Ad Battles

First of all, I am amazed at how quickly an ad can be created and released. Talk about timely. Wow.

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Road Blog: Day in Pictures, Virginia

"You don't need to have a Nobel Prize in economics to know that the economy hasn't been working well for most people." - Barack Obama

Barack continued his travels through Virginia today, holding town meetings and talking about the tough choices people make in this economy. "People have to decide if they will cut back on food or get their kid a new coat."

Two hundred-fifty folks came to John Tyler Community College in Chester, and 2600 Virginians crowded into the gym at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake to listen, share stories, and ask questions.
 
One woman in attendance was Kathy Crew-Canovski. As a social worker, she was able to tell not only her own story -- struggling with rising prices and living check-to-check -- but also the stories of others in the community. She is on the front lines and sees the impact failed policies of the last eight years have had on local citizens, especially those denied proper healthcare.

Between events Barack also met several people during unscheduled stops.  These are people who may not seek out political gatherings, but they know what is and isn’t working for them in their daily lives.
 
At a surprise stop at Longstreet’s Deli in Petersburg, VA, Barack met a group of three soldiers stationed at Ft. Lee. Two of the soldiers, Staff Sgt. Christina Donnan, and Sgt. 1st Class Buck Hawes, were able to explain in one word the reason they have embraced his campaign: change.

As Barack said in Chesapeake, "What this comes down to is whether or not we are going to keep on doing the same things that we have been doing over the last eight years or if we are going to use this election to fundamentally change the way we do business."
 
Enjoy the day in pictures,

Arun Chaudhary
August 21, 2008
En route to Chicago

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Organize for Change: One Last Night for
Convention Watch Party Packets

For the fourth night in a row, our volunteer crew here at the Chicago HQ will be staying up late assembling and mailing packets to all of the Organize for Change Convention Watch Party hosts. Due to the incredible response, we've extended the deadline for event creation to midnight tonight (Thursday).

All event hosts who create their event online before the deadline tonight will receive an official Watch Party packet. Each packet includes a free DVD and "Change" sign, Democratic National Convention stickers, a voter registration guide, a meeting agenda and sign-in forms.

Thursday, August 28th will be an incredible night, and we're inviting all our supporters to participate in this historic moment. Sign up to host or attend a Convention Watch Party in your community:

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How Many Houses Do You Own

Yesterday, a reporter asked John McCain how many houses he owns.  He didn't know, but he did offer to have a staffer investigate the matter. "I think — I’ll have my staff get to you. It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you."

Do you know how many houses you own?

At a time when many Americans are struggling to pay the mortgage on just one home, John McCain has shown how out of touch he is with the issues everyday people face. Today, Obama supporters across the country spoke out about the day-to-day challenges they face.

On the Pennsylvania blog:

Craig from Allenton was in the city with his daughters. The family had planned to spend a week at Disney World this summer, but the struggling economy and tight finances at home forced them to change their plans. Instead, they were taking a "stay-cation," spending the week at home and coming into Philadelphia for an afternoon. Several other people I spoke with estimated they would probably need to own at least 50 homes before they forgot the number.

And in Maine:

“John McCain has so many houses that he can’t remember how many he owns,” said Representative Mike Dunn. “That doesn’t give me confidence that he understands how hard it is for most Mainers to pay for a home for their families. Every day, John McCain shows that he is completely out of touch with regular Americans, whether he’s offering billions more in tax breaks for the oil companies or declaring that multimillionaires are members of the middle class."

Finally, if you live in Michigan and can figure out the real number of houses that McCain owns, you can win a bumpter sticker:

Volunteers are invited to stop by our Campaign for Change offices across Michigan and make a guess at how many houses John McCain owns.

We will not be able to award prizes until McCain or his campaign offer their “Final Answer” on exactly how many houses John McCain owns. In today’s Politico story, McCain’s campaign said the answer is “at least four.” Newsweek has reported the answer is “at least seven.”

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Grassroots Finance Committee: Faye in Miami,
Florida

Faye, 49, is a fire department captain in Miami, Florida who usually spends her free time playing basketball. But after Barack won the Democratic primary, Faye decided she needed to find time to get involved in the campaign.

After what has gone on in our government for the past eight years, our country needs a change, and Obama seems to be the right person to bring us that change.

Faye had done some volunteering for her local congressman before – mostly taking people to the polls on Election Day  – but had never donated to a political campaign before. But when she learned about the personal fundraising pages of My.BarackObama.com, she thought it sounded like an easy way for a busy firefighter to get involved.

It was clear to me that in order for Obama to compete in this election, he was going to need money. And it was time for the rest of us to get to work and help him our as much as we can. If you can spare $25, it’s easy to do and makes a huge difference for the campaign.

“Most of the donors are my friends, and the majority are other firefighters.” To get people to donate, Faye sent emails to everyone she knew, made some phone calls, and talked to a bunch of her friends at the fire station. “I convinced them that now is the time for them to get involved. And they did!”

Faye set a personal goal of $1,000, and has already reached and exceeded her own goal, raising $1,145 from 19 contributors.

Faye found the online donor system so easy, she took it to the next level. Faye is part of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, and the association decided to help the campaign’s efforts. The firefighters association created a pin which they now give to their members who donate to the Obama campaign. Thanks to her efforts, she has donations from not only friends in Miami, but firefighters across the United States.

Faye says she will continue with her grassroots fundraising through the election.

It’s easy, it’s important, and it’s a great way to get involved.

Learn how you can start your own grassroots fundraising page and contribute to the campaign.

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LIVE: Barack in Chesapeake, Virginia

Barack is in Chesapeake, Virginia holding a town hall meeting at Oscar Smith High School. He is joined by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Watch the event live below...

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Road to Denver: Jacob from Iowa

Jacob, 24, of New Vienna, Iowa was not even here to cast his vote in the 2004 elections. He had to send his ballot in direct from Baghdad. A soldier in the 82nd Airborne based out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Jacob spent four years in the Army, including two deployments to Baghdad as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

But his next deployment will be much easier – Jacob is soon leaving Iowa for Colorado to be a delegate at the national convention.

“Since I was oversees during the last election, I wanted to be more involved this time,” he says. “It’s just something I felt I had to do. In that way, it’s a lot like when I joined the Army. I just followed my gut.”

This time, Jacob’s gut has driven him to get involved in influencing the future of the Democratic Party at the convention and stand up for his fellow soldiers.

I told people at the delegate electing convention how I felt about the war. We have 150,000 pairs of boots on the ground, and every day a family is told that their son or daughter will come home wearing only one boot, or simply find their boots sent him in a box.

I will be wearing my boots at the convention. I wanted to be a delegate to give a voice to the men and women in the military and make sure the government hears them.

Jacob is especially concerned about the Iraq war and veterans issues. He was injured in Iraq and is now considered 80% disabled by the Army, primarily due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). When he left the Army, he joined a group in Iowa trying to get help for injured soldiers returning home.

The government estimates that more than 20 percent of soldiers coming back from Iraq have PTSD. The effects of this are huge. Families are hurt by it. We need to care for these guys and get them the help they need. The new GI Bill is a great start. It’s about time.

Jacob even wrote a book about his own experiences in Iraq. He says the writing helped in dealing with his own PTSD and the realities of war.

My greatest hope is that we can get out of Iraq soon. We need to finish the job but do it responsibly. There are good things coming out of the war, but they are nothing compared with the atrocities we are seeing. There are over 35,000 dead and 4,000 wounded. We’re sending people home broken. And we need to fix this policy.

Jacob hopes Obama will bring a fresh perspective to the war. “Obama is new, young, and has the intestinal fortitude to see these things through and bring back the power to the people. America has always been great. We just need to get back on track.”

Since returning from the Army, Jacob has become a full time college student studying secondary education and English. He hopes to become a teacher. He is also adjusting back to farming life. Jacob hopes to address agricultural issues as a delegate at the convention.

I was raised on a family dairy farm, and when I got out of the military I bought acreage next to the farm I grew up on. Family farms are really struggling right now. The rising costs of fuel is hard on farmers, and the price that we’re getting for our products is not keeping up with rising inflation. We need to help the small family farmers.

In addition to being a delegate, Jacob has been working to get more people voting. “We can’t forget the power of the vote. It’s the most powerful tool we have.”

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

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

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Barack in Chester, Virginia: "The answer is John
McCain has seven homes"

Earlier today at a town hall in Chester, Virginia Barack spoke about the real economic challenges facing Americans and the need for a president who has a sense of what ordinary people are going through.

Barack explained:

[John McCain's] top economic advisers said the other day that Americans should stop complaining, that they've become a nation of "whiners." That all of the economic problems that everyone is talking about is just a mental recession.

... Then yesterday, he was asked again, "What do you think about the economy?" And he said "I think the economy is fundamentally strong." Now this puzzled me. I was confused as to what he meant. But then there was another interview .... where somebody asked John McCain "How many houses do you have?" And he said "I'm not sure, I'll have to check with my staff."

... If you don't know how many houses you have, you might think that the economy is fundamentally strong. But if you're like me and you've got one house, or if you're one of the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so that they don't lose their home, you might have a different perspective.

By the way, the answer is John McCain has seven homes.

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Needs In The Austin Obama Office

Good news -- the Obama campaign is re-opening an office in Austin for the Texas staff. Staff will use it to lay the groundwork for victory this November. The space is great, but the staff could use the support of Austin residents to make the campaign even more effective.

I noticed that the office needs the following supplies. Can any of the great BOR readers help?

• Fax Machine
• Room Dividers
• Microwave
• Computer Printers
• Office Copy Machine
• Area Rugs

Any infrastructure that we can donate will allow the campaign to invest all of its resources into field staff and persuasion materials. If you can spare any of these items until November, please shoot me an email and I'll take care of it!

My email is keh303 (at) gmail.com  


Read The Full Article:
http://blog.texansforobama.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1292

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TarrantObama.org up and ready!

(posted for Mark Greene)

Hey Fellow Texans for Obama;

We are a group of neighbors and fellow citizens from Fort Worth and the surrounding areas of Arlington, Grand Prairie, Haltom City, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Colleyville and Grapevine who care about this country and know that we have much work to do to ensure that Senator Barack Obama, a great candidate, becomes a great president of the United States.

By working together for his election, and that of other Democrats in the Fort Worth area, we know that we can go far to get Tarrant County, Texas moving in the right direction.

http://tarrantobama.org

We invite you to bookmark this site for information and community support, as we build a strong coalition for much needed change and improvement in Tarrant County. Over the next few weeks, we will be revealing new tools and methods for communicating with each other as we work together to elect a new president and chart a course for a better future!

That's a big challenge. Can we do it?

Yes we can.
http://tarrantobama.org

Would you like to be more involved?

Mark Greene
Co-Organizer/Tarrant for Obama
www.tarrantobama.org
817.626.8683 Main Office Line


Read The Full Article:
http://blog.texansforobama.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1291

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