Saintless

Hillary Clinton has yet to admit that the Democratic Presidential Primary is a done deal, but the tone of media chatter that I’ve heard is that she’s going to – on a night of her own choosing, when she can have the spotlight on her for a moment. My personal feelings about that very, but at the moment, I feel like that’s an OK thing. Granted, her ‘offer to be Obama’s VP, in order to unify the party’ seemed rather out of line, to me. But, hey, I’d be happy to follow he lead and offer myself as Obama’s Technology Czar. Ezra Klein put it best, I think:

If you were Clinton and, on the one hand, you had your hated adversaries in the media clamoring for you to drop out, and on the other, you were mobbed, every day, by devoted supporters who had invested their hopes in you and begged you to keep up the fight, and you yourself wanted to continue prosecuting your case, well, what would you do?

I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that she’ll be Obama’s VP. In fact, I think McCain would be more likely to offer her the job than Obama, but we all know that’s not very likely, either. Obama will likely choose someone to round out his skills, maybe someone strong on foreign policy, to satisfy those who believe he needs more experience. I do believe he’ll make a wise choice, no matter who it is.

If Hillary gets a job in the Obama administration, I could see it having to do with healthcare, since that is one of her strong points, and the one she seems to be the most passionate about, at least if you narrow it down to things Obama and Clinton can agree on. And that would satisfy a lot of people.

Last night, about 5 hours after I scheduled the “Yes We Did” party, people began to show up at the SkyBox Grille. Kurt Bestor beat us all in the door, and was just beginning a snack as I walked in with Dimitrios and his girlfriend (sorry, I suck at names) to the back room where the big screen awaited us. Not long after, people began arriving, eager to own another little piece of this campaign. Many were people I’d never met before. Others were the people who I’ve known since this all started, like Theodore, Strider, Brandon, Janet Lee, Laurie Noda, and so many more. Rob Miller brought Utah Attorney General candidate, Jean Welch Hill, and Pete Ashdown and Robin Ballard brought their two youngest children. I would guess attendance at about 40 people. Which really isn’t bad, considering the short notice everyone had about the event.

Chris Vanocur, of ABC 4, sent down a camera to check out the activities. Halfway through Senator Obama’s speech, I was asked to do an interview, and so I missed much of the speech. I love technology, though. It’s all on YouTube, and I’ve put the video at the end of this article, in case anyone else would like to (re-)watch it. Kurt Bestor and Theodore Cowan were also interviewed, presumably because of their status as elected National Delegates for Senator Obama. ABC 4′s video feed isn’t allowed on this blog’s setup, so I can’t post it here. But, you can view it on ABC4.com.

KSL also had some interesting coverage yesterday regarding the Democratic Primary, including Donald Dunn’s take.

There were two other reporters there last night. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that they were reporters until it was too late, and they were gone. Apparently, one was from the Salt Lake Tribune.

The Deseret News had some other interesting news coverage yesterday. They quoted Wayne Holland as confirming rumors that I keep hearing, about Helen Langdon and Karen Hale switching from Hillary to Barack, as well as saying that Jim Matheson would be coming out for Barack. I’ve been hearing about the first two for a long while now, and from many different people. I had almost begun to think it was wishful thinking, but regardless, this is good news!

Now we can get on to the serious business of facing John McSame McCain. You know, Mr. 4-More-Years-Of-Bush, who thinks that spying on Americans is patriotic and on registering new voters across Utah. Watch for a summary very soon about the successes we’ve already had!

And now, on to Barack’s victory speech last night.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxa0ihsoiYI]

Utah for Obama is hosting a “Yes We Did” Celebration party to watch Barack Obama’s Victory Speech tonight at SkyBox Grille at the Gateway Mall at 7:30 PM.

After Saturday’s decision to finalize the Michigan and Florida delegates, 2,118 is the magic number of delegates to reach the Democratic Nomination. As of this writing, Barack Obama needs 31.5 delegates to get there. Tonight, after the votes are counted in Montana and South Dakota, the last few names of Super Delegates who will vote for Senator Obama at the DNC in August will be announced, and Senator Obama will make his victory speech.

According to my sources, his speech will happen at 8:15 MDT, just after the polls close, so make sure that you arrive by 8!.

This campaign is a movement of the people, and I cannot think of a more appropriate title for tonight’s event than “Yes we did”. Barack won this nomination because of you, and me, and literally millions of other people’s efforts. It’s not just Barack who won, it’s all of us. We have more work to do, but tonight it’s time to celebrate what we’ve accomplished.

And tomorrow, we can get on to the work of showing John McCain for what he really is – 4 more years of Bush.

Details:
SkyBox Sports Grill, 7:30 PM
4 South Rio Grande Street
Family-friendly event
Bring your friends, too!
Use Winter Parking entrance on north side of 100 South.
SkyBox is on the west side of Rio Grande Street, on the Promenade level

Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation’s first female president.

While Hillary is conceding that Barack has the delegates needed, she’s not dropping out just yet. I’m not quite sure why, but regardless, we’re going to celebrate the fact that Barack Obama has won the Democratic nomination tonight!

We don’t have a venue yet, because this is just breaking. But, I’ll announce it here after we have it confirmed. And if you have a place you’d like to offer that has a tv and plenty of room, let me know!

It’s rather amusing to me how right on the spot that The Spoof was about this.

Update: Yes, I know that other sources say she’s denying that she’ll concede. However, look at the way they phrased it – she’s denying that she’ll concede the nomination. She can’t deny that Obama will have the required number of delegates to declare victory tonight. While Montana only has 16 delegates at stake, it’s expected that the remaining undeclared Super Delegates will be simultaneously announcing their support of Senator Obama, giving him the delegates needed. We will have won. And we’re gonna celebrate!

Last Wednesday, hundreds, thousands or some large number of people showed up at Washington Square for the Peace and Human Rights Rally. So, we decided that would be the perfect place to register new voters, and update others’ registrations. I had at least 6 people join me, including Cheryl, Theo, Brandon, Susan, Sherri, and Claire and her son. I swear there were a couple more but I didn’t do a sign-in, so I’m stuck with the ones my short memory will recall. Anyway, we were able to register 43 voters. Not bad for an hour’s work, right?

Here are some of the photos from the rally, much thanks to Theo for getting some of the better shots for me.

It took me 3 tries, but I finally got a full shot of this “Prez Lie Dispenser” sign.

These guys with the foil signs walked in front of and through the crowd several times.

Here’s a shot from near the back of the crowd.

One from the side.

Another from the side.

Here’s Rocky at the beginning of his speech.

I liked the signs put up from High Road for Human Rights. They said:

Our America Does Not Torture

America: Where Everyone Including The President Is Bound By Rule Of Law

Torture Is A Subversion Of American Values

Anyway, we’ve had a lot of positive stories about Vote for Change across Utah. Josh Der sent this email about the Logan Vote for Change event:

On Saturday, May 24, 2008, Utah State University for Obama, Cache Valley for Obama and the Cache County Democratic Party jointly organized a voter registration drive in Logan.

We had four volunteers and we collected 16 new voter registration applications, 6 of which were Democrats, 6 were unaffiliated and only one of which was Republican. This was a test-run and was a great success, considering it was nice weather on a holiday weekend without any big events happening in Logan.

One of our volunteers scouted the community for potential drive locations, one registered voters downtown and two volunteers worked outside of a locally owned, progressive coffee shop/deli counter.

We wore our Obama flair, but focused on registering people to vote. If they asked why we were doing it, we told them about the Vote for Change campaign. We were well received and connected with some potential volunteers.

By the end of the day, we came away feeling excited and energized. We also gave out free Obama bumper stickers to supporters who expressed interest. We didn’t really push the stickers, but still gave out close to 30 of them.

This registration drive represents something tangible, easy and proactive we can all do to promote Obama. The more we promote Obama in Utah, the stronger the democratic party will be on Election Day, regardless of how Utah’s electoral votes are cast. This means the possibility for REAL change on a local level, where we are most directly affected.

Here are a couple pieces of advice for organizers based on our experiences:

1) Identify locations before you start. Corporate-owned grocery store chains (e.g. Walmart or Albertsons, etc.) don’t want anything to do with politics, so don’t bother sending volunteers to these places, they’ll just get turned away. I’ve found locally owned businesses are much more receptive to this voter registration drive. Consider the management’s perspective; try not to bother patrons inside of the business, but rather catch them on their way in or out. Don’t block the entrance and don’t be too pushy. Look for places where you’ll get a lot of foot traffic. Consider your target demographic and go to where you are likely to find them (e.g. for youth, find the local hangouts or work on campuses; for Latinos or Asian Americans, go to an ethnic market or restaurant). If you can (and they will allow), get a booth or a table at a local festival or farmer’s market, otherwise get a lot of volunteers to work the crowd. In any case, its best to work in a location where people are not in a rush and can spend a few minutes to fill out the form or to chat with you.

2) Visit your County Clerk’s office. They are required to provide voter registration application books to organizations who are registering voters. They will give you 4-5 books of 50 applications. Each volunteer will need a book, so this may limit how many volunteers you can use, but if a few different people request them independently or you make a plea that you are working a large event, you may be able to get more. The books have carbon copies so you can give each voter a receipt that is proof of registration and will get them a ballot in case they don’t get their voter registration card or their application gets lost somehow. The books fit on a clipboard well and you don’t have to make any photocopies or carry stacks of loose paper or bulky state-printed mail in forms (however, its good to have a few mail in forms to give out to people who don’t have time, want their voter information kept private, or want to give it to a friend). Be sure to check that all the required information is completed and legible. When you finish a book, bring it back to the County Clerk and they will replace it.

Set up your own vote for change event: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/create

Lots of people are organizing small drives, and local businesses seem to be supportive, and often let people run the drive from there. In fact, Golden Braid Books contacted us, to offer a location. It’s easy, and even if you don’t want to run one yourself, you can join us at larger gatherings, like next weekend when we get going at Utah Pride. Check out events statewide.

It just doesn’t get any better than this. I just found this event posting on my.BarackObama.com:

Goths For Obama @ The Dark Arts Festival (Voter Registration Drive)

I am vISION, singer and co-founder of Tragic Black. I am a big supporter of Barack Obama and hope to inspire new voters at the Dark Arts Festival. We perform on Sunday, Day 3 of the 2008 Dark Arts Festival and will be doing a massive voter registration drive.

TRAGIC BLACK is a five-piece band from Salt Lake City and is amongst the most active and dedicated modern Deathrock bands who attract fans from all over the music spectrum.
More information @: http://tragicblack.com/

The Dark Arts Festival is an annual showcase of gothic, industrial, and underground music, art, and fashion that takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dark Arts Festival 2008 will be at Area 51 on June 6th, 7th and 8th.
More information and Price for the Festival@: http://darkartsfestival.com/

Janet Hurley, Utah for Obama’s awesome Events Coordinator, is looking for a few more volunteers for next weekend’s Utah Pride event. We’ve got a table for both Saturday and Sunday, and we’re going to be in the Parade on Sunday. Janet Lee, who has an amazing skill with crafting (and made our fabulous Utah for Obama flag!) is making a 12 Foot Obama puppet. Come down and help us with either (or both!) events. Sign up for the parade here or tabling here.

It’s gonna be fun!

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!

I just got this email from Vanessa Wasserman, Delegate Coordinator for the Barack Obama campaign:

Hello,

Just wanted to send you an update of where we stand after yesterday’s exciting primary results.

We project that Senator Obama netted a total of approximately 13 delegates out of primaries in Indiana and North Carolina yesterday. Today, Senator Obama moved closer to becoming the Democratic nominee by winning the support of four superdelegates (North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek, North Carolina DNC member Jeanette Council, California DNC member Inola Henry and Virginia Assembly member Jennifer McClellan who switched from Clinton). That total of 4 delegates means that Obama is now only 169 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination.

The Math

Contests won – Obama 32, Clinton 16

Total Delegates – Obama 1856, Clinton 1698.5

Pledged delegates Obama needs for a majority of pledged delegates – 33

Total delegates Obama needs for the nomination – 169

Link to full state-by-state results: http://www.barackobama.com/resultscenter/index.php

We are definitely on the road to change!

Hope all is well.

Vanessa

We are so close! If you want to be part of the last sprint to the finish line, please consider making some phone calls today, tomorrow and/or this weekend! It’s really easy, so if you haven’t done it before, I hope you’ll take an hour to try it out. Just go to the Obama Phone Banking Center.

We’ll be doing Voter Registration for the rest of election season, too. So, watch for emails on the ListServ and local events on the web site, for information on how you can help with that. We’re kicking it off this weekend by looking for Voter Registration Coordinators at the Utah State Democratic Convention. We want to reach out to people in every neighborhood in Utah. We’re doing this in conjunction with the Utah State Democratic Party, because our real goal is to make sure Democrats get elected at every level.

For All of Us
by Jesse Jacobs, Denise Osso, Brian Occonel, Merilee Newman, Derreck Janniere

A wide spectrum of voters speak about what they are looking for in a candidate and what inspired them to vote for Barack Obama. The ad also expresses the confidence in Obama as the best candidate to address the various crisis facing the nation. The economy, the Iraq War, Heathcare, and the turbulence in the mortgage industry. The overall message is one of optimism, hope, and unity.

I love MoveOn! I saw this video on the local Utah for Obama group, and I think it rocks! Go vote for your favorite Obama in 30 Seconds ad and help get it aired.

Tags: grassroots

The Utah for Obama group is looking for as many Obama lawn signs as possible. We need to borrow them for the SL County Convention this Saturday.

If you can loan yours to us, please put your name and phone number inside the sign, so we can return it to you.

You can email me at saintless@gmail.com or call 386.7729 if you’re able to help.