings true to this preacher's kid.

Obama touches me. He has a prophetic authenticity that reminds me of W.E.B. Du Bois' prayers that Du Bois sometimes wrote for his students. Obama also brings a touch of Billy Graham with him to the podium. His is a deeply spiritual call. And his critics that have dismissed Obama's ability to inspire as "mere words" are dead wrong.

We have never needed inspiration more. And we have never needed a president to inspire the rest of the world more. Every international opinion poll shows that Obama is not only the most popular American leader, perhaps ever, but more popular than any other world leader today.

Obama offers civility. Obama speaks in complete sentences, well-turned paragraphs, offers thoughts with intellectual depth, nuance, humility and compassion. Obama does not play on our fears. Electing Obama will also tell the world--and most importantly ourselves--that we can grow, learn and move on when it comes to race. We can heal our wounds. We can set an example again.

Obama is worth fighting for. He is worth losing old friends for. History has given us an unlikely lifeline. Do we have the decency and sense to open our hearts? What a great moment this is!


http://progressivesforobama.blogspot.com

Read The Full Article:
http://progressivesforobama.blogspot.com/2008/08/uniting-all-who-can-be-united-vs
-mccain.html

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Pictures: Town Hall in Berea, Ohio

Barack just concluded his town hall in Berea, Ohio. Here are some photos from the event...

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http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gG5ztc

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LIVE: Barack's Town Hall in Berea, Ohio

Barack is currently holding a town hall meeting with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. You can watch the event live below...

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http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gG5zvB

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Quote of the Day

Sorry, it's not on politics but it's a good one:

CNN's Nancy Grace is the most loathsome, feckless troll to currently,
inexplicably, have a forum on national television. She's a vile, unscrupulous
monster who peddles morbid prurience like a cheap streetwalker and whose brand
of rank solipsism is matched only by her near-sociopathic disregard for the
lives she's ruined and exploited and by her apparent contempt for the tenets of
responsible journalism (to say nothing of basic human decency).

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/WeNeedObama/~3/356585860/quote-of-day.html

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Obama on the 15th Anniversary of FMLA

Today the Obama campaign released the following statement of Senator Barack Obama on the 15th Anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA):

Statement of Senator Barack Obama on the
15th Anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act

Chicago, IL --Senator Obama released the following statement on the 15th Anniversary of the Family Medical Leave Act going into effect.

"Fifteen years ago today, working families everywhere achieved a victory when the Family and Medical Leave Act went into effect. This groundbreaking law helps guarantee that America's workers shouldn't have to choose between their jobs or their health and the health of their families.

"Because of the FMLA, more than eighty million people have been able to take needed time off work to care for themselves or family members. Because of the FMLA, mothers and fathers can take time off work to care for a new baby without fear of being replaced by their employer, a daughter can take time to care for a bedridden father without fear of being reprimanded, and parents can take time to help a child recuperate after surgery without facing interruption in health insurance. And rather than harm employers, the FMLA has led to a boost in profits for many employers.

"As President, I will help fulfill the FMLA's promise. I'll expand the act to cover businesses with 25 or more employees, extending coverage to millions of workers and their families so that they will be able to take time off to care for a baby or an elderly parent - or just have a few hours to attend a parent-teacher conference or take a child to the doctor. I'll also expand permissible reasons for taking time off to include addressing domestic violence and sexual assault.

"And because millions of people a year who are covered by FMLA can't afford to take the time to which they're entitled, I'll assist states in adopting paid-leave systems. Strengthening the Family and Medical Leave Act won't just benefit employers or workers, it will help put the American Dream within reach for hardworking families."

To read Senator Obama's plan to support working families, click HERE .

###

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Voices for Change: Amanda in Kentucky

Many of Barack's supporters come from various places on the political spectrum. Democrats, Independents, and even Republicans are declaring their support for Barack and working hard to get him elected.

Amanda is a 30-year-old real estate agent and mother from Kentucky. Growing up, her family always supported Republicans.

I'm a registered Republican, but I really liked [Barack] after the Democratic Convention the last time around. I really appreciated his viewpoint.

For Amanda, the handling of Hurricane Katrina left her looking to vote for change in 2008.

...The final straw came during Hurricane Katrina. I felt that the response was lacking. If it had been anyone else in the world or anywhere else in the world...then the response would have been a little bit quicker. We can do better.

Amanda has been working as hard as she can to get Barack elected.  She's been talking to friends and family about Barack and the positive change that he'll bring to America.

I hope that by having an Obama sticker on my car and talking to everyone I know about what a different kind of politician Senator Obama is and why I believe in him, I can make sure that he's elected this fall.

Amanda is one of millions of supporters from across the country. Join her and others in supporting our campaign for change by making a grassroots donation today!

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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http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamahqblog/gGxPzl

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