primary 2008

It's 5:00 am.. the alarm rings ...

That means candidates, volunteers and campaign staff all across North Carolina are getting up, ready to begin one of the most exciting Primary Election Days in recent history. To all of them, I raise my mug in toast and appreciation for all you have done and will do to further the democratic process.

I hope you have a most wonderful day. Tomorrow, you rest.

Thanks gcloud. (Graphic added by James.) Let us know what's happening out there!

The Bangles sang it, didn't they?

First organizational meeting in the new Obama campaign HQ in Charlotte.
the meeting starts at 6 pm.
Location of the HQ: 1523 Elizabeth Ave., Charlotte
For locations of other Obama headquarters all over the state (13 so far): http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ncoffices

By proxy that is.

Democrat Bill Foster, endorsed by Barack Obama, has snatched former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's congressional seat in a closely watched special election in Illinois that gave the longtime Republican district to the Democrats. Foster has won 52 percent of the vote compared to 48 percent for Republican Jim Oberweis.

That result was amazing given the 14th District's clear Republican lean.

I returned on Tuesday from Ohio, where I volunteered for Sen. Obama's campaign in the frozen city of Cleveland. Hundreds of volunteers from all over the country descended upon the state to help out the Obama campaign.
What follows is the story of my journey in a winter wonderland.

Getting to Cleveland was no small feat. As the person who I stayed with told me, "February is the worst month to come to Ohio". I wish they had told me sooner.

Today I spent my afternoon together with 30,000 other people in a football stadium in Columbia, SC. It felt like being part of history.

It's no secret that I spend most of my work life focused on children and the people who get paid to take care of them when their parents are at work. So when I saw the following OP-ED in the New York Times, None Dare Call It Child Care, it caught my eye. Author Gail Collins skewers moderator Chris Matthews for asking Republican candidates at the last debate

whether this country would ever get back to the days when a young guy could come out of high school, get an industrial job “and provide for a family with a middle-class income and his spouse wouldn’t have to work.”

Collins points out that since 2/3 of American moms have been in the workforce since the 1980's, the question was as pointless as asking when we'd get back to using manual typewriters or rotary dial phones.