What I learned at Camp Obama

I’ve been having some really rewarding experiences this week working for the Obama campaign in Silicon Valley. I’ve had to stay out of politics throughout my career because, as a journalist, it would be a conflict of interest. But currently, I’m unemployed and any freelancing I do is on tech minutiae such as solar panel technology, network security or software development; subjects removed from public policy issues or politics.
And besides, this election is much too important for me to sit on the sidelines.
Sunday I spent the day at Camp Obama, a daylong boot camp for Obama volunteers. About 150 people gathered at the UFCW union hall in downtown San Jose. A similar sized group took the same training there the day before.
A most interesting exercise with the group was for volunteers to tell their own stories about their political awakening, their background, their life stories and why they decided to work to elect Sen. Barack Obama President of the United States. The purpose of the exercise was for us to bond together as volunteers and to inspire us to work for the campaign to elect a president who will restore the respect the United States has lost on the world stage during the last eight years.
The crowd broke up into groups of eight people, plus-or-minus, and each person told their stories, then selected one of their group to speak to the whole audience.
People, ranging in age from their teens to their 60s, told their stories. One was an Iraq vet who went over there supporting the war and came back opposing it. Another was a woman who emigrated to the U.S. from the repressive Burma in 1984 and is a practicing Muslim. A black man raised in poverty on the south side of Chicago earned two masters degrees. There were single mothers and people whose parents raised them to give back to their communities and to do what they can to make the world a better place.
My story? I was raised in an Irish-Catholic family of nine children, “Just like the Kennedys,” I told my breakout group. JFK was the first person I realized was President of the United States. My dad took us to watch a motorcade during a visit JFK made to our hometown of Milwaukee. I remember it even though my memory is just of a black limo speeding past us as we stood at the curb. I was eight when he died.
At the dinner table, my dad said, “All poor people are Democrats,” and even though we were fed, clothed, healthy and had a roof over our heads, we considered ourselves poor. But we were probably middle class. Still, I’ve always considered myself a Democrat.
California is a blue state in which it’s a pretty safe bet that Sen. Obama will win the popular vote and the state’s electoral votes, so the Obama campaign in California is focusing on nearby tossup states, particularly Nevada and New Mexico. I will be among 10,000 Californians traveling to Nevada over the next few weeks to canvas neighborhoods, register people to vote and help make sure they cast their votes on Nov. 4th. I’ll be driving to Reno this weekend with several dozen other volunteers from the Bay Area to work. I and other volunteers did phone banking Sunday afternoon to voters in New Mexico. We worked from computer-generated lists of registered voters --- Democrats, Republicans and Independents – and found encouraging support for Obama among those voters we reached.
Monday, I helped register voters at Santa Clara University. Students either hadn’t yet registered or had registered in their hometowns but wanted to register here. It was great to see their interest and excitement in the first presidential election in which they’d be able to vote.
This morning I checked the Gallup Poll and Obama has an 8-point lead over Sen. John McCain, which is encouraging. But we are taking no chances. I’d ask those of you living here in California to consider that just because Obama is leading here doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do for the campaign. You can travel to nearby battleground states, such as Nevada, or volunteer to call voters in other tossup states such as Indiana, New Mexico, West Virginia or Wisconsin. The Obama organization is well run and they make volunteering easy. You can run your own phone bank from your own home.
Please visit the national Obama for America campaign site for starters. You can also visit related Web sites such as the California site, Silicon Valley for Obama or the San Francisco site.
BTW, as I was leaving the lot where I parked my car to attend the event, I told the parking attendant I'd been at the Obama event. She told me, "We need something to change." When I handed back the slip I'd signed for the parking, I included a "Yes We Can" button for her.
Best wishes to you all.