Today I went to the Obama Headquarters office and purchased two t-shirts for me and my husband, made a donation to his campaign, and got free signs and stickers. The campaign center is just as you would imagine it---a room jam packed with folding tables and chairs. To every table there are four people (on laptops) squeezed in and making calls on traditional phones as well as cell phones. The voices of the volunteers is like loud background noise, yet there are people right at the front saying hello and welcoming you to the office. The walls have the Obama logo painted on it and the front door (glass) has a bunch of posters and signs. Very grassroots indeed.
As soon as they saw me they immediately flocked to me and asked me if I spoke Spanish. Yes, I definitely look Latina. They asked that I please contact another one of their hubs in Atlanta and volunteer to help with Hispanic outreach. I am definitely thinking about doing it. Although I would have to dedicate my weekend for it, I want to feel like I am part of his campaign---he's already given me so much through his inspiration, the least I can do is make some calls in Spanish. Obama 2008!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Caroline Kennedy OP-ED Endorses Obama!!
A President Like My Father
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.
My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.
We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.
Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.
Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.
I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.
Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.
I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.
I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.
Saturday = South Carolina
FOR THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH CAROLINA---PLEASE VOTE FOR OBAMA! PLEASE VOTE FOR OBAMA! OBAMA = HOPE.
VOTE OBAMA
It has taken me a while to decide who to vote for but, as far as I am concerned, there is only one person who can truly turn this country around---spiritually, economically and diplomatically, and that's Obama. After he won IOWA, a state that is made up of 97% whites, I really felt inspired about the fact that we could select not only a democrat but a person who can truly heal our country on so many levels. Some of Obama's speeches bring me to tears---I can't remember the last time I, or anyone else for that matter, felt so emotionally and intellectually engaged through the words of a single individual. In the olden days, people used to look up to the president but now this role has been tarnished in so many ways. Even Bill Clinton, for as good a president as he was, played a big role in ruining the perception of an American president with the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal. Bill, although an intelligent man, broke all the morality rules and lead the way to a more conservative and republican administration---fuck you Bill. Then Bush added to the mess by squandering America's intellect by engaging in a senseless war, bankrupting the country, and bringing to this country a sense of corruption and fear that is only seen in dictatorships. How ironic that we should take down a country with a dictator (IRAQ) in the spirit of democracy when clearly that's not what is going on in our own country. Bush--fuck you even more and I hope you and Cheney are arrested for crimes against the humanity in your country and around the world.I want to go back to a president who is a visionary, who inspires us to grow and be a better people, and who unites us as Americans and not as blacks, whites, democrats, republicans and all the other categories out there. That visionary is Obama. I am so pissed at the tactics that Hillary (and Bill) are using to break Obama's spirit---clearly they just don't get it! But, even more depressing is that many people seem to be buying into that bullshit and the sense of excitement over Obama is fading. We can't let this happen! Please, elect to heal our country and to have leadership that actually cares about our people to direct our country. We need it desperately---vote Obama!
Today the people of South Carolina have the opportunity to tell the country that Obama is the right choice not because of the color of his skin but for the conviction within his soul. Please SC, vote Obama!
Getting Back To it
Hi there,It has been a while since my last post. Since Thanksgiving things have been very hectic --a tough foot injury, my daughter's birthday, Christmas, my grandmother's 80th birthday, the start of the new year, and of course my trip to Key West (for a conference). Work and life are getting busy, but we're quickly stepping into our normal routine---and I certainly plan on making my blogging part of my daily to do again.
Feels so good to be back! I started this blog the latter part of last year and it is amazing how much I miss writing and expressing my thoughts. Plus so much has already happened this year politically, professionally and personally that I am a boiling pot of topics waiting to let loose. Here it goes...brace yourself!
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