Saintless

I don’t have time right now for a long post, since I’m still recovering from a helluva weekend. But, here are the basics.

I didn’t get a Delegate position. Yeah, I’m sad. But, I’m over it. Mostly. I would like to say that I think some were under the impression that I’m some sort of campaign insider, and some might have even spread such gossip, which might have been a contributing factor to my loss. However, I’d like to state for the record that every hour I’ve spent on the Obama campaign has been as a volunteer. I am the volunteer Chair of the grassroots group, Utah for Obama. My aim has been to get Obama elected from day one. After Super Tuesday was the first time that any personal goals even came to mind in association with all of this. Last year, when it was suggested that I become a delegate, I pretty much laughed mockingly at the person making the suggestion. Not one single thing I’ve done has been for personal gain. So, anyone that thought otherwise might consider making an apology. I’m done with that topic, though.

I think the real reason I didn’t win was because I was too busy doing more grassroots organizing for Obama, and didn’t spend enough time campaigning for myself. Saturday at 2 PM was the kickoff for Vote for Change, and there was a ton of prep work, on top of recruiting people to come find out more. When the state delegates were in line to vote, I didn’t go around asking for their vote. Instead, I went around with copies of Vote for Change flyers and asked everyone if they were coming. And honestly, that was more important than a personal honor of going to the DNC.

Here’s the thing, though. I believe that every one of the people elected as Delegates should feel personal responsibility to the campaign. And I believe that they should help with the grassroots efforts, such as Vote for Change. So, I plan to contact each of them, individually, to ask for their support. If they cannot help with Vote for Change, I hope they’ll offer alternative support of some sort - and not just a past example. And I’m going to post here to show the status of this effort.

Kurt Bestor beat me to it, though. Nikki and I got an email from him this weekend asking how he can help, before I had the chance to contact him.

Here’s the entire list of Utah Delegates for Obama elected this weekend:

• Kathy Snyder
• Scott McCoy
• Kelvin Davis (already has grassroots involvement)
• Josie Valdez
• Pat Jones
• Theodore Cowan (Secretary, Utah for Obama)
• Kurt Bestor (willing to help)
• Brian Spitten
• Millicent Lewis
• Phil Riesen
• Christine Johnson
• Peter Corroon
• Julie Day
• Jan Lovett

I’ll keep this list going, and every time there’s an update, I’ll repost an updated list. (If you’re on the list, and feel like you’re already contributing, please send me an email or call me, and I’ll get your “status” updated. Although I’m one of the most involved people in the grassroots effort here in Utah, I’m not always aware of everything.)

Also, a big thank-you goes out to Mayor Ralph Becker for speaking to the Vote for Change group on Saturday!!

While I’m thanking people, I’d also like to thank two super star volunteers. One is Duchess - she’s moving away soon, and will be greatly missed! She’s been key to keeping our materials organized, and not running out of important things like pens. She cleaned up after the staffers when we had an office nearly every day. And she’s just always been there. So, thank you, Duchess!

The other is Rob. Rob’s been a quiet helper for a long time. He always shows up with a smile, and has been great about the tasks we give him - like guarding the projector for an hour on Saturday! Thanks, Rob!

I don’t want to diminish the help we’ve gotten from other volunteers, because we have a lot of great people in on this with us. But, I felt that these two deserved special recognition after this weekend!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under 2008 election, National Delegate, Utah, Utah for Obama. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.