Weekend Update
I'm likely heading to neighboring state Kentucky after Indiana, and hopefully South Dakota after that. It depends on how long Hillary remains in the race, which she's vowed to do until the Denver convention. The campaign views Indiana as the next "battleground" state. Oregon is also key and a friend from Mills is working there with the campaign.
I spoke with a guy from the United Auto Workers union who said they're re-considering their endorsement of Hillary and many are now Obama supporters. He said that NAFTA was devastating for them and objects Hillary's support of it. Another union guy from the first union to endorse Barack (remember the casino workers in Nevada?) said that 9/10th of their members also support Barack and a number of them are canvassing for Barack this week. This same guy said they'll be recruiting people coming off the Obama campaign in the fall...
It is expected that Barack will carry Philadelphia, which he'll need in order to balance the support for Hillary in western Pennsylvania, which is partly attributed to racism. I'm working with a very eclectic bunch of staffers: 19-year old Cameron is remarkably mature for his age and barely a high school graduate; Ravi is in his second year of law school at Yale and originally from Staten Island; Beth is an outgoing young woman from Annapolis who went to Duke and does a remarkable job finding volunteer housing, and Rebecca works for the Arab American Institute in DC.
Haile Rivera is running for City Council in New York and runs a jack-of-all-trades type non-profit as well. He had dinner with Barack and said he's the kind of guy he'd like to have as a father. Joan, the staffer who is so competitive that she steals cell phone chargers for her own office is from LA and has been with the campaign since Iowa.
There are two guys from Japan who don't speak English volunteering at headquarters; a Canadian journalist; I met a Liberian supporter there and apparently one person in Antarctica voted for Barack. "The Daily Show" also came, and I may be in the very back of a segment with Samantha Bee on the April 22nd episode. That was fun. Stephen Colbert is broadcasting from Philly all next week and I'm determined to track him down somehow! I assume he'll be coming to headquarters...
I'm told that Caroline Kennedy and her kids come in to phonebank from time to time, and one of them made the beautiful calendar that we use as a countdown tool.
My job is to place volunteers coming from out-of-state with particular field offices within Philly. Barack is the first candidate to refuse to pay political operatives to "get out the vote" since 1982 so we're relying heavily on out of state volunteers.
I take weekends off, generally, but do some work from my laptop in wifi cafes. It's nice to feel useful and I've gotten some positive feedback from my 19-year old "supervisor."
Weldon was supposed to visit this weekend but got food poisoning; I'm hoping to find my dad's childhood home in Germantown and photograph it tomorrow, I haven't gotten in touch with his fraternity brothers yet and kind of have mixed feelings about it; I met with a childhood friend who is in med school at Temple and has terrible stories about the violence and poverty in North Philly.
Tuberculosis and diabetes-related amputations are not uncommon, apparently, and the homicide rate is considerably higher than Oakland's. Inexcusable! The love for Obama is tangible here and it's so gratifying to see the buzz of activity at headquarters. There's a nearly steady stream of people taking out yard signs, buttons, bumper stickers, etc., and such a positive vibe.
We must be the most well-fed campaign in town as the refreshments table is almost always full of donated food from supporters and local restaurants. The soft pretzel store next door keeps us stocked with a minimum of one big box of fresh pretzels each day, much to the chagrin of my waistline!
I spoke with a guy from the United Auto Workers union who said they're re-considering their endorsement of Hillary and many are now Obama supporters. He said that NAFTA was devastating for them and objects Hillary's support of it. Another union guy from the first union to endorse Barack (remember the casino workers in Nevada?) said that 9/10th of their members also support Barack and a number of them are canvassing for Barack this week. This same guy said they'll be recruiting people coming off the Obama campaign in the fall...
It is expected that Barack will carry Philadelphia, which he'll need in order to balance the support for Hillary in western Pennsylvania, which is partly attributed to racism. I'm working with a very eclectic bunch of staffers: 19-year old Cameron is remarkably mature for his age and barely a high school graduate; Ravi is in his second year of law school at Yale and originally from Staten Island; Beth is an outgoing young woman from Annapolis who went to Duke and does a remarkable job finding volunteer housing, and Rebecca works for the Arab American Institute in DC.
Haile Rivera is running for City Council in New York and runs a jack-of-all-trades type non-profit as well. He had dinner with Barack and said he's the kind of guy he'd like to have as a father. Joan, the staffer who is so competitive that she steals cell phone chargers for her own office is from LA and has been with the campaign since Iowa.
There are two guys from Japan who don't speak English volunteering at headquarters; a Canadian journalist; I met a Liberian supporter there and apparently one person in Antarctica voted for Barack. "The Daily Show" also came, and I may be in the very back of a segment with Samantha Bee on the April 22nd episode. That was fun. Stephen Colbert is broadcasting from Philly all next week and I'm determined to track him down somehow! I assume he'll be coming to headquarters...
I'm told that Caroline Kennedy and her kids come in to phonebank from time to time, and one of them made the beautiful calendar that we use as a countdown tool.
My job is to place volunteers coming from out-of-state with particular field offices within Philly. Barack is the first candidate to refuse to pay political operatives to "get out the vote" since 1982 so we're relying heavily on out of state volunteers.
I take weekends off, generally, but do some work from my laptop in wifi cafes. It's nice to feel useful and I've gotten some positive feedback from my 19-year old "supervisor."
Weldon was supposed to visit this weekend but got food poisoning; I'm hoping to find my dad's childhood home in Germantown and photograph it tomorrow, I haven't gotten in touch with his fraternity brothers yet and kind of have mixed feelings about it; I met with a childhood friend who is in med school at Temple and has terrible stories about the violence and poverty in North Philly.
Tuberculosis and diabetes-related amputations are not uncommon, apparently, and the homicide rate is considerably higher than Oakland's. Inexcusable! The love for Obama is tangible here and it's so gratifying to see the buzz of activity at headquarters. There's a nearly steady stream of people taking out yard signs, buttons, bumper stickers, etc., and such a positive vibe.
We must be the most well-fed campaign in town as the refreshments table is almost always full of donated food from supporters and local restaurants. The soft pretzel store next door keeps us stocked with a minimum of one big box of fresh pretzels each day, much to the chagrin of my waistline!
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