Tuesday, February 26, 2008

South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin has decided to endorse Sen. Barack Obama

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/26/18740/1663/157/464630

Posted by "Eggplant999"

The Questionaire in question

http://www.midwestdemocracynetwork.org/templates/media/MDNPresidentialQuestionnaire.pdf

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/17/17516/7297/1002/458692

In case anybody brings it up as an attack, here is all you need.

Thanks "bird rib"

John Lewis, the superdel from Georgia who backed off from supporting Clinton, is officially going to throw his weight behind Obama.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/26/151445/928/228/464543

Thanks "Happylisk"

Don't forget tonight's debate 9pm ET!

Keep the Obamarama thread clean by using this debate thread!

Time: 9:00-10:T (re-aired at midnight)

Location: Cleveland State University

Moderators: Brian Williams & Tim Russert

Participants: Hillary Clinton & Barack Obama

Where to watch: Live on MSNBC and streamed live on msnbc.com

Why to watch: Tonight's debate will be quite a sight to behold. I honestly expect an implosion of cosmic proportions on Hillary's part. Every day since the last debate has been a new, somehow more ridiculous spectacle erupting from her campaign. This "kitchen sink fusillade" plus Obama's calm under fire plus the MSNBC crew's penchant for not giving a shit about substantive issues tells me tonight will end up being a sound thrashing for the Senator from born in Illinois. I was worried for the last debate. I'm excited for this one.

Posted by "doctor thodt"

Artists! The Houston Chronicle needs your cartoons!

http://blogs.chron.com/nickanderson/archives/2008/02/reader_cartoons_48.html

Posted by "Scudworth"

The Audacity of Data - Barack Obama's surprisingly non-ideological policy shop.

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=4d40a39e-8f57-4054-bd99-94bc9d19be1a

Thanks "theblackw0lf"

Major office opens on UT campus

http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2008/02/26/TopStories/Obama.Campaign.Opens.OnCampus.Office.For.Students-3234774.shtml

Posted by "tonelok"

Sen. Christopher Dodd to Endorse Obama

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gpX0l1Q8Tuizuh_axZJMThV8xEBgD8V1SVS01

Posted by goon "4wheel4chan"

Monday, February 25, 2008

Texas early voting results

The field has some analysis

http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/?p=773

Direct link

http://www.surveyusa.com/index.php/2008/02/25/texas-obama-49-clinton-45/

"Bon Clay" needs help fighting the 'muslim clothing' attack.

To combat the Obama in "muslim clothing" meme, I'm starting a photobucket to catalog all of the instances of officials wearing foreign clothing. So far we've got Laura Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi in hijabs--hardly radical Islamic collaborators, right? If you guys have any more of these pictures, post them here so I can put it up and we have an easy reference for rebuttals.

http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii281/officialsinforeigngarb/

Goon "idhindsight" issues a challenge

Hey guys, I've been following the campaign and these threads for some time. I always thought Obama seemed like a pretty good guy, and I heard great things about his new message of hope, but up until December or so, I didn't think he had much of a chance.

I was always a disenfranchised independent; I never found any candidates that really shared my views nor did I feel that anyone stood for me. Out of my own interest (and at the behest of my wife to please vote -- I was seriously considering not voting at all this year since Hillary was the clear nominee for so long) I took a few of the small polls on the web that show which candidates are most in line with your political beliefs. Barack Obama came out with 80% or more inline with my beliefs on every single poll.

So I became more and more interested, and started following these threads.

I went from a disenfranchised man with nothing but contempt for the state of our political process, to a casual supporter, and finally today I have donated $50.01 through the great City Name to Barack Hussein Obama, my President.

I'm just a married young white father of one in rusty Ohio, and it's only $50.01. It's all I can do. But with your help, we can do more.

Help me make it $500.10.

I'm calling on ten goons to match me by the start of the Cleveland debates, 9PM EST Tuesday, February 26th, 2008.

Yes We Can

EDIT: I made a fundraiser on my.barackobama.com to keep track of this! Donate here:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/hindsight

The worst rendition of the National Anthem ever recorded

http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u90/snopesbinary/Politics/?action=view&current=abc_obama_anthem_071022a.flv

Oh also it's from when that awesome picture of Obama not putting his hand over his heart was taken (remember hand over heart is not technically proper, not that putting a part of your body over another part, symbolic or not, is worth anything in terms of patriotism!)


Posted by "dm," requested by "Fix"

An Obama resume - bookmark this!

http://kikustuff.blogspot.com


Thanks "Tainen"

Obama to Reporter: I'm Sorry for "Messing Up Your Game"

This was a nasty weekend in politics, so I'm capping my Sunday night off with this old, but still awesome little piece of news.

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2006/11/2973_obama_to_report.html

Saturday, February 23, 2008

A message from "oxygen728" about phonebanking.

Dear Obama Supporters,

Phone banking has been one of the most rewarding experiences that I've ever participated in. I maxed out my donations to Obama, so I made the plunge to do some phone banking two weeks ago. It was a daunting experience for me; I'd never done anything like it in my life. I'd heard that most people are kind of nervous for their first 5 calls or so, but it took me about 35 calls to become comfortable. That first weekend, I made 175 phone calls. Here's how the first 100 turned out:

• Left 32 messages
• Had 1 rude reply
• had 20 failed calls
• Spoke to 4 Republicans who weren't interested
• Had 9 others not interested
• Had 11 calls not answered
• And had 23 others, mostly undecides who i educated about Obama.

Texas:
• Spoke to a woman with bad English, but she seemed to support Obama.
• Spoke to an old lady about how Obama plans to enact change. This was one of my first calls and I was nervous as can be. I got too flustered and didn't direct her to the issues section of the Obama site. (Note: I redeem myself and more below)

Wyoming:
• Spoke to a nice old woman, independent. She says she watches the news righ before & decides who to vote for. I provided her with some good information, but she may be too senile to remember. Perhaps it'll stick in her subconscious.
• After speaking to a registered republican, she says she's going to switch to Democrat and support Obama in the March 8th caucus. I set her up with county clerk info and caucus info.

Ohio:
• Spoke with an Obama supporter, they declined to receive more info.
• Talked to an undecided and directed him to the issues section of the Obama website. I spoke to him about the college tax credit and Obama's Middle East policy. He said he'll probably vote for Obama in the general election, at the very least.
• Spoke to a high school junior-high teacher who says he likes to inform his students about Obama. I directed him to the issues section at the Obama website (which he was unaware of).
• Spoke to an undecided who hung up on me, oops!

Wyoming Again:
• Spoke to a family of supporters, directed them to the website - especially the issues section.
• Spoke to a literal lunatic - but apparently I did a good job and she said she'll try hard to convince her entire family to vote Obama.
• An Obama supporter called me back, and I gave her some good Obama Info.
• Spoke to a republican funny guy - I gave him lots of info and totally redeemed myself on the change question. He said he'll probably support Obama in the general, and we both agreed with McCain lost his touch 8 years ago.


As you can see, it's a lot of failure sprinkled with some great successes. Also notice that I even ask Obama supporters if they have any questions on his policies. Educated supporters are much better than blind supporters - they propagate his message! The way I see it, every 100 phone calls will net an average of 4 new Obama supporters. Think about this: If John Edward's supporters each garnered 4 new Edwards supporters, he would have won every single primary in a landslide and this would be a no-contest democrat primary. This is the power of phone banking. It is daunting work, though - but let me share a few tips with you that will make it a lot easier:

• IGNORE THE NEGATIVE CALLS - FIGHT FOR THE UNDECIDED! This is very important. You need to reinforce this thought before you start and constantly throughout your phone banking experience. Remember, you will be hung up on a lot, and lots of people won't want to hear about Obama. However, we're only doing this to convince the undecided voters and the occasional Clinton supporter!
• Don't follow the script exactly - not even my script. You have to refine the script to fit your style. Write your script down, and come up with a good message script.
Example: If you are a male and the phone banking system at barackobama.com gives you a female name, but a male answers the phone... don't say "Is _female_ there?". This will bring up jealousy issues - introduce yourself and then ask for the female, or just talk to the guy about Obama!
• Always, always, always have the issues section of barackobama.com open in front of you. You want to direct as many people as possible to there as well! If somebody gives you an opportunity, answer any questions they have about Obama's policies by picking an issue from the site that matches the person you're speaking with. (Note: have a few favorites picked out in advance and ask if you can share them with them).

For plenty more tips and my tried and tested phone banking script: www.obamapledge.com/phone.htm

Finally, I'd like to speak to the issue of complacency. Clinton supporters became complacent when she was the frontrunner. Please understand that our most difficult tests to date are soon approaching in Texas and Ohio. We need Obama to win Texas and Ohio to emerge as the early and strongly supported candidate for the general election.

So, please visit www.obamapledge.com and take the pledge to generate 4 new Obama supporters by phone banking, canvassing, donating, or educating friends and family.

If you have any questions, please visit www.obamapledge.com and submit a question to me!