Eleven Obama Fellows Arrive in Jackson County
Paulie Brading
The Obama Fellows fresh off of a 4 day training session in Portland arrived at the Jackson County Democratic Headquarters promptly at 2:00 PM yesterday. Their new offices were decorated, 12 phone lines are up and running, the wireless network security key written on the whiteboard, a basket of granola bars and bottled water stacked on a shelf with no jittery energy drinks in sight. Wait until they discover the beer in the office fridge. The Jackson County Democratic joint is jumping!
The NYC Obama field representative in charge of his flock is fresh off a tour of duty in Iraq. We met a college student from Boston College, a journalist from Virginia, a retired teacher from CA, students from AZ, VA, CA and an ER doc. They look like the America I want to live in, white, African American, and Hispanic. They are not in Jackson County to fundraise for the Obama campaign. We can go to the Obama website if we are so inclined to donate they firmly explained. We were told to focus our fundraising on our local candidates, music to my ears since we are working hard to support Ms. Lynn Howe in her race for State Rep. in HD #6 in Medford. They are here to register new voters, hold house parties, and to build an even bigger group of Obama volunteers before they leave in six weeks.
We oriented the Obama fellows by providing thumbnail sketches of our precincts, voting behavior, number of volunteers already in the data bank, and our outreach to the newly registered 7,500+ Democrats in Jackson County. The fellows were challenged to make Jackson County majority BLUE. We are only 3% points away from making certain that Jackson County is no longer regarded as a Republican stronghold. Then we handed over the keys to the front and back door to the field representative.
These are not giddy volunteers for Obama enjoying an excellent adventure far from their homes, although we hape they will get to raft on the Rogue, visit Crater Lake, sip Southern Oregon wines , stroll through Jacksonville and maybe squeeze in a play in Ashland. These are folks with a sense of mission and purpose. Yesterday, after driving from Portland they began phone banking and attended an organizational meeting for Veterans for Obama in the evening arranged by the Jackson County Democrats. Just another 12 hour day one volunteer told me.
Two of the Obama fellows have moved into our house for the next six weeks. Our dog Jane fell in love with Thomas and Brian and yes we are hosting a house party for Obama on June 28th. My gawwd they even made their beds this morning!
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connect with blueoregon
12:58 p.m.
Jun 18, '08
the wireless network security key written on the whiteboard
I sure hope you erase it before the public shows up! Because a password written on a public whiteboard is no security at all!
1:03 p.m.
Jun 18, '08
Kari you are a stitch!
1:34 p.m.
Jun 18, '08
Paulie:
That sounds great!
Jun 18, '08
"...newly registered 7,500+ Democrats in Jackson County."
What a kick it is to read this. As a former longtime Grants Pass resident, I'm pleasantly astonished that the revolution has come to southern Oregon. Keep up the good work!
Jun 18, '08
Clackamas County is getting the same great treatment from the Obama Campaign!
It is so great to see all this happening in Oregon!
Jun 18, '08
That is a great read Paulie, thank you! Have you signed up for our Dog Lovers for Obama group operating out of Phoenix, OR?
This is all very exciting and Paulie is right, these "Fellows" are enthusiastic, dedicated and serious about what they are doing. In case you missed the Washington Post article a week or so back, the fellows we met in Medford yesterday are part of approximately 3,600 that have been deployed nationwide by the Obama campaign. If we just got 11 in Medford, OR I wonder what is going in on Virginia, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina and New Mexico?
Imagine having a candidate that people are so excited about that so many people volunteered to give 6 weeks of their lives to go work without compensation for their time. I understand that the number of applicants for these positions was approximately double the 3,600 that were selected.
Let's all give them our full support and encouragement.
Jun 18, '08
As an update, I talked to our new Field Director in Medford and he said around 300 Obama Organizing Fellows have been deployed to Florida. Yowza!
Jun 18, '08
crap Glen! I forgot about the meeting. This is why I need email reminders - I forget things if I have to look them up on the web calendar.
Sounds like you should have shown the Fellows to the bar next door. That place always sounds loud and exciting, I'm sure it isn't, but it sounds like it anyway.
8:51 p.m.
Jun 18, '08
Let's not EVER allow someone to refer to Karl Rove as an election genius again, OK? It's no foregone conclusion he'll win the general of course, but even to have taken down the Clinton machine is historical-level genius. Say "David Plouffe" instead of Karl Rove. Or talk about the first veteran consulting team maybe ever, who actually understands grassroots organizing. It was really Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes who did it all. They get it--they don't think they're going to win Wyoming, they're sending staff and money to build base and try to win for Gary Trauner (who has the best fundraising email I've ever seen, it's literally LOL-worthy). If Trauner makes it on the strength of what Obama/DNC does for him, you think he might be receptive to Obama's agenda that first session? A bit.
And now Tewes will essentially run field out of DNC, with one unified message between party and candidate as far as instructions to the states goes. It is a beautiful, beautiful machine. If it runs right, it is going to roll right over the Republican Party and leave some nasty marks. If it works like it seems to have the potential for, those three guys will live on in poli sci textbooks for decades.
Jun 18, '08
Here in Ashland we are cheering you on! All the best to the new Obama crew, and I hope to see you around.
Jun 19, '08
Many of us in Lane County were wondering how long Obama's coattails would be. Here I'm hoping they'll get to the municipal and county levels, where the action is for Lane County. I hope what's happening in Jackson Co predicts what will happen in Lane.
Jun 19, '08
Brrrrr! It's time to seperate evil and genius. Evil is evil and genius has more sense then to be destructive. Karl Rove is simply evil. The Bush Administration are con-artists and thieves, nothing more.