Tell me about your local organizer.

[justgamma]

Ours was from Virginia. He worked in Geogia for a while, then he was sent to Alaska. He said they were doing really great up there until the barracuda entered the picture. Then he was sent here to replace the one we had. He had to cover our county and parts of 2 other counties. He was only 20 and gave up his life for a year to work for Obama. I would come back from canvassing with back spasms and he was so worried about me. It was cute, but I'd be back the next day anxious to get out there again.

On election day, he had us making calls at 8:15 yet. Our polls closed at 9. I accidently heard about Pa. but he didn't want me to tell anyone or they may stop calling. LOL Finally, I went in and told him if he didn't let us know how it was going, I was just going to start calling people to ask the results. He relented.

Bless his heart. I miss him and wonder what he's doing now. Anyway, thanks Sam for all you did.

[graywarrior]

1. Scott

From Oregon

He drove me to see Obama in Concord, NH where I got to meet and shake his hand. Scott never stopped. He is 23 and is one of the most positive and happy people I have ever met. He got hit from all sides and took it smiling. He came up against some hard core republicans and still went back out and canvassed his heart out. On election night, we celebrated at a local bar with other staff and volunteers and he partied down.

He's now in NY applying for community jobs. I really miss him a lot.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. I miss mine too. He was from NY. He worked in FL. Awesome! Very caring.

Worked like a HORSE! I've never seen anyone so motivated, so driven, working so many hours. Very nice guy. As the campaign wore on, he looked more and more tired, but kept on. However, when Election Day came and we had our Watch Party, I mean it, I've never seen anyone JUMP HIGHER, hug everyone TIGHTER, say THE most nonsensical crazy-happy things louder! It was the BEST! He was beside himself, really. He's going to need 6 months to recoup!

[csziggy]

3. Dave - former rocket scientist

Well, had worked for NASA. He'd just come back from New Zealand where his wife was working on a post-graduate project. So he was between jobs when he started with the Obama campaign. They have two wonderful daughters who often came into HQ and worked on signs, making buttons out of extra stickers and other projects.

Dave worked his butt off for the campaign. I hope I get to see him again but I don't know if he and his wife will stay in Tallahassee or, more likely, have to go elsewhere for job opportunities.

Brian was a field organizer for another part of the county, but he snagged me my first day in the office and got me right to work. It was two weeks before I found out I was supposed to be working with Dave. :eyes: Lots of fun, with good jokes - that was Brian.

There was also Fred, the regional director. Always cheerful, always insanely busy and always full of praise for everyone. Last I heard he was heading home to Michigan.

Thank you, Dave and Fred! :party:

[OhioBlue]

4. Clarissa and Phillip

They were both awesome. they both inspired me and give me hope.

We worked with Clarissa first - she WAS the Obama campaign. Full of hope and inspiration. I love her energy and the compassion that she brought to our local volunteers. She inspired many people to become involved for the first time. I've never seen anyone be able to handle a phone call as well as she did. She's smart, hard working and very caring. People volunteered for her as much as for Obama.

We worked with Phillip for the last month and a half. He was great at coming in and organizing things the moment he stepped into the office. He has a great deal of strength and knowledge. He kept us together when we (I) was getting frazzled in the last week or so. He worked tirelessly - long hours, every day.

They are both incredible young people that I miss very much. The campaign attracted the most amazing people. I'm so glad to have gotten the chance to know them and work with them. I had the time of my life volunteering on this campaign and it is credited to them along with the dedicated volunteers.

[justgamma]

5. I just admire these young people so much.

I love to hear their stories. My goodness, at that age I couldn't imagine working 16 hours or more a day for months on end. Living with strangers and living a good deal on junk food. Organizing, keeping everyone motivated and moving. Always smiling and encouraging. I would have liked to learn more about our Sam, but he and we were way too busy to chit chat much.

[Occam Bandage]

6. She's my younger sister. That's all I have to say. nt

[Debi]

7. Ours was French! But he most recently lived in Boston and attended Tufts University

It was the first time in my memory that our town got it's own office (usually the county got one office centered in Waterloo where the most people were - this cycle not only did Waterloo get TWO offices but the university got one and Cedar Falls got one).

He had an Air Zooka and would 'shoot' volunteers when we got off track! (Okay - only those of us he could kid around with - not anyone who it would bother).

He found a grill on the side of the road that was being given away and set it up in back of HQ and would grill chicken/burgers/hotdogs in the evenings - I think that brought/kept volunteers in during the busy dinnertime hours.

He also set up areas for younger kids to color/cut/paste so their folks could make phone calls.

I never saw him angry or frazzled no matter how crazy busy the office got or how many questions he was asked or how many times his damn phone would ring!

Election day when I came in he gave me the first round of #s he'd received and asked how concerned I was - I reminded him about the campaigns early voting/absentee push AND that Democrats tend to vote after work and republicans tend to vote on their way to work (at least in Cedar Falls that has been the history). He didn't want me to say anything to all the volunteers in the office b/c everyone was so excited. Even @ 8:00 when I called it quits to gather the family to head over to the planned victory party he was still nervous. No need to be...

President (Black Hawk County only)
64 of 64 precincts reporting (100%)
Barack Obama (Dem) 38,564 60.5%
John McCain (GOP) 24,467 38.4%
Ralph Nader (PFP) 341 0.5%
Bob Barr (Lib) 170 0.3%
Chuck Baldwin (CST) 108 0.2%
Cynthia McKinney (Grn) 38 0.1%
Brian Moore (SPU) 9 0.0%
James Harris (SWP) 8 0.0%
Gloria La Riva (SCL) 3 0.0%

http://data.desmoinesregister.com/election08/general/results_counties_allraces.php?countyfips=19013


Xavia - I will not miss listening to your damn French rap, but I will miss your calm and friendly demeanor and the way you help build an new democratic community in what was considered a rather conservative area of the county. Because the campaign put an office in Cedar Falls many of us dems met new friends and had SO MUCH fun and YOU did that!!!

Here's a pic of Xavier at the victory party with super-volunteers Holly/Tiffany: