Blue Oregon: Remarkable

[illinoisprogressive]

I was at the Countdown event here in Portland last Friday night and I'll admit - I am fired up. It was pretty amazing to be in line with thousands of people who all share a common interest in making the world better and an eagerness to get involved. I was astonished by the efficiency of the stantionless switch backs - no pushing, no shoving, thousands of people working together, moving in a common direction.

I was blown away by Barack in person. But candidates can talk a good talk, and telling me what I want to hear is a good way to get me fired up, but is it real? Is it just spin?

The thing that pushed it over the edge for me - I had the genuine sense that Barack Obama doesn't want to run for President, he is compelled to, he has to run for President. The same way Yo Yo Ma has to play the cello, Steve Jobs has to innovate, Tiger has to swing his club. Obama struck me as someone who has to lead if he sees a problem.

I came home, set up a page on my.barackobama.com and started thinking about what I could do to make a difference.

At about 3pm on Monday I made a $10 donation through my web page and was going to have it as a recurring donation. Then I'd challenge my family and friends to join me - but the recurring donation field wasn't enabled. I work in nonprofit fundraising - plus I did okay in math - so I know that one $10 donation is less than 12 $10 donations...and since the goal of fundraising is to get more...having a recurring donation option is a must do.

So I sent an email to the campaign - fat chance that will be read right, but I felt like I needed to do my part?

Boy was I wrong!

My phone rang at 9am the next day. I don't typically get phone calls from the 312 area code so I was a little perplexed at who would be calling me. Turns out it was a staffer at the Barack Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago.

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http://www.blueoregon.com/2007/09/remarkable.html