I just returned from a week in Montreal where I was attending the International Coach Federation Global Conference (I am a professional life & business coach). At the conference I had the chance to speak to many people from around the world as 43 (I saw the irony as well) countries were represented by over 1,400 coaches who were in attendance. Aside from the insightful and educational coaching related experiences I had during the week the other thing that kept coming up in conversations was how excited people were about Barack. On many occasions, people (from Europe, Asia & North America) were telling me that they felt the US was back on the right track and we should be proud having elected him President. Additionally, many Canadians told me that even though they were having their own elections during the same period; people were more excited about what was happening in the United States.

During some downtime at the conference I went for a walk thru the old section of Montreal (which is very French), and passed a gift shop that had amongst all of its Canadian & Quebec inspired products for sale, the t-shirt in the photo caught my eye the most. 4 years ago

Greeting from Montreal. While walking the streets of Old Montreal today, I saw a great t-shirt. It said “One World, One People, One Leader – United We Stand – Obama”, with a picture of Barack.

Its nice to see again the rest of the world looking at the USA for leadership and with excitement.

I took a picture of it but forgot my cable to download. I’ll post it when I get back next week. 4 years ago

but I posted a link to photos in another thread showing Barack backstage on election night. Don’t know if any of you saw my post or not so, I thought I’d share with you the link4 years ago

Barack Obama is far from Merlin in King Arthurs Court. There is no way that he is going to wave his magic wand and make all right and just in the world. There are heavy duty challenges worldwide, and not just the old standbys of poverty, starvation, wars, and global warming – but also an economic crisis that gives revitalizes the old phrase “When America Sneezes, The World Catches A Cold.”

As supporters of Barack Obama we need to be diligent in our efforts to support and defend our President daily. Simple things, like doing all we can to conserve eneergy and reduce our dependence on foeign oil as he has often called up us to do, but acting for and explaining to, those people who did vote for Barack Obama so that we can demonstrate that he is their President too, and we are more than willing to welcome them to Our American Dream.

The “tax increase for the very wealthy” is sure to become a hot button issue in the coming months and years. The tax roll backs offered by the Bush administration do not expire until 2010 – of course both sides have the potential to get their knickers in a twist over the expediency of the promise to let those roll backs expire. (I wonder how many people know that GWBush put an expiration clause in those tax breaks?)

The Automotive “bailout” or “loan program” is another hot button issue. After years of putting their eggs in one basket Detroit has fumbled greatly while Honda, Toyota, and Subaru are making smaller, more fuel efficient cars in the United States that people are buying. Volkswagen is even building a new assembly plant in Chatanooga. Do we help Detroit or let market conditions prevail? Do we put conditions on the loans to that jobs stay in the US (versus ramping up production in Hermilliso Mexico)?

And what of healthcare and family services for our veterans. Surely we cannot ask them to sacrifice more than they already have.

The campaign starts today, and continues tomorrow, and next week, and next month, and next year.

We need to be ready to head the call of our President, continue to educate ourselves on the crises and solutions facing our Nation, and be prepared to defend Barack Obama at a moments notice.

Yes We Can! 4 years ago

WOW, the election is over and Barack is now the President-elect of the United States of America! We, and the millions of other (non-43 Things)people across the country who campaigned for Barack deserve a giant “Atta-Person” (or an atta-boy or atta-girl, if you prefer).

The political campaign is over. Barack has a huge job ahead of him and it’s going to take everyone in the country, WORKING TOGETHER, to make it happen. It will take a lot of leadership on his part to get us all pointed in the same direction. It will take a lot of EFFORT and “CAMPAIGNING” on the part of each of us help him do that.

So, the “social” campaign now begins. I will make an effort, every day, to try to heal the divisions that separate us as citizens and will work to make us, once again, a united American people.

Would you like to join me? 4 years ago

I have completed my most important task for the day. I cast my vote for Barack and all the other good candidates for office.

The rest of my day will be spent making Get Out The Vote calls followed by a VICTORY PARTY this evening! 4 years ago

I have signed up for canvassing at 7:30 AM for four hours and then again, at 4:00 PM for four hours. Then, I’m grabbing that bottle of “champers” out of the fridge, and going to one of the big victory parties.

There will be dancing in the streets here. It’s going to be pandemonium. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like. 4 years ago

I’ve been doing Get Out The Vote calls most of the day and it is so nice to talk to supporters—people who are actually glad to hear from us. For some reason, the Barack supporters who have already voted seen particularly pleased with themselves, with life, and with my calls.

YES, WE CAN! 4 years ago

While making Get Out the Vote calls in Ohio this morning, it was my good fortune to talk briefly with a 79 year old man from Cleveland. His name had an Italian spelling and he spoke with a bit of an accent. There was no doubt in his mind that Barack Obama was the greatest thing to happen to this country EVER! CERTAINLY he was going to vote! He was going to the polls EARLY and told me exactly where he had to go to vote. He wasn’t going to take any family or friends with him because “They don’t live around here but they were CERTAINLY GOING TO VOTE FOR OBAMA, TOO!”

He thanked ME for calling HIM and hoped I would convince a lot of other folks to get out there and VOTE FOR OBAMA! By the time I hung up from talking to him, he had managed to get me totally PUMPED! If we had recruited him as a volunteer at the beginning of the campaign by now he would have convinced McCain to vote for Obama!

It’s amazing how one person can be so influential. I will remember him for a long time and I hope I am able to pass on to others the enthusiasm he gave me! 4 years ago

This time, it will be Manchester. I’ll take pictures this time too! 4 years ago

The Nevada campaign has good video on how to canvass, here4 years ago

Today, the focus was on new and sporadic voters who tend to vote Democratic; only a few undecideds/unknowns.

Sometimes I think my main purpose is just to listen to people. Example: some white guy, in his late 50s, starts off by telling me he doesn’t want to talk politics with anyone. I’m cheerful and say that’s fine, and start to mark down “refused” on the walk sheet, and then he proceeds to talk politics with me for maybe the next twenty minutes. I give a few prompts, like, “what issues concern you the most in this election?” However, it’s mostly me saying things like, “uh huh”, or “I hear you” or “I can see why you feel that way”. Maybe only once or twice did I offer some sort of thoughts of my own on why My Candidates would be better on his concerns.

I don’t know if this is really “persuasion” the way some folks probably think I’m supposed to be working it. Probably not. But I don’t know if arguing would have worked. Instead, I do think there’s a lot of folks who feel that their voices aren’t heard; guys like this one who feel cynical, and unhappy with the existing system. With my buttons and clipboard, I appear to be a representative of officialdom, even if all I am is a neighbor from down the street. I hope that my open demeanor and respectful listening communicate that this is campaign of openness and respect. Maybe, in the privacy of the voting booth, he’ll color in the right oval. I guess I’ll never know. 4 years ago

I like knocking on doors. Although my mood changes on a regular basis, today, I like it. And I’m taking that enthusiasm to NH. People need to hear from another real person about why they should vote for Barack Obama. It’s very important that folks really think about the direction of the country and our impact on the world.

My hope is that with some thoughtful reflection, folks will vote Obama. 4 years ago

Politico reports on Colin Powell’s visit to Meet the Press.4 years ago

I spent a glorious fall day canvassing with Rose. We were out in my old neighborhood, where we used to live before we moved to our current house. The downside of fine weather: hardly anyone’s at home. I have caught a lot more people on a rainy day after the football game.

Highlights:

Some nice old lady in her 80s said that her cousin usually comes down from Bellingham (!!) to drive her to the polls. I told her that I could mark down that she needed a ride, and a volunteer would take her. (Don’t know why she doesn’t vote by mail, other than maybe it would deprive her of the trip out of the house).

I got someone who was interested in volunteering. I was proud of myself for coming up with the address (including suite number!) of the Obama headquarters from memory. Of course I marked it down on the canvassing sheet, too. 4 years ago

So yesterday was an exciting day. I went to Hofstra University with about 100 other crazy Planned Parenthood supporters to shout out for Barack Obama. All I can say is free speech zones are so lame. Seriously lame. I might as well have stayed home I would have been closer to the action.

But we made the best of it. Check out my video on Youtube. 4 years ago

The Musicians for Change event Saturday night drew about 100 people. We got two new voter registrations, pumped up the enthusiasm of all of us, and had a great time.

The big news in this neighborhood is that McCain has pulled his campaign out of Michigan. That makes all of us volunteers feel like we were doing all the right things and encourages us to do more of the same! 4 years ago

Heading to Pennsylvania for some canvassing. Boo yah! 4 years ago

One of the town committees that I have been involved with had a fantastic house party, yesterday! While there has been very little discussion about Massachusetts, because it is one of the states that Obama is certain of winning, we have been working hard to reinforce those feelings, and make sure that there are no last minute surprises. We sold out of pins, lawn signs, and used most of our bumper stickers. We were also able to sign up new volunteers for phone bank, and canvassing in New Hampshire. 4 years ago

Such a good event – 75 to 100 people, great music, five more voters registered plus several forms sent home. Ten voters were registered yesterday downtown as well – I’m so proud of our volunteers. All of the proceeds of today’s event – $7500 at last count – go directly to the campaign. People were so positive about seeing Barack Obama as our next President. My favorite part of the day was posing for a picture with the life-size Obama cutout with my young friend Billy. I will always remember this day! 4 years ago

I did more persuasion phone calling (the numbers are not handy at the moment) and spent some time working with my friend, Mike, on organizing a “Musicians for Change” concert for next Saturday night (10/4) It will be a free concert with 5 different musical groups each doing a 45 minute set. We will be doing voter registration and volunteer recruiting. 4 years ago

I did nothing this weekend towards this goal. Part of it is that I did a lot of cold calling last week for work, and I didn’t have the emotional strength for canvassing. The other part of it is that I spent most of yesterday on the bike-a-thon and nearly all of today on gardening, and I didn’t have the time.

I need another day in the weekend, honestly, I really do. 4 years ago

I’m really thinking of asking my boss for three days off, and flying to Colorado for GOTV activity. Washington State is relatively safely for Obama – I’d be better off going to a swing state and really working it. My brother lives in Littleton – he could put me up in his basement for five days. I’d fly in on a Saturday, and then work it until election day – and then fly home.

Do I dare…? 4 years ago

My local campaign office had been out of signs for a while (a good omen, I thought) and a couple days ago when I stopped in they had some yard signs and I contributed $5 and took one home. I put the sign at the end of my driveway-a 750 foot driveway and you can’t see the road from the house-and this afternoon, in broad daylight, somebody stole my sign!

Now this may sound like a Bad Thing, but after some contemplation I’ve decided that it is really a Good Thing. On a sporadic basis, I write op-ed columns for the local daily paper and it occurs to me that people who steal political signs would make a great column topic and might give more publicity to our cause than the sign ever could. 4 years ago

Met some Palin fans.

Good thing I ended with some “Strong Obama” folks – helps me feel less unhappy. 4 years ago

We did 91 phone calls this week and got 21 contacts. We’re getting the wrong numbers weeded out and are getting more adept at finding the right times to call and find people at home and willing to talk.

Has anyone else gotten a copy of a DVD in the mail called: THE FACTS About John McCain’s Health Care Plan? It’s from the Service Employees International Union (Committee on Political Education) and is certainly worth seeing for any voter whose primary issue is health care. The video has several shots of John McCain actually explaining his views on health care. Scary stuff. 4 years ago

We have met again to plan the September 28 event, and I listed it on mybarackobama.com. We have been getting good responses from the newspaper ad as well. 4 years ago

I plan to canvass this afternoon, and hoping that the rain will slack.

In the meantime, hey – I’m going to a relatively fancy fund-raising brunch (less fancy than the dinner tonight, though – I don’t have those sorts of bucks!) for Obama tomorrow morning, with the Jewish Community Leadership Committee. I’ve never given enough money to any candidate to go to a fund-raising brunch – I’m in a fashion dilemma. I hope to schmooze with some folks and my dim hope is to cultivate donors for my agency.

What should I wear?

Option A: Jeans and my Obama t-shirt
Option B: business attire – suit, hose, pumps
Option C: something casual and elegant – yeah, like what? 4 years ago

Why Obama’s Health Plan Is Better

The big threat to growth in the next decade is not oil or food prices, but the rising cost of health care. The doubling of health insurance premiums since 2000 makes employers choose between cutting benefits and hiring fewer workers.
Rising health costs push total employment costs up and wages and benefits down. The result is lost profits and lost wages, in addition to pointless risk, insecurity and a flood of personal bankruptcies.

Sustained growth thus requires successful health-care reform. Barack Obama and John McCain propose to lead us in opposite directions—and the Obama direction is far superior.

(the article continues here ) 4 years ago