Category — Barack Obama

We’re excited to announce a new online voter registration tool, www.voteforchange.com. VoteForChange.com makes it easier than ever to check your own voter registration, make sure your registration information is correct and up-to-date, and soon it will even be able to find your specific polling location. You can also sign up to vote early, apply to vote absentee, and find out what you need to bring with you to the polls on Election Day.

If you’re not registered to vote yet, go to www.voteforchange.com and register to be part of the political process this election.

Turnout is going to be crucial to this election. Use www.voteforchange.com to make sure that you — and your friends and family — have your voice heard on Election Day.

Gas prices are going through the roof in Idaho these days. “But maybe that’s just a good way to get us all to ride our bikes to work more,” says Mary Pat, 52, of Boise, Idaho, as she got off her bike to answer a phone call from the campaign.

But the gas prices aren’t the only sign that the economy in Boise is having trouble. Mary Pat says the whole economy in Boise is sinking. “It’s all going downhill. Downtown just tanked. A nice restaurant down the street just closed. Stores are closing and people are hurting; it’s hard everywhere.”

Mary Pat and her husband have felt the impact of the economic downturn first-hand. They owned a retail business for 20 years and recently lost it to the receding economy. "It was just taking every dime that we had, so last year we closed our doors. It was such a sad thing because we had put so much energy into it.  It was like a child."

It was pretty devastating. We both worked in the store, so it was our only income. When it closed, we had no retirement, no nest egg. So I went out and got a job, and my husband is looking for a job as well. But at least it made me get involved in other things. I’ve never been involve in politics before, but now I am.

I’ve done calls – I called Oregon before their primary. And I give Obama my $5 whenever I can to keep him going.

The economy is Mary Pat’s “number one issue,” but she’s also concerned about healthcare.

My husband and I are in good health, but we spend over $700 a month on healthcare for the two of us. We have health insurance, but we need to make it more affordable.

At 52 years old, Mary Pat, who has three grown children and six grandchildren, is glad to finally be involved in the political process.

I always avoided politics before, but I started getting interested in Barack early on. When he came to Boise, I was just won over by him. I’ve been proud of him in the campaign. He gives us hope.

If you can spare $5 this month, join Mary Pat and our millions of supporters across the United States and help bring hope to your community.

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 different backgrounds, but they share a common goal of helping bring about fundamental change in Washington.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Democrat Barack Obama renewed his outreach to female voters Wednesday.

…Speaking under a hot summer sun to a largely female crowd in this small Ohio town [New Philadelphia], Obama spoke of the struggles his mother and grandmother had endured. And he promised to push legislation that would ensure equal pay for women should he win the White House.

…The Democratic presidential nominee described his mother’s efforts to finish school and earn money after she gave birth to him at age 18.

"There were times that she didn’t have enough money for groceries. And even though she was very proud and very independent, there were a couple of times growing up where she accepted food stamps to make sure we had enough food on the table," Obama said. "It was tough. And it was pretty much tough all the way through my teenage years."

…Eight hundred miles away from the Republican National Convention, in the rolling hills of eastern Ohio, Obama held a "women’s economic event" to highlight the struggles of working mothers.

During his first campaign stop in two days, Obama talked at length about his grandmother, who he said had worked her way up from the secretarial pool to become a vice president at a bank after World War II.

"I think about my grandmother and what she could have done if she had been treated equal, if she had been treated fairly," he said.

…Obama, however, is not relying solely on his biography. Last week, the his campaign began running a radio ad featuring a Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner who says McCain is "out of touch with women today."

"McCain wants to take away our right to choose," she says in the ad, which is airing in swing states. "That’s what women need to understand. That’s how high the stakes are."

The Obama campaign also is reaching out to women through house parties, phone banks and online organizing. A campaign official said that on Women’s Equality Day, which is commemorated annually on Aug. 26, female Obama supporters held nearly 200 events nationwide in an effort to recruit women.

From the Associated Press:

Joe Biden says he left his gallbladder in Fort Myers, Fla.

That campaign line is unlikely to rival Tony Bennett’s tune about his heart and San Francisco, but the Democratic vice presidential candidate is hoping it helps win over voters in swing state Florida, which crushed the party’s White House dreams in 2000.

Biden wrapped up a two-day campaign trip to the state Wednesday, talking to voters in this Gulf Coast city about matters political and personal.

The Delaware senator outlined his strong pro-Israel stand to Jewish voters in the state, scoffed at the Republicans’ push for offshore oil drilling and reminded Floridians that Barack Obama supports a national insurance backup fund and Republican John McCain doesn’t — an issue that’s timely with three tropical storms churning in the Atlantic Ocean.

And his folksy style is going over well.

"There’s two things every guy should have," he said Wednesday. "A brother-in-law with a pickup truck and a brother with a place in Florida. I used to have both."

…"I left part of me here in Fort Myers," he said. "You have one of the best hospitals in America in Lee County Memorial. They have my gallbladder."

…Presidential candidate Obama has pumped $8.5 million into television ads here while building up a state organization with 200 paid staffers and 36 offices. Polls show a competitive race.

…Democrats also have done a better job of registering voters. In the first seven months of the year, Democrats increased their numbers by nearly 253,000, compared with slightly more than 98,000 more Republicans. Overall, Florida has about 4.4 million Democrats, 3.9 million Republicans and 2.3 million voters who aren’t registered with either party.

The Democrats estimates about 600,000 registered black voters stayed home in 2004, more than Bush’s margin of victory in the state. And nearly 600,000 black Floridians aren’t registered to vote.

Biden has tried to work in issues important to Florida during his campaigning here, most notably Obama’s support for a national insurance backup fund to help make homeowners insurance more affordable and available.

…In Fort Myers on Wednesday, Biden fired up a crowd by criticizing McCain’s push for offshore drilling, saying Florida would be a prime target. Many Floridians oppose drilling because of fears it would hurt tourism and harm the environment.

From the Kennebec Journal:

During World War II, soldiers crouching in foxholes penned letters assuring their sweethearts that they’d be home soon. Now, between firefights in the Iraqi desert, some infantrymen have been sending a different kind of mail stateside: $200 to $300 — or whatever they can spare — toward a presidential election that could very well determine just how soon they come home.

According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions as has Republican John McCain.

…Despite McCain’s status as a decorated veteran and the historically Republican leanings among the military, members of the armed services overall — whether stationed overseas or at home — are favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008 by a $55,000 margin.

Although 59 percent of federal contributions by military personnel for all offices has gone to Republicans this cycle, of money to the presumed presidential nominees, 57 percent has gone to Obama.

…In each of the other branches — including the Navy, in which McCain served when he was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War — Obama leads by significant margins.

"That’s shocking. The academic debate is between some who say that junior enlisted ranks lean slightly Republican and some who say it’s about equal, but no one would point to six-to-one" in Democrats’ favor, said Aaron Belkin, a professor of political science at the University of California who studies the military.

In 2000, Republican George W. Bush outraised Democrat Al Gore among military personnel almost 2 to 1. In 2004, with the Iraq war under way, John Kerry closed the gap with President Bush, but Bush still raised $1.50 from the military for every $1 his Democratic opponent collected.

…The Center for Responsive Politics’s totals are limited to donors contributing more than $200, since information is not provided to the Federal Election Commission for smaller contributions. So these figures are likely to represent the mood of officers disproportionately. They have more disposable income to spend on politics than do the lower ranks.

…Army Specialist Jay Navas contributed $250 while deployed in Iraq, but it wasn’t over the Internet.

"It took some effort to get that check. I had my mom send me my checkbook and I walked to the post office in Camp Liberty in Baghdad with an envelope addressed to Barack Obama in Chicago, Illinois," he said. "Most of my friends are conservative Republicans and they say, ‘I’m voting for Barack.’ McCain does not have a lock on the military vote, that’s for sure."

From WLFI 18:

As Republicans gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota, for their nominating convention, Barack Obama’s campaign was targeting Indiana voters.

Obama’s Deputy National Campaign Manager, Steve Hildebrand, lead a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning to explain why the campaign is focusing its efforts on Indiana and other selected states.

"Indiana could put Obama over the top," Hildebrand said. By the campaign’s calculations, if Obama carried every state won by the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2004, John Kerry, plus Iowa, he would be 11 electoral votes short of the 270 needed to win the White House. Indiana has 11 electoral votes.

… Despite the state’s record of voting Republican in every presidential campaign since 1964, former Indiana Secretary of State Joe Hogsett pointed to what the Obama campaign considers to be good omens in 2008.

…Hogsett said the Obama campaign sees further good news in 2008 numbers, with nearly 1.3 million Democratic votes cast in the May primary. "That’s 300 thousand more votes than John Kerry received in the 2004 election," Hogsett said. He also noted that more than a half million voters have registered in 2008, through September 3.

Dear Friend –

I wasn’t planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response.

I saw John McCain’s attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign.

But worst of all — and this deserves to be noted — they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together. Will you make a donation right now to remind them?

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack’s experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.

Let’s clarify something for them right now.

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.

And it’s no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.

Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America’s promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it’s happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.

Meanwhile, we still haven’t gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies.

It’s now clear that John McCain’s campaign has decided that desperate lies and personal attacks — on Barack Obama and on you — are the only way they can earn a third term for the Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.

But you can send a crystal clear message.

Enough is enough. Make your voice heard loud and clear by making a donation right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/fightback

Thank you for joining more than 2 million ordinary Americans who refuse to be silenced.

David

David Plouffe

Campaign Manager

Obama for America

"There is nothing I have done in my political life that has meant more to me, that has been more consequential, and that has engaged my passions as deeply as my leadership with the Violence Against Women Act." – Senator Joe Biden

After the last road update following Joe’s economic roundtable event, Joe’s motorcade traveled down a highway dotted with palm trees headed for a town hall meeting in Saratoga, Florida. According to Sgt. Beasley of the Saratoga Sheriff’s Department, 2000 people filled the seats of the Booker High School gymnasium. An American flag hung to the far right of the stage, suspended above the audience.

Shirly Brown, who served on the Women’s Domenstic Violence Caucus, introduced Joe as a leader in supporting and protecting some of our most precious resources — America’s women, children and families.

In addition to discussing the Obama-Biden plans for bettering the economy, providing access to education for more Americans, and creating a new model for energy, Joe spoke about his grandchildren’s slumber party with the Obama daughters, Sasha and Malia, during the Democratic National Convention. He said that the kind of connection the two families have is the same unity that Barack Obama will foster between people in the United States of America.

Please enjoy photographs of the day and the video of Joe’s slumber party story.

Sharon Barnes
En Route to Virginia Beach, VA

"This is as beautiful a piece of real estate as we have seen anywhere." – Sen. Barack Obama

The ride from New Philadelphia to Dillonvale goes through some pretty country. Horses and cows grazed on gentle rolling hills as the motorcade veered off the highway and onto the country roads. At a barbecue at the Piergallini Farm — Barack’s destination — two emus craned their necks curiously at campaign staff and press alongside more traditional barnyard creatures.

Introducer Gene Miller is ready for a change. As a 60 year old life-long Republican, he has not only decided to support Barack Obama, but he has also been active in the campaign for over a year, making phone calls and knocking on doors every day. Gene, a Marine who served in Vietnam, cites Obama’s willingness to work across party lines to get things done as the greatest expression of patriotism. He wants the same opportunities that he had as a young man for his grandchildren and worries that if we keep doing the same things they could lose their piece of the American dream.

Enjoy the day in pictures from Eastern Ohio,

Arun Chaudhary
September 3, 2008
En Route to Pittsburgh

Last Thursday night former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sat with Hillary Clinton at Invesco Field in Denver and listened to Barack deliver his nomination acceptance speech.  For Albright, the speech was the culmination of a summer spent getting to know Barack Obama, after having worked tirelessly for Senator Clinton during the primaries.  She listened to his books on tape, spoke with him on the phone, and along with 40 million other Americans, watched him lay out a 21st century vision for our country in Denver.  

Speaking today before a packed hall at Bryn Mawr college in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Secretary Albright left no doubt about how she felt about Barack. 

I’m going to go out there, and work my tail off for him.

That’s certainly what Secretary Albright did today in Pennsylvania.  She greeted volunteers at the Bucks County field office in the morning, then hosted a Women’s Issues Forum in Bristol, before addressing the standing room only crowd at Bryn Mawr. 

Albright spoke about the world as she sees it today, calling it, quite frankly, "a mess."  She described the challenges facing whomever serves next as Commander in Chief, and said, "I want a president who’s confident rather than certain…a president who looks at a lot of ideas and comes up with an integrated approach that’s principled."  

Albright’s loudest applause of the afternoon came when she talked about the stakes for women in this election, and the clear choice that exists between Barack and John McCain and Sarah Palin. 

This is not a question of gender, it’s a question of agenda.

Albright spoke about the future makeup of the Supreme Court, about equal pay for equal work, and jobs. She said that in her mind the comparison is not even close.  It was a firm and convincing declaration, the kind you could imagine her delivering to foreign leaders overseas during her time as Secretary of State, and it brought the overflow crowd to its feet. 

You can watch the video of Secretary Albright’s speech in its entirety here.

National Field Director Jon Carson just sent out the following email, introducing an important new online tool called Neighbor to Neighbor …

At the Republican convention this week, John McCain and his supporters are adopting the most conservative platform in the history of their party.

They’re trying to convince Americans across the country that they will deliver the change we need, but they’re just offering more of the same — four or eight more years of George Bush’s disastrous policies.

That’s why we need to make Barack’s message of change heard loud and clear, and I want to let you know about a brand new way to spread the word.

We have a new tool called Neighbor-to-Neighbor that makes it easier than ever to connect with potential supporters in your community by phone or door-to-door.

Neighbor-to-Neighbor gives you the option to make phone calls or knock on doors — the choice is yours.

Learn more and start making a difference in your neighborhood right now.

Barack is making history by competing in every corner of the country.

It’s an aggressive strategy, and only you can make it work.

No one knows your community better — and no one is better suited to strengthen our movement from the bottom up.

Neighbor-to-Neighbor gives you a list of your neighbors we need to reach, suggested topics for discussion, and an easy way to report back on who you’ve contacted.

With less than nine weeks left before Election Day, our time is running out. Start reaching out in your community and help build this movement for change.

You’ve owned this campaign from the very start. By making a few phone calls or knocking on a few doors today, you’ll own it more than ever before.

Thanks,

Jon

Jon Carson
National Field Director
Obama for America

There are volunteers, and then there are super volunteers. When I called Ron to interview him for this profile, his voicemail announced itself as doing triple-duty for Ron, Ron’s business, and Adams County for Barack Obama. Ron’s volunteered for the campaign not just in his native Colorado, but also in the critical months leading up to the Iowa caucus. Ron even organized a trip to Iowa on his birthday weekend to canvass for Barack.

The summer months have been slow in campaign terms, but Ron’s kept active – he knows that every hour put in today is worth two in October.

Things have been dialed back locally here since the caucus, so we’ve been trying to keep people fired up. We’ve passed along hints about what did and didn’t work well and just tried to reach out to supporters to get organized. It’s really easy to slide back into cynicism since we’ve suffered under cynical politics for so many decades, so I’ve just been trying to keep people’s spirits up.

Although Ron has done a lot of volunteering on local community causes, he hasn’t been involved in a presidential race in quite a while.

I haven’t been involved in mainstream politics since Bobby Kennedy ran. Everything about Barack’s tone, his authenticity, everything spoke to the core of my being. He is the sort of leader that everyone deserves to have at least once in their lifetime.

During the primary, Ron’s wife didn’t see as much as him as she would have liked. A Hillary supporter, she watched him walk out the door most evenings to go canvass or phone bank. Now, however, Ron is looking forward to canvassing and phonebanking with her – spending time together while helping the campaign.

Ron has been with the campaign so long that he’s seen many other volunteers, Organizing Fellows, and field organizers come and go. He believes that everyone working for the campaign is making history.

One important thing to remember is that we are all part of making history and in that, no one’s left out, whether they just became involved with the campaign yesterday or a year ago.

Without dedicated volunteers like Ron, this campaign wouldn’t be possible. Join him on the trail – sign up to volunteer today, and join our grassroots campaign.

Jim Parrish, Fire Chief of New Philadelphia, had the crowd count at 220 in the quad at Kent State Tuscarawas (KST). A hot and humid day for a town hall, but with summer winding down and kids going back to school, folks are starting to focus more and more on this upcoming election.

Gabrielle Neavin, a student at KST and a single mom, served as today’s introducer. Gabrielle would like to be a teacher one day but is having a hard time making it on her own. She has had multiple jobs to support her daughter while going to school, but rising costs of everything from gas to food has her putting more of her household expenses on credit cards. The debts can mount up fast.

Sometimes the issues don’t seem as personal. Barack once said that there was nothing sexy about the word "infrastructure" but that it plays a major role in our economy, not only presenting problems as it crumbles, but presenting opportunities to put Americans back to work.

Here is video from his town hall dealing with the issue of infrastructure:

Arun Chaudhary
September 3rd, 20008
New Philadelphia, OH

Campaign Manager David Plouffe sent out this email earlier today…

Amanda —

In the next 36 hours, the McCain campaign will be pouring millions of dollars — if not tens of millions — into negative attack ads against Barack Obama.

Before John McCain accepts the Republican nomination on Thursday, his campaign has to spend every last dollar of primary funds they’ve raked in from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.

Just yesterday, they aired a new negative ad in 14 swing states. His campaign manager even admitted that all McCain has to rely on is attacks, saying that for them, "This election is not about issues."

He doesn’t want Americans to notice that the Republican platform is the most extreme we’ve ever seen — opposing stem cell research, denying a woman’s right to choose no matter what the circumstance, and continuing to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq.

With so much at stake, we can’t allow another election to be determined by petty and divisive political tactics.

Make a donation to fight back against an unprecedented week of negativity from John McCain.

The McCain campaign is trying to distract voters from the real issues — so we’re going to focus on what they’re trying to hide.

They’ve come out against the life-saving possibilities of stem cell research.

They don’t even mention protecting equal pay for equal work.

They support huge tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

They’ve almost completely ignored the $10 billion we’re spending every week in Iraq.

And they make zero exceptions for a woman’s right to choose — even in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.

If that all sounds like more of the same, that’s because it is. John McCain is offering a third term of the disastrous Bush agenda, so it’s no wonder his campaign would choose to focus on attacks instead of issues.

Please make your donation today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/fightback

I know we’ve asked a lot from supporters like you recently, and many of you contributed just last week.

But the stakes are high, and there are less than 9 weeks before Election Day. It’s going to require unprecedented resources to defeat John McCain and bring about the change America so desperately needs.

Thank you for all you do,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Teresa in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania describes herself as a “50-year-old-Caucasian-grandmother-registered-Republican-nurse.” But most importantly, she’s also one of the millions of individuals who has joined this grassroots movement.

I support Barack because I think he’s honest. I believe he wants to do a good job and really wants to change things. I like what he believes in.

As a registered nurse, Teresa is especially concerned about healthcare.

I see a lot of problems with healthcare – patients who can’t afford medicines or healthcare. You see people not taking their medicines because they can’t afford them and then facing repercussions because they don’t take their medicines. And people just get sicker. I’ve met elderly people who come in and say that it’s either groceries or medicine. Something has to be done about this. I hope there’s affordable healthcare in our future, and that’s one of the first things that he does.

Teresa also sees how healthcare impacts women in her community. “There are a lot of single women trying to raise children and pay for healthcare and make a decent living, and we need to help them out.” Teresa says fair pay for women is another issue she hopes the next president will address.

Teresa is excited to be supporting Obama. “I’m just so impressed by what Obama wanted to do – reform healthcare and create a better living for the middle class.”

Though she’s always voted on the Republican ticket before, Teresa was surprised at the way her friends and family have supported her choice to vote for Obama.

My father was a staunch Republican. He passed away the night of the Pennsylvania Primary. But before he passed, he asked me if I went to vote, and if I voted for Obama. And he was really happy for me when I told him I did.

Get more involved with the campaign in your community by joining Women for Obama and visit the Women for Obama homepage to learn how you can meet other women in your area.

You also have the unique opportunity to join the Obama Torchbearers, a group for young women leaders who are actively engaged in their communities and want to help bring change from a grassroots level. 

"I’ve been the young guy in the Senate for so long that it’s hard getting used to this old guy routine!" – Senator Joe Biden

Joe Biden flew from hot and humid West Palm Beach to an even hotter Fort Myers this morning to host an economic roundtable discussion at the Harborside Event Center here in Southwest Florida. About five hundred were in attendance — supporters, volunteers, and a considerable number of undecided Independents and Republicans.

In fact, Fort Myers Mayor Jim Humphrey, a Republican, introduced Joe, showing his support for the Obama-Biden ticket.

Joe and the audience listened to the concerns and struggles of the individuals taking part in the roundtable discussion. Joe asked them questions and spoke about the kind of politics that he and Barack want to bring to the White House. He talked about the Obama-Biden economic plan and the need to keep good jobs here.

It was just what the audience wanted to hear.

Support for Barack and Joe is gaining in the region, according to local volunteer Marj Lowell. Marj recently attended the Democratic National Convention and called it "the trip of a lifetime." After returning to her home state of Florida, she and her friends have been "working like the devil," canvassing and making phone calls to help drum up support in this crucial state.

Here’s a short clip of today’s roundtable, introduced by supporter Richard Carney, a Vietnam Vet who believes that Barack and Joe will bring about the change we need:

Peter Rubi
September 3, 2008
En Route to Sarasota

 “I’m in this race to take those tax breaks away from companies that are moving jobs overseas and put them in the pockets of hard working Americans who deserve it. And I won’t raise the minimum wage every ten years – I will raise it to keep pace so that workers don’t fall behind. That is why I am in it. To protect the American worker. To fight for the American worker."
– Barack Obama at a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, November 10, 2007

Wednesday’s GOP convention is themed “Prosperity.” Prosperity is on every voter’s mind this election, as the policies of the past eight years have led us to an economy where ordinary Americans are having trouble finding jobs and make their house payment. Barack Obama is committed to turning around the economy and helping every American have the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

Barack will start us on a path to prosperity by first changing the tax policy. The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans. Obama will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families, and eliminate income taxes for seniors who make less than $50,000 per year.

Barack has a plan to create new jobs for American workers. He will end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas, create new job training programs, and invest in a clean energy economy that will create five million new “green” jobs. His economic plan will support small businesses by providing tax relief for small business and start-up companies. Obama will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.

For families who are already having a hard time, Barack will crack down on mortgage fraud, reform bankruptcy laws to protect individuals who filed for bankruptcy because of medical expenses.

By creating strong new economic policies that invest in the American worker and help middle-class Americans get back on their feet, together we can turn this economy around.

Read more about Barack’s economic policy.  

Barack is in New Philadelphia, Ohio today where he will hold a discussion on women and the economy at Kent State University’s Tuscarawas campus, which provides hundreds of flexible courses for students who are working and/or student mothers. Watch the event live below…

[UPDATE] This event has ended. Check back for more coverage from our road team.

Born the daughter of missionaries in Ivory Coast, West Africa, Margi didn’t live in America until her 16th birthday, when she returned to finish high school and attend college. Now, at 60, Margi sees that her upbringing helped to change her perspective on the world.

As Minister for Children and Families at the 12,000 strong Northland Church in Florida, Margi has also gained perspective on the problems that are facing everyday Americans as they struggle to keep their homes or fill up the gas tank. It’s changing not just her perspective, but the views of other Christians what she works with.

There are a lot of people who would have historically been more conservative or have voted Republican who are easily able to see what Barack is doing and why this country needs him. They can see the need for a new evangelical community, a new Christian community, that’s built on common unity instead of the divisions of the past.

Beyond the challenges faced by her fellow congregants, Margi has seen the rough economic times hit her family as well. She has four sons, and the economy has forced one to move across the country to try to find a more favorable economic environment. Another son’s business is flagging as the economy slows. They both see Barack as "a real point of hope" for their economic prospects.

Margi’s also concerned with education, and how the government can support our students.

I love Barack’s idea about students giving back to society in exchange for an education … I think that the measure of success is how much we can contribute to the moral and spiritual fabric of our community, so I like that he’d offer aid for social contributions.

In the end, though Margi’s support comes down to her feeling that Barack is the right leader for this moment in America.

I just feel really passionately about this country, and also very hopeful and passionate about what Barack stands for. My emotions are involved, as they are in most of the things that I pursue. I’m convinced he’s the one that this country needs right now.

Margi thought the best way to show her support for Barack was with a small grassroots donation to his campaign. She knows that every penny counts as we take on the Republican attack machine and try to elect Barack Obama as President of the United States. Join her today with a small dollar contribution, and become a part of our movement.

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.

From the Associated Press:

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Sen. Joe Biden assured older Jewish voters Tuesday that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be strong on protecting Israel, which he said is less secure now than when President Bush took office.

Biden, Obama’s vice presidential running mate, laid out his own history on Israeli issues for the audience of several hundred at a Broward County retirement community and emphatically said Obama stands right along side him on Israel.

Biden said he has fought the sale of sophisticated weapons to Arab nations, has known every Israeli prime minister since Golda Meir and has co-sponsored legislation to fight Palestinian terrorism.

"I am chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee," Biden said. "I give you my word as a Biden — I would not have given up that job to be Barack Obama’s vice president if I didn’t in my gut and in my heart and in my head know that Barack Obama is exactly where I am on Israel. And he is."

… He also said the terrorist threat to Israel has increased, along with the threat from Iran as it tries to develop nuclear weapons.

"By any objective fact, Israel is less secure today in the world than it was eight years ago," Biden said. "I promise you … we will make it more secure."

From the Sun Sentinel:

U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, the Democrats’ blunt-talking vice presidential pick, on Tuesday put his foreign policy experience on display for South Floridians and reiterated that he and Barack Obama will be wholehearted supporters of Israel.

At rallies in Deerfield Beach and West Palm Beach, Obama’s running mate reached out to Jewish voters by tossing out Yiddish phrases and promising that the Democratic ticket would make Israel safer by improving America’s credibility across the globe.

Biden, 65, also repeatedly cast himself as a scrappy fighter and champion of middle-class values.

"A straight left and right hook," Biden said of his campaign style during an evening town hall meeting before 1,200 backers in West Palm Beach. "We ain’t laying down."

The Delaware senator distanced himself from an Israeli news story Monday that reported he said Israel would have to "reconcile" itself with a nuclear Iran. Biden called the report erroneous and outlined a long list of measures he’s supported on behalf of Israel.

At the event at the Palm Beach County Convention Center and at an hourlong rally at the Century Village clubhouse in Deerfield Beach, Biden said he wouldn’t have relinquished his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee without being certain of Obama’s support for the Jewish state.

"I would not have given up that job if I didn’t in my heart, in my gut and in my head know that Barack Obama is exactly where I am on Israel," Biden said.

… At both appearances, Biden spoke of making health care more affordable and accessible and protecting Social Security against privatization. He stressed that the Democratic presidential team wants to improve national policies to ensure people are treated more fairly.

"My mother has an expression: Walk a mile in my shoes," Biden told an audience of about 800 in Deerfield Beach. "[Obama] understands the words dignity and respect."

Biden also pushed for a national catastrophic insurance fund that would pool government resources to fund relief for hurricanes and other disasters.

"The last time I heard, hurricanes don’t have the word ‘ Florida’ on them. They don’t have the word ‘ Louisiana.’ They are acts of God," he said. "We have to pass this fund."

From the Flathead Beacon:

The Obama Campaign secured an office in Bigfork, [Montana], and opens its doors to the public on Wednesday September 3rd.

“We encourage everybody from all political backgrounds to come and learn more about Senator Obama and Senator Biden,” says state Communications Director Caleb Weaver. Weaver says Bigfork will be the 17th Obama office in Montana. A Kalispell office opened in August, and a Whitefish office is slated to open soon.

Weaver says the opening of this Bigfork office is part of a statewide effort to engage in face to face contact. Montana is one of 18 battleground states, and the Obama campaign is working to reach out to as many people as possible.

“By getting people engaged in the political process, that’s how real change is going to happen,” Weaver says.

From the Indy Week:

Just after 2 p.m. the day after Sen. Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president, people were streaming into the campaign’s downtown Durham office at 112 W. Main St.

Inside, they met volunteer organizer Beth Silberman, who sat behind a desk and used her laptop computer to find the contact information of the field organizer closest to them. That organizer would tell them about canvassing and voter registration in their neighborhoods, and about events scheduled during the Labor Day weekend—the "Convention Weekend of Action," as the Obama campaign called it.

Silberman said the phone rang constantly throughout the afternoon. A log book on the table contained several pages of names and phone numbers of would-be volunteers. "We’ve had a lot of people walking in and asking what they can do," she said.

Helen Featherson, a lifelong Durham resident who lives near White Rock Baptist Church, wrote down the field organizer’s name on a Post-It note. She’s been getting e-mails from the campaign for weeks, but her excitement over Obama’s speech the night before finally brought her in.

"I was just awestruck," she said of his speech. "I had my doubts in the beginning—can he pull this off? But he did. And wow, look at how much money he can raise from grassroots people. That reminds me, I’ve got to go home and make my donation online."

… “The Triangle is going to be critically important to us in this election," said Paul Cox, spokesman for Obama’s North Carolina campaign. Four of the campaign’s 16 state offices are in the Triangle—one each in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary. That’s because the Triangle is home to many of the 600,000 people who’ve moved into the state since 2004. "We’re counting on the demographic changes in the Triangle, the high growth, and the willingness of so many residents to support Sen. Obama to carry us over 50 percent in the election."

Durham is arguably the most crucial part of the Triangle for Obama’s campaign because it’s home to the two most important demographic groups: newcomers and African-Americans.

… Not only is North Carolina up for grabs this year, but Jensen said these demographic shifts could make it a "permanent swing state."

For the campaign, all this translates to the hard work of going door-to-door to register the unregistered and make the pitch to those who are. That’s why the field operation—the network of paid staffers and well-trained volunteers—is so crucial to the campaign’s success.

Faulkner Fox is lead organizer of the grassroots group Durham for Obama. "The enthusiasm has been absolutely unbelievable," she said. After the primary was over and the official campaign closed its local office, the all-local, all-volunteer group continued to work throughout the summer out of her house. "We couldn’t wait two and a half months for them to come back, because the people of Durham wouldn’t wait."

Fox, who has worked on political campaigns since the 1980s, said she’s never seen this kind of persistence among volunteers. As for demographics, she said that while the Durham for John Kerry campaign tended to attract a higher proportion of white volunteers, the Obama campaign is more diverse, about half black and half white, with a wide range of age groups. "The people who come to volunteer look like the City of Durham," she said.

Our campaign is built on the grassroots efforts of supporters like you out in the field. And we know just how hard you’re working! You’ve registered voters, canvassed neighborhoods, held watch parties and community meetings, and even marched in parades. If you’re busy working for change out in your community, send your photos to blog@barackobama.com so we can show America what you’re doing.

Email blog@barackobama.com, and be the face of our movement.

Austin, Texas’ all-volunteer group "Austin Vote for Change" is shattering voter registration records left and right. Over Labor Day Weekend the Austin Vote for Change volunteers scattered across the city and registered 1107 voters in only two days.

The Austin group, first organized back in May, holds four weekly voter registration events. They send volunteers to concerts, high traffic commercial areas, residential neighborhoods, campuses, farmers’ markets, playgrounds, swimming pools… and just about anywhere else they think they might find a voter.

"It’s an amazing experience," says group organizer Katherine, 27, a graduate student at the University of Texas.

It’s great to see how the volunteers really enjoy registering voters. They understand the first step to victory in November is registering people to vote for Barack Obama. The volunteers are all true believers in the democratic process; they love helping people vote.

While a core group of six or seven volunteers lead shifts and organize events, Austin Vote For Change has over 300 volunteers who show up when they can.

Katherine says, "In add to registering so many new voters, the most rewarding experience for my volunteers is the support and admiration they receive from others on the street. Passersby are always thanking the volunteers for their commitment to helping voters and helping Barack Obama."

"It’s exciting to see how many different people are excited about voting for Barack," Katherine says.

We’ve registered high school seniors, senior citizens, homeless folks, small business owners… people from all walks of life. It’s inspiring to feel we’re all in this together.

So far, Austin Vote for Change volunteers has registered 3,147 voters in the Austin area. In fact, Katherine even registered one voter while she was on the phone with us. "3,148!" she cheered. 

Katherine first started watching Obama when she was living in his Illinois state senate district. "I saw my first Obama sign in a window of a hair salon," she says. "I started looking into it, and when I heard about his record advocating for working people and women I knew I wanted him to work for me. Now it’s amazing to see that this person who inspired me when he was just a state senator is now engaging and inspiring an entire nation."

Austin Vote for Change plans to work tirelessly through the election. "Every voter counts," Katherine says. "It’s exciting to be working for a campaign that has a real shot of turning Texas blue."

The Obama campaign is committed to getting as many people as possible registered to vote. It’s a big part of our plan to win in November, and you can help. Visit the Vote for Change site to learn how you can help. You can learn how to register voters and find a voter registration even in your own community. Be a part of our grassroots movement to bring change to Washington.

Read Katherine’s full diary post of her voter registration efforts. 

Things are settling back down in Chicago headquarters after last week’s historic convention in Denver, and we’re overdue for a "Buzz."

• Ben at Bluegrass Roots details the festivities from the night of Barack’s acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium in Denver:

I’ll save all of the blow-by-blow commentary, since the MSM did most of that already and I’ll simply say that I’ll never, not ever forget the feeling that speech, the people, and the atmosphere gave me. It was one of those moments where you see your life and your purpose with absolute clarity:

To be of some use to your community. To move through the world with a grateful heart, aware of those who came before you and those who will come after. To love well. The intellectual clarity will inevitably cloud again, but the feeling will remain.

Walking back to the bus afterward, i thought how wonderful it was to have a public servant who not only asked people to have high expectations for him, but who routinely lived up to those expectations. What a refreshing change from scraping by on low expectations manipulated by political pundits.

Others called the speech "a symphony" and "transcendent." I call it a revelation.

• Greenchiledem at Square State has some great pictures and a wrap-up from hometown convention coverage:

One of the best parts of being a member of the host state delegation at the convention is having front row seating during the convention. They didn’t help my photographic skills, but I managed to get a few shots that I share with the world on the flip. Unfortunately, I ‘lost’ a lot of pictures while downloading to my computer. These are the ones I managed to save. …

Thanks to everyone that came to Colorado to share this historic experience.

• Lisa at New Nebraska has convention coverage from the Cornhusker delegation:.

• Tessa at My Left Nutmeg reflects on the convention experience:

The joy and relief felt and expressed by people of color in the streets, in the meetings, on the buses, in the halls…The hugs and kisses, the warm handshakes, the fistbumps…This was the culmination of a lifetime of marches, meetings, speeches, shouting, negotiating, letters to editors, arguments within committees, hurt feelings, broken bones, smashed families, rebuilding, interference, misunderstandings, and, ultimately, love. This is not to imply that the struggle is over. Far from it. Justice takes a long time. …

• Nick D at Buckeye State Blog has details on campaigning taking place in Southeastern Ohio:

We’ve just received word that the Obama campaign will be in Southeastern Ohio tomorrow just as Gov. Strickland kicks off a tour stumping for Obama throughout southeastern Ohio. Obama will campaign in New Philadelphia and Dillonvale tomorrow, while Gov. Strickland will be in Belpre, Pomeroy, Gallipolis, Jackson and Piketon today.

This sort of campaigning is absolutely essential to winning this swing area of the state. …

• Lowell at Raising Kaine praises Barack’s Labor Day speech:

This speech is amazing, one of the best I’ve ever heard by Barack Obama — or anyone, for that matter. This is what progressivism is all about. This is what America is — or certainly should be – all about. I urge you to watch the speech in full (it’s not that long, definitely quality over quantity!). In the meantime, here are a few highlights (it gets stronger and stronger, building to an amazingly powerful climax at the end)…

• Philgoblue at West Michigan Rising has a round-up of press coverage from Barack and Joe’s "Road to Change" tour in Michigan.

In days the immediately following Barack’s acceptance speech in Denver, Colorado supporters set, and then met, an ambitious goal of registering 4000 new voters in just four days. On Monday, supporters in Fort Morgan celebrated Labor Day with a picnic and voter registration drive, with a special appearance by former State Senate President Stan Matsunaka. Jenn Prosser is on the ground in Colorado:

In 1894, Congress declared the first Monday of September to be a federal holiday. The holiday, Labor Day, was to be a "day off for the working citizen." Yesterday, the Morgan County Democrats got together for a picnic at Riverside Park in Fort Morgan.

Kerrie was there registering voters. She talked to us about the movement for change in eastern Colorado.

She said:

I came on board with the campaign in February, and we had a great turn out for the caucus in our small little town in Wiggins — we had 14 people show up. Some of the women cried because they were just so excited.

Here’s a video from the event:

You can read more about Barack Obama’s position on labor issues, and visit CO.BarackObama.com for more news and information from Colorado.

Last Thursday night, Barack accepted the Democratic nomination for president in front of 80,000 people, along with the millions watching from home. Included in those 80,000 attendees of Mile High Stadium were the 10 supporters and their guests who were chosen to go backstage with Barack. These supporters were Kayla from North Dakota, Trinace from Virginia, John from Colorado, James from Ohio, Holly from Alaska, Marsha from Florida, Anne from Indiana, Barb from Montana, Eric from Pennsylvania and Lenny from North Carolina. 

Check out these pictures of Barack and his backstage guests…

On Route to Milwaukee from Detroit yesterday, Senator Obama stopped off in the town of Monroe, Michigan to speak to the the members of Local 671, the Plumbers and Pipefitters Hall.

The folks of Monroe have been hit with hard times recently, and Local 671, as well as the next door Local 723 — the United Auto Workers — have been dealing with plant closings and layoffs.

On a day when the country was watching Hurricane Gustav, Senator Obama reminded the attentive audience of 300 that we need to look at the "quiet storms" brewing in folks’ day-to-day lives. "We have to have an attitude that everyone is going to get shelter from the storm," said Barack.

Resident George Steel, one of the picnic attendees, said, "There’s a lot of support here for Senator Obama."

"This means so much for us because we’ve just been hit so hard with layoffs. Our local government is suffererring from it, our schools are suffering from it."

The same sentiment was echoed by Monroe Mayor Mark Worrel, who is deeply concerned about the loss of industrial jobs in the county and the toll it’s taking on the community.

Mayor Worrel commented, "We have lived and died with heavy industry in this community, and if there is a part of America that is desperately hurting because of lack of jobs, it is certainly Southeast Michigan and Monroe. We just hope that Senator Obama is going to make a big difference in our lives."

En Route to Chicago,
Peter Rubi
Road Team

“I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”
— Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007

The Republican National Convention’s second day is focused on a theme of “Reform.” Over the past eight years, we’ve learned exactly how our federal government truly needs reform. For eight years, the government has acted under a cloud of secrecy, where our national policies are written by lobbyists and special interests.

Barack began his national campaign calling for strict reforms for our federal government. Barack’s plan calls for new transparency in the federal government and freeing the government from the influence of lobbyists. To do this, Barack has called for the creation of an independent watchdog agency to monitor lobbying laws and ethics rules violations, and a series of national databases where citizens themselves can monitor how much federal contractors spend on lobbying, and what contracts they are getting and how well they complete them. Barack will also end abuse of no-bid contracts, such as those that have cost the American taxpayers billions in Iraq.

Barack’s idea is to create a government for and by the people, so the American people can see at all times what their government is doing. To this end, Obama will amend executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public, and require that rulemaking agencies and executive branch departments conduct their business in public.

Beyond proposing policy changes, Barack is not only talking about broad ethics reform –he is already doing it. Unlike the McCain campaign, Barack refuses to accept any contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees, because he believes true reform starts today.

Learn more about Barack’s plan for reform.

CHICAGO, IL – Today, as the Republican National Convention begins, the Obama campaign released a new 30-second TV ad, Same, discussing how John McCain and George Bush are really just the same.

Watch the ad…

Same will air on national cable and in battleground states beginning today.