Lebanon Democratic Blog

The following letter was received by John Rose.

John –

You helped build the most powerful and effective grassroots movement in America.

Now, you’re helping to define how this movement will support President-elect Obama’s agenda and continue to bring the change we need.

The more voices that are part of this process, the better the results will be.

And so far, the response has been remarkable — 550,000 people completed the online supporter survey. And this past weekend, supporters organized more than 4,000 Change is Coming house meetings in 2,000 cities across all 50 states.

Take an inside look at a house meeting in Virginia. Watch the video, see photos from meetings all across the country, and share your feedback.

Supporters like you are deciding how this movement will go forward. And your dedication is incredible.

House meetings were held in 2,000 cities. In Florida there were 302 events across the state. In Pennsylvania there were 165, and Ohio had 160.

From these meetings, survey responses, and thousands of conversations on My.BarackObama and email, your ideas about the future of this organization are taking shape.

Here are a few things you shared in the survey:

• House meetings were the primary way supporters got involved in the campaign
• People are excited to volunteer around a number of top issues, including education, the environment, health care, poverty, and the economy
• 86 percent of respondents feel it’s important to help Barack’s administration pass legislation through grassroots support
• 68 percent feel it’s important to help elect state and local candidates who share the same vision for our country
• And a staggering 10 percent of respondents indicated that they would be interested in running for elected office

This feedback is essential to our next steps, because this movement is fueled by your ideas and your passion.

Watch the house meetings video and get involved by taking the survey or hosting a meeting of your own:

http://my.barackobama.com/meetingvideo

Between now and Barack’s inauguration, we’ll continue to collect your ideas and feedback.

After the inauguration, we should be able to announce a clear plan for the future of this movement — a plan determined by you.

Thanks for being a part of this journey to bring about change in the years to come,

David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Final 12-24-08 Christmas 2008
Published: Lebanon Daily News December 24, 2008
Republished with permission of the author

It’s Christmas and Christmas, with all of its mix of Christian and pagan symbols, with its shopping and gift-giving, has become the celebration of family. Christmas is our most important holiday because the family is still the core of our society.

Christmas is especially important now when so many families are looking on hard times. (more…)

This post originally appeared in Crooks and Liars

By Cernig Tuesday Dec 09, 2008 7:00pm

What Donald Rumsfield failed to mention when he famously said that America had to “go to war with the army it has” in response to criticisms from soldiers about a lack of armor is that the US went to war with the army it couldn’t be bothered upgrading.

(more…)

There is one thing I want President Obama to do on Inauguration Day. I want him to outlaw torture. As soon as he returns to the White House I want him to sign an executive order which has been prepared in advance. The order must be complete and absolute. It must apply to all United States personnel (civilian and military) and to all contractors.

(more…)