Walking the Talk

Lately I have received dozens of emails from angry Obama supporters who say that they are going to protest on March 31st in Washington D.C. against Hillary's attempts to steal the election. It is one thing to want to be heard by actually attending the meeting itself. But the strategy of staging massive Obama protests concerns me.

Why would we even consider staging demonstrations that will only serve to amplify her message?

Why are we allowing Hillary to manipulate us into fighting her battle on her turf? Why are we not keeping our focus on the positive message "Change that we can believe in"?

Many of us have lived through decades of angry and hateful demonstrations. No matter how right or wrong their cause, in every case they were always looking for special treatment. Look around. Is this really the kind of world we want to live in?

The Obama campaign is about "Change we can believe in." Real change requires that we actually respond differently.

I will not protest. I will not get angry. I will not play Hillary's game.

Instead I will put all of my energy into getting Obama votes in every primary and in every state until Obama wins the Democratic nomination.

We need to be out in the field earning peoples votes; not in Washington DC trying to stop Hillary from stealing them. That's her baggage; not ours.

G Kentuckiana for Obama

Operation Puerto Rico

Operation Puerto Rico is actually happening right now. We did so well that Obama Puerto Rico is now facing an accommodation shortage.

The need is not for airline miles, but for hotel points.

Well, I guess we have one more thing that we can do to make a difference.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you fellow Obama supporters for your limitless support.

You know, it looks like we might finally get to live in that "Obama world" after all.

G Kentuckiana for Obama

from: Carla Mays <carla4obama@gmail.com>
date: Wed, May 21, 2008 at 3:05 PM
subject: Re: Operation Puerto Rico

Hello from San Juan, Puerto Rico!!!

We are still in dire need of supporter housing!!! Please call me if you can help with hotels and lodging. Especially for the Texas Team which arrives Friday, head by Jorge Ruiz from Houston! Call contact Christine Potthast in Houston, if you can help.

Thank you, Obama Texans you have spent 16 people to Puerto Rico!

Carla Mays Team Leader, Team Deliver Puerto Rico for Obama carla4obama@gmail.com 760.438.2529

From two days ago:

The polls in Kentucky closed 15 minutes ago. It’s time to shift our focus to the Puerto Rico Primary on June 1st. We need to fly as many Obama supporters to Puerto Rico as possible. It’s not too late to make a difference. Read on.

Countless Obama supporters have expressed their heartfelt regret that either their personal lives or their finances prevent them from contributing more to the Obama campaign. This one is from Indianapolis, Indiana:

Mon, May 12, 2008 at 8:02AM

“I'm really interested in exactly what I can do right now to help Obama take these remaining states so we can get on with working on the general election. I'm a stay-at-home mom and according to the demographics out there, I should fit into the Clinton supporters except that I have a college degree. We're very low income, my husband works longer than 12-hour days so that leaves me with our 2 children. One of our boys is autistic so child care simply isn't an option. I canvassed my legs off and unintentionally got into physical shape (exercise is bad) before the Indiana primaries :) I have the inner drive the somehow put my kids in some sort of stasis so I can take off and canvass the remaining states, but I don't have the money. What else can I do? And what do we as a group need to be doing? Writing editorials for local papers? Is the postcard thing still happening? Other options?

“I've never been very involved in politics before because all of it always had those corrupt undertones, but Obama feels so fresh and real. This is the first time in my life that I've donated to a campaign and actually gotten involved. I've had lively political conversations with my parents and friends and it feels good. In the past 8 years I have felt myself becoming more and more anti-American, but I have a growing feeling of hope and it's so wonderful! Dawn is coming! I honestly don't understand how everyone doesn't feel and see this so I want to get out there and open their eyes.

“I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone who has ideas of ways that we "poorer" folks can help out. (I hate that term, but it's accurate). Please answer either on the list or on my personal e-mail~ amster_71@comcast.net. You Indy Southside canvassers might remember me :-)

“Thanks everyone! YES WE CAN!!!

“Amy”

How many other Americans are in the same predicament as Amy? How can we help them all to participate?

Right now Puerto Rico is up for grabs. They will be holding their primary on June 1st. The Democratic candidate who can immediately deploy the most field personnel will certainly be the winner. The Obama campaign has experienced volunteers in place stateside who are itching to get started.

Unfortunately, it is expensive to send volunteers to Puerto Rico.

Amy, there is one way that you and every other Obama supporter can still make a difference – without having to leave home or spending a penny.

Starting this very moment, make it your personal mission to get the word out to every Obama supporter that you possibly can. Ask them to immediately gather up all those free airline miles that have been just sitting around collecting dust and donate them to “Puerto Rico for Obama.”

Above all else, me must mobilize and deploy STAT.

Instructions from Obama Puerto Rico are as follows:

Any donor can call us at 760-438-2529 or 760-815-6084.

We will take down their phone number, e-mail, how many miles they are willing to contribute, and for which airline.

Once we have an organizer's itinerary set-up, we will contact the donor. The donor will then contact the airline to transfer the miles to the itinerary.

Fees vary from airline to airline.

Benjamin

Team Deliver Puerto Rico for Obama

Amy, we’ll see you in D.C.

G
Kentuckiana for Obama

It is very important for all of you who read this letter to take a moment and Digg this story [ http://digg.com ]. There is no faster way to spread this type of message than Digg.

We will coordinate with the Obama Team in Puerto Rico to post progress reports

Wonderful Email Exchange

Just wanted to share this email exchange:

My loved friends, nothing happened in the past days (apart Mr. Edwards endorsement..)! Are all groups sleeping ! We still have not anything in our basket...why seems we stopped ? Let's wake up and be ready for next move, in Kentucky and Oregon. Your friend from Italy, Simone

My reply:

We can only hope that they are all out canvassing and therefore don't have enough time to talk. I can tell you that at the Obama KY HQ in Louisville that we started to see a dramatic increase in walk-in volunteers last Monday. It has been noticeably increasing daily. Naturally, we can use all the volunteer help that we can get. I can't wait to get back to Italy, Simone. I especially miss Assisi.
G Kentuckiana for Obama

And Simone responded:

Dear Glenn,
thanks for your message. Very good news, yours !
As I was in Cleveland last March, knocking doors on behalf of Sen. Obama, I know the feeling that inspire all volunteers!
The World is approaching the CHANGE, with our leader.
I'm so sorry I can't afford the ticket to fly and reach Kentucky to help you and all volunteers...but we will have phonebanking sessions, until Tuesday !
I live about 1 hour distance to Assisi, in Le Marche Region. I love Assisi,too.
Go with Obama.
Your italian friend,
Simone

Kentucky Obama HQ Report - 5/14

Last night I got home and sent the following email to every Obama listserve group in Indiana. I am active on all of them. While I was working in the office today, the thought came to mind that your situation in Ohio is geographically identical to ours here in Indiana.

The John Edwards endorsement has dramatically improved the dynamics here in KY. The direct result is that we now have a far larger pool of undecided and swing voters. These are the voters who ultimately decide an election. Or I should say, getting these particular voters to actually go to the polls and vote for Obama is what will decide the KY primary.

The most effective means of "delivering the vote" is called a GOTV drive or Get Out The Vote drive. The success of a GOTV drive is determined primarily by two factors.

The first difficult challenge is to find and mobilize enough supporters/volunteers to knock on the door of every potential voter for our candidate and then to find a way to get these individuals to actually vote.

This is where the second difficult challenge comes into play. It is at this point that the campaign staff has to face a total logistic nightmare. Exactly how can the campaign staff effectively get this onslaught of new volunteers to the exact geographic areas where they will do the most good? Is this even possible?

This brings us to the crux of the dilemma. Traditionally, out-of-town volunteers simply pack up and head out to whatever place suits their fancy. Now, while this is an excellent strategy for planning a vacation, but for a political campaign it is a Category 5 disaster. Historically, it was simply an inevitable reality of the process. Not any more.

This success of the Obama campaign in using internet based information processing to mobilize and coordinate grass roots campaigning is already well known. Unfortunately, what most people do not know is that for the first time in political campaign history the Obama staff now has the same technological ability to process information and then to immediately deploy its personnel in response to this input as does the military. Here in the Obama HQ alone there are 3 floors of professional FOs armed with computers who are highly trained to do nothing else.

The only remaining problem is for the Obama campaign staff to somehow get their out-of-town volunteers to understand that the first and most important thing that they need to do is to simply to plug into the system. Our computer programs are fully capable of matching each and every volunteer to that one specific location where their hard work will do the most good for the campaign.

It does not matter if you are staying in KY for a couple of days, or shuttling back and forth from your home into Louisville every day. We must all make it a point to plug into the system as early as possible.

If we do not plug into the system how does the system know that we are even here? If the staff knows you are coming, not only can they direct you to the best location but they can also help you to find accommodations, hook up with your group and arrange transportation. This convenience will not only make your trip a great deal more pleasurable, it will also help you to use your time doing volunteer activities and not just wasting your precious time driving around a town you do not know.

Sometimes, this unregulated volunteer flow can even end up causing more harm than good.

So here is your portal into the Obama volunteer campaign world.

Sol Villarreal
Out-of-state volunteer coordinator
Obama for America, Louisville office

Please be advised that the volunteer process in Louisville has changed. The main office on Market St. is no longer "the staging area." Fully manned regional field offices have been set up throughout KY and are now completely operational. Volunteers are being given specific instructions on an individual basis that tells them how to locate their most compatible and useful field office.

It looks like we may just make a race out of this one after all.

G
Kentuckiana for Obama

---

I hope that some of you neighbors will be willing to help us give Hillary the down-home welcome that she deserves. ;-)

Kentucky Obama HQ Report - 5/13

Today was a slow-paced day at KY HQ. Of course, after yesterday's Obama event madness even a normal day would feel like a Zen retreat.

All the FOs were busy at their computers trying to catch up on their work load. Working here has given me a new appreciation and respect for the campaign staffers. These people are the most dedicated and hard working people you will ever meet. They rank right up there with Peace Corps volunteers and combat infantry. Most had gotten little or no sleep last night; and the night before, and the night ... No joke. And this for months on end.

How???

My (un)official and self-appointed responsibilities include cleaning up the trash; sorting out the recycle; cleaning bathrooms, etc. (The chaos of a field office drives me nuts. You simply can not do good business in a poor work environment.) As a result the staff is now openly friendly. They even know my name. ;-)

As my grass was now a solid 10-12" high, I was forced to limit my shift to catch up on my badly neglected personal affairs. After all, come Friday it will be non-stop pandemonium.

But I still had 2 hours to burn. So I began looking around for what else needed to be done. Suddenly I remembered that the head honcho (we're talking KY, here) had asked for a soda. That was when it caught my attention that there were not only no sodas, but no drinking water or food anywhere in sight.

So I went over to Jen, the staffer that I chose as my sole boss. She is an absolutely warm and caring person. She is also honest and quick witted.

"Jen, what is going on around here? No beverage, no food: Please tell me it ain't so," I moaned.

Jen then explained to me that it was just a temporary hiccup, but had already been taken care of. But for me it was time to go to the grocery store; list in hand.

Honestly, I would rather be cleaning the toilet than braving a grocery store in mid afternoon. I worked my way through college as a retail grocery clerk. I still have flashbacks.

Two hours after I left, I returned with a trunk full of soda, water, fresh fruit, veggies, dip, a variety of chocolate candy and a box of orange push pops (Julia, the bosses, one great passion).

It was now time to go home and cut grass; look at a week's worth of accumulated mail ....

I believe that my strategy is working, though. You start by cleaning up their trash, then you buy them tons of food and drinks. Of course, you make certain to get something special for the boss (or you might as well not have bothered to go in the first place).

Who knows, at this rate they might even talk to me. ;-)

See you guys tomorrow.

G
Kentuckiana for Obama

Kentucky Obama HQ Report - 5/12

I just got back from working the Louisville office. Frankly, I am physically annihilated but emotionally super-charged.

With Obama coming in to speak tonight, it was absolute mayhem at the field office today. How crazy? Well, for one thing, we had 4 volunteers assigned just to answer the phones. We are now almost wiped out of every kind of campaign volunteer tools, from T-shirts to bumper stickers. People squeezed just to get through the main room. It was the Friday morning after Thanksgiving.

It has not always been this way.

The whole time I worked the southern part of Indiana all the volunteers felt as if we were carrying water uphill. Thank God we were motivated. All we could possibly hope for was to minimize the final damage. And so we pushed forward; one day and one vote at a time.

Finally, it was Primary night. The final results came in. Field volunteers from all over the country had done the impossible. We had come within 2% from winning the Indiana Democratic Primary for Obama.

We literally went euphoric. Talk about an incredible feeling.

Never did a "loss" feel more like a victory. Primary night in New Albany, IN was one of the most uplifting moments of my life. The volunteers worked so relentlessly, and against such formidable odds, that we stopped Hillary dead in her tracks. Think about it. The press is still asking, "Hillary who?" The North Carolina and Indiana state primaries were the Gettysburg of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Campaign.

Ever since May 7th, this is definitely not the same country. If the voters here in the urban areas of Kentucky are any indication, Kentucky could cinch the '08 Presidential Democratic campaign for Barack Obama.

Fellow Hoosiers, I got here the hard way. I started in Ohio. I came back home to Jeffersonville, IN. Now I am working in Kentucky. As unbelievable as this may sound, you have my word for one thing: Obama will smash the current projections. It may be unrealistic, but deep inside I personally am looking for an upset. The atmosphere is electrifying here in Louisville. It is times and places like this that History is made.

I urge every Hoosier, every American, to share in this incredible experience. Indiana was the blow that stopped Hillary Clinton. Now let's make Kentucky the crown jewel.

And if your journey happens to take you through Louisville, please do stop by and say hello. We are located at 900 E. Market St., Louisville, KY.

G
Kentuckiana for Obama