Organizing...

This week has been all about a new fall schedule, and getting the boys signed up and ready for the upcoming weeks. Benjamin starts preschool and a new session of Kidfit, plus swim lessons at East Hills. Jonny starts a Rompers class at East Hills and--this morning--a Music Together class with Mommy.

But last night I attended what might be the most important "meeting" of the week. With my mom, I gathered with several other Obama supporters at an "Obama party". It was held in the living room of one of my mom's friends from the GR Civic Theater. John March--a local, white, well-off, attorney (at one of GR's top firms) working in a conservative environment...and yet, unbelievably passionate about change for our country. Certainly breaking the mold.
At any rate, the gathering of people was, for sure, diverse...but most of all, impassioned and motivated. Several people spoke about their own story, why they are supporting Obama, etc...including myself. And once that happened, I realized just how devoted I am to this cause. And if I want to see my state go "blue", it's going to need more than my putting a yard sign in front of my house. Even if it does irk my neighbor across the street.
My point is that I'm ready. Ready to do more. I've signed up to do something I never even DREAMED I'd feel comfortable with, which is to go door to door. But when I think about my candidate, I realize that's the kind of campaign he's running...one from the ground up, with an emphasis on the impact of each single person. And the power of face to face contact.
Also? I'm going to host a party at my house. I might not have as nice of a living room to host it in...or as many nice wine glasses...but somehow I just don't think that's the point.
The campaign reps that attended and led our event amazed me. Neither of them from Michigan, both having uprooted their lives for the past 6 months to devote their energies to this campaign. One an owner of a marketing firm, the other a college student on scholarship. They both gave it all up to work for Barack. And both are living in homes of strangers from month to month, state to state, community to community. Gettin it done!

Point is, I'm just so freakin inspired and ready to put more of myself into this. I've been talking for a long time about how much I believe in this process, this candidate, etc...but I've never been more convinced of the need for my own voice being added to the effort.
That is, afterall, what Barack has been asking for all along...involvement from the ground up, not the other way around.
And so, I want to leave today's entry with an excerpt from an on point email I received today from the Obama campaign. Thought it pretty much summed up how I was feeling last night. How I felt about the speech by Palin (even though I turned it off half-way through)...but mostly, how I feel about moving forward.
I'm tired of the divisiveness from the Right.
Tired of being pandered to, simply because I'm a white, female, suburban mom and member of the middle class.
Tired of having my intelligence low-balled. And my expectations underestimated.
Tired of not doing anything more than stewing around getting frustrated.

Not when the stakes are this high.

And so, here's the quote from David Plouffe:

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together.
Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.Let's clarify something for them right now. Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies. And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning. Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.Meanwhile, we still haven't gotten a single idea during the entire Republican convention about the economy and how to lift a middle class so harmed by the Bush-McCain policies. It's now clear that John McCain's campaign has decided that desperate lies and personal attacks -- on Barack Obama and on you -- are the only way they can earn a third term for the Bush policies that McCain has supported more than 90 percent of the time.

Also felt like adding this article to today's post.
Thanks, Steph.:)