Convention Adventure

President-Elect Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't posted since before the election on November 4th.  It was an incredible day working with the voter protection team to make sure that every vote in MA was cast and counted fairly. When the polls closed, I joined friends on the New England Steering Committee at "Game On" where we watched the election returns. I was nervous and anxious as the states were called knowing that nothing is a done deal with the Dems. Yet I knew this was no ordinary Democrat, no ordinary campaign and no ordinary election. Just before 11pm, Barack Obama had enough votes that the West coast could put him over the top. We were watching CNN on the flat screens all over the room with a diverse group of supporters- all ages, races, nationalities and income levels. A spontaneous - New Year's Eve- countdown began and when we got to "ONE"... it was 11pm and CNN called CA's EV's for Obama making his the 44th President of the United States. THE PLACE WENT NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My children - watching from home - called me and we celebrated over the phone. History, hope, change ...they knew this was important.

At our Election Night Party supporters were jumping up and down, screaming, crying, hugging each other, high-fiving and celebrating like the world had just been given a do-over of the last 8 years. I burst into tears and sobbed. I was so relieved and joyous and yes, angry and sad about how deep the hole is that we have dug for ourselves, our children and our planet. But mostly HAPPY! And thrilled that America has woken-up from its long slumber and apathy. I knew it was happening....I could feel it in the air....could see it on the streets....and at the polling places earlier that day where people waited for hours to vote and, in some cases, fought for their votes....CHANGE WAS HERE!!! Barack Hussein Obama has brought change to this country ...and just in time.

During Obama's speech the boisterous party of revelers fell silent as we watched our new First Family take the stage.... the hopes of a troubled nation and indeed the world on their young shoulders. Obama' s words inspired the hundreds of thousands that assembled in the balmy autumn night. Mother Nature would not rain on this parade. Tears ran down cheeks in the audience as Obama spoke and flags waved proudly in the breeze. I felt a pride in our country unlike I have ever felt before. This is what patriotism really is.

As I drove home in the wee hours, people were in the streets of Boston celebrating the Obama victory; at stop lights people bounced up and down in the seats of their cars, horns blowing, waving and cheering to strangers who were now bound by the common hope of Obama. It was truly magical and a night I will never forget.

When I came home- exhausted from a day that started almost 24 hours earlier, I put on the news and read the blogs. Seeing the pictures from the celebrations in Harlem, DC and around the world brought more tears. The hopes of the world were pinned to this election and we all held our breath until the votes were counted. To feel so connected to so many people in common purpose and dream was just an amazing feeling. I could not stop looking at the pictures and watching the video.

Enjoy this video. President- Elect Barack Obama - our 44th President of the United States of America!

God bless him and keep him safe.

Mr. November

Let's win this thing!

The Beautiful People Behind This Campaign

You gotta love this video....warms the heart.

Closing Argument - Obama Bio

Who sends those angry emails?

A good diary posted on the "Rec List" at Daily Kos today. This is an interesting perspective about Obama fear and the GOP base. It's just one reason www.dailykos.com is worth book-marking. -Kim

Fear among the Republican base

by slatsg

I read To Kill a Mockingbird when it was first published back when I was in high school. While I still love the story of the kind and intelligent father and the precocious siblings, I have long rejected the mythology behind the main theme of the book.

You may remember: A noble lawyer defends a black man in the face of the fierce racial hatred from the uneducated masses. He receives some assistance from the town’s better citizens – the judge, the sheriff, some middle class neighbors. Nice story, but IMO not historically accurate.

In the South, as well as the rest of the country, racial hatred was used by the ruling elites to divide the working classes and keep them in their place. There were instances during Reconstruction, the populist movement, the sharecroppers union of the 30s, or as recently as Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign, when it appeared that groups of working class and poor people might unite across ethnic lines. Whenever that happened, those in power used race to divide and conquer, or they simply moved in to crush the movement.

Those powerful interests were very good at making it appear that racism was a lower class phenomenon. But whether it was the captains of industry using race to break strikes, or the politicians race-baiting to win votes, the reality is that that most of the ruling elites looked with disdain at all working and poor people, and so it is today.

There is a myth that the Republican base consists of Joe and Jane Sixpacks. The reality is the upper middle and upper classes form the base of McCain’s support. My son lives in Grand Rapids in conservative western Michigan. In the working class areas of the city, Obama signs dominate. Drive through upscale neighborhoods and there are more McCain signs. Coincidence? Joe Sixpack went for Kerry in 2004. His Yuppie neighbors voted for Bush.

There is this year a palpable fear of Obama by the well-to-do. It certainly isn’t because of his centrist policies. I have to believe it is a mixture of race and class. One can see it in the contempt shown to Obama by McCain. Both McCain and his wife were born into privilege. Obama had humble beginnings.

I have seen this fear and contempt myself. My wife and I were at a friend’s house (He is an Obama supporter, by the way) with a group of bicyclists. Many were quite wealthy with multiple homes. Emails were exchanged to facilitate information about future tours. A few days later we received an  email that was sent to all in the group. It was a reprint of an article by a fascist apologist, Gerald Warner, excoriating Joe Biden and his pro-life stance. Feeling a need to reply, but not wanting to inflame the situation, I simply attached an ad I saw on DK comparing McCain’s assets to those of Obama. "Who is the elitist? We Report. You Decide." That’s all I wrote. It was lighthearted. Certainly not incendiary. I hit "Reply to all".

I received not one but three replies, filled with rage, accusing me of fomenting class hatred, lamenting the suffering they would have to bear as Obama raised their taxes, demanding that I remove them from my mailing list. Keep in mind I was simply responding to a message sent to me.

It was depth of the anger that surprised me; and their sense of entitlement. I saw it again displayed in the McCain rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Waukesha is not a poor town. Most of those folks in attendance were not from the working class. They were more affluent and it appeared that they could not believe that an uppity black man could actually become president.

I live in a poor rural town filled with what some on this sight condescendingly refer to as rednecks and trailer trash. Though it is a Republican area, there are few McCain signs. I have worn my Obama pin, displayed my Obama yard signs and car decals without any  negative reaction. Certainly not the visceral hatred that I experienced from my friend’s affluent acquaintances, and certainly not like the hatred displayed in Waukesha.

Despite the fact that the working classes voted for Kerry, he lost because too many stayed home. IMO, Obama is feared because his campaign may actually inspire a large number of these folks to vote. He hasn’t yet created the cross-cultural class awareness of RFK’s campaign. If he manages to do so, then the plutocrats probably should be alarmed. Their plunder of this country, driven by unbridled greed and avarice, may be coming to an end.

Si se puede!

Barack's new commercial playing in major hispanic markets with heavy rotation. Leaving no stone unturned in his historic campaign.

How can anyone NOT vote for this man!

Watch this and share it...vote....get others to vote....donate....make calls....Do SOMETHING!

Two Weeks to go!

John McCain: Socialist!

I guess John McCain must be a socialist cause it sounds like he wants to "redistribute the wealth". Hmmmm..... I wonder who is the REAL John McCain?

Rachel Maddow: one reason to watch TV

I heart Rachel Maddow. If you are NOT watching her new show on MSNBC at 9pm, you should be!

McCain left on Campaign Bus

This is funny.