Obama Campaign - Heather's Obama Blog

Barack Obama - Presidential Campaign 2008

Heather's Obama blog
Campaigning in Richmond, Indiana

Why Richmond, IN you ask? I have family there so it's easy to head over and stay a couple of days. This weekend
was good – I had a great time. It's a city that didn't officially have an office until this past week, either, but there were
enough volunteers and enough enthusiasm that a staffer was sent and an office was opened. What's really great is
that we had 50 or more people show up at the opening! An invited newspaper reporter from the local paper wasn't
among them, but that's ok. Being a small city, that's a really good turnout.

Looking at my pictures afterwards, I found out that one of the supporters there was a new neighbor of my parents
who not only made phone calls from her home, but also put up an Obama sign in her yard. Really great considering
my parents are Republicans, though I truly think Mom is leaning towards Obama - she reads EVERYTHING I give her.
Dad reads a lot, too, but enjoys the conservative life too much! He jokingly asks my brother and me how - after
raising us, feeding and clothing us, sending us to good schools, putting braces on our teeth, etc - we could grow up
to be Democrats! "Where did I go wrong?" he facetiously asks!

Saturday night, I invited Cyrus Garrett, the Obama staffer, over for dinner. My parents usually fall asleep in front of
the TV by 9pm. Cyrus got there around 8 and didn't leave until just after midnight and Mom, Dad and I all stayed up
until at least 1am - discussing a very wide range of issues. It was great - we talked about everything and Dad felt very
good about talking to someone involved with the campaign who not only listened to his questions but, instead of
arguing, also provided answers and enjoyed a friendly and open debate. Their views obviously differed, but isn't the
whole point of Barack Obama's campaign to bring us together and discuss everything - agree or not? He's bringing
us all to the table (in this case, literally) and uniting us. Love it love it love it! :-)

Mom was sure to let me know that Cyrus is welcome back, anytime - whether or not I'm in town to volunteer! He
definitely made a great impression on them.

It's great because Mom & Dad have never forced their views on us in the political world. Dad may joke about having
two kids who are Democrats (I'm 38 and my brother is 40), but he and Mom raised us to think for ourselves. They
raised us to be open-minded and not to judge a book by its cover. Heck - here we are, an all-white family whose
parents were born and raised in small towns in Indiana (Dad - Knox, IN in Starke County and Mom in New Albany, IN -
the town founded by her ancestors.) and whose kids were pretty much raised in all-white suburbs in a handful of
states as Dad's job moved him around a lot. Mom and Dad grew up as Republicans with conservative ideals, in fact
Dad just retired within the last couple of weeks and finances are even more important than ever. So, it was great to
have Cyrus over at our house - a big, huge guy (I'm 5'3", mind you, Dad's 5'8"! Mom's in between) - at 6'3", 250lbs,
African-American former football player for the Illini - over for dinner to discuss politics. Naturally, I took pictures as it
made for a great photo op. (I'm keeping a campaign scrapbook)

The point though that I'm attempting to make is that we're all talking. We come from different backgrounds, different
family lives, different cities, different ideologies, but we can all sit down to a friendly dinner to discuss that, which is
important to us as Americans. Were Barack Obama not running for president, this would not have happened. I've
never worked on a national campaign before. I've never been inspired to take action. It's that inspiration from Barack
Obama that got me up and moved me enough to take action by traveling to three states so far - PA, OH (where I live)
and IN.

Had I not volunteered for his presidential campaign, I would never have met Sheila, Takeysha and Mandeep - three
other volunteers (the ladies - African American, the gentleman - from India) with whom I carpooled to Pittsburgh the
weekend after Senator Obama's "We the People" speech on race.

Had I not volunteered, I would never have met the gentleman from Afghanistan now living in West Lafayette, IN while
registering voters and we would never have been able to discuss what's going on in his home country. What a
wonderful man!

Had I not volunteered, I would never have met the four busloads of folks from the DC Metro area - from Howard
University, from Maryland, from Virginia and from D.C. proper who took the time to travel to my adopted state of Ohio
to help us with our own primary - a BIG motivation for me to travel to other states to help them. From Nestor - from
Cameroon, to Araya - from Eritrea, to Matthew - from Switzerland, to folks from Iraq, Ukraine, Seattle, LA, Miami, NYC,
NJ, and a few from Ohio, too!

Had I not volunteered, I would have missed out on meeting all of these great people originally from all around the
world but now converging together on Ohio and now Indiana and North Carolina because of a shared belief to better
their adopted country. I know that as a returned Peace Corps volunteer, we can be a bit more treehugger-ish than
most and talk about personal growth, saving the world and all that, but I can truly say that I'm much better as a result
of having volunteered for the Obama for America presidential campaign.

Had I not volunteered, I wouldn't have walked around an all African-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh without
reservations knocking on doors to unsuspecting folks a bit in wonder as to why this pale white girl was at their
doorstep greeting them with a big smile and a "Hi - I'm Heather with the Obama for America campaign!" 15 years ago,
I would have been nervous about doing exactly that and probably wouldn't have been able to admit that, either.

Barack Obama has helped to lower that inhibition and open all of our eyes to the possibilities ahead. He has offered
us an opportunity for hope and positive change. We see it as volunteers. Supporters who aren't able to volunteer see
it. My parents, two Republicans - see it.

Win or lose, and I hope with all my heart that we win, Barack Obama has opened the eyes of Americans from coast to
coast. This country is much better as a result of his efforts - and the efforts of all of us who have worked in his name.
His inspiration to get us all to take action is the catalyst needed to help us believe again in how great our nation truly
is and how great it can be.

Had I not volunteered, I might not have realized that firsthand.

Thanks for running, Senator. Thanks for bringing hope to Richmond, Indiana.

Thanks for bringing hope to us all.