Camp Obama
i just finished-up day one of “camp obama”. it was a day of emotional and tactical highs and lows. an amazing group of people gathered to find out how to play a bigger role in getting barack obama elected. it was seriously inspiring. at one point we broke out into groups to work on how to verbalize our “personal story”: who we are, where we come from and why we are motivated by obama. apparently, being able to succinctly communicate this can be an effective way to canvass. each small group chose one compelling story to share with the larger group. i had to hold back tears as i heard from people who had fought their way out of gang culture, had their families murdered in el salvador, or where adopted from columbia after begging on the streets until age 9. most of these people have not been involved in politics before now, but have found a voice in barack obama. this white girl from TX, with wonderful parents who gave her every opportunity to succeed, is so happy to stand with them.
the lows were a result of an agenda that tried to be everything for everybody. IMHO, the biggest challenge of the bay area campaign is harnessing and focusing the energy of thousands of volunteers. each volunteer is different – different availability and different skills. it’s a huge logistical challenge! i still haven’t worked out how i can be most effective. i’m realizing that the berkeley office needs help from people who can volunteer full-time. people who can help coordinate the people who only have a weekend or evenings. so i may do that for a few weeks before i do swing-state work. we’ll see – it’s evolving and i’m ok with that.
Tags: berkeley, california, camp, campaign, nevada, oakland, obama, Peggy
Peggy Rehm