The Barack Obama Presidential Campaign From the Inside
I have seen two lengthy accounts from British bloggers who were active in helping the campaign in support of Barack Obama’s campaign for the US Presidency: Sunny Hundal, who spent several weeks California and Miranda Grell , who spent a total of nine weeks working on the campaign in the USA and London.
(Photos: Miranda Grell)
Sunny Hundal spent some time in the States, and i’d identify two articles from Liberal Conspiracy as worth a read:
What can we learn from the US elections? on October 15th:
Hello all, I’m now writing to you from Los Angeles, California. No, I’m not on a world tour but here to follow closely and learn from the US elections. Two words why I can’t do that properly from London: ‘Ground Operations’.
Though much has been said about Obama’s race, the dirty tricks, the media circus and polls, less attention has been paid to the boring stuff - the ground operations that actually mobilise voters. Obama’s formidable warchest has enabled him to assemble the biggest Democrat voting operation the party has ever assembled. This should not be sniffed at, because voter mobilisation and getting-out-the-vote on election day was what Republicans excelled at and partly why they kept winning.
and, from November 2nd: The largest political operation in history:
Every day, for the next three days, Californians will make more than 2 million calls to swing states across the country encouraging fellow Democrats and independents voters to support Obama and go out and vote. The state is responsible for 50% of such calls across the entire country. People have left this state by the busloads to go to Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Indiana, Florida and even as far as Pennsylvania, to provide support to local ground operations. I’ve been party to some conference calls and let me tell you - it’s like they’re preparing for war.
And Miranda Grell was involved in the campaign for a total of two months in London (working with Democrats Abroad):
My practical involvement in the Barack Obama campaign began as soon as he was confirmed as the US Democratic Party nominee at the end of August.
…
I really enjoyed this phase of the campaign. As well as making tons of phone calls, I also “hit the road†helping to register US voters in universities, banks and pavements all over London.
and Florida:
I was asked to manage the office’s phone bank for the last three days of the campaign. I had about ten-fifteen people to manage at any one moment, with a turnover of about thirty daily phone bank volunteers. The pace was hectic, fast and exhausting but I enjoyed every single minute. My “team†of phone bankers were absolutely brilliant. I didn’t have time to keep count of how many potential voters we persuaded to go out and vote but, I think it’s safe to say that the phone calls made, helped the Tampa ‘Get Out The Vote’ campaign considerably.
Different accounts, but both interesting.
[tags]barack obama, miranda grell, obama campaign, sunny hundal, us presidential campaign[/tags]
Categories: All WW, International, Internet / Technical, News - Current Affairs, Politics
Ah… now we know how Florida was won, Grell was repeating her Leyton trick: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7006231.stm
“Excuse, I’m just calling on behalf of your Florida Democrat Action Committee… were you aware John McCain likes young boys?”… possibly…
It shows a serious lack of judgement on the part of Democrats Abroad that they’d allow a convicted paedo-smear campaigner to represent them.
Better be clear: I mean “Obama Campaign” and that may not be precisely the same as “Democracts Abroad”.
The line I take is pretty clear: I line up alongside verdicts of UK Courts unless it is something that I think clearly needs to be overturned.
OTOH it is an interesting account.
It is a big question about who should be involved in politics and at what level. In the USA something like 1 in 15 people have been in jail, and 6.5% have a “felony” record. Imho that’s not because they are much more criminal than we are, but because whole areas of their legal system are nuts. Where should we draw the line in excluding them from politics (note: not implying that that is what you are suggesting in the MG case)?
[Update: And if the law says that someone is entitled to be involved in politics then I fully support that. Further, for campaigning and activism everybody involved should be applauded for being so. There are specific groups who are barred from politics and political office, but I think those exceptions should be at the minimum necessary level.]
If people point out past convictions as part of the political argument, then I think that’s fair enough and part of the political process - and they can then defend themselves as part of that same argument.
Matt
Ironic you should use the word smear then issue an ill conceived on yourself. She did not represent anyone, she was (like millions of others) just someone who gave her time freely to elect President Obama. It isn’t an issue, she was found guilty and has paid the price with her political career. Does this mean she can no longer do any voluntary work for the rest of her life?
There’s absolutely no evidence that she had any hand in strategy/tactics or engaged in any of the dirty tricks you’re are accusing her of.
Leon´s last blog post..John Pilger’s race baiting
Thanks, Leon, and Matt. I maintain my innocence and continue to fight to clear my name. Kindest regards. Miranda Grell