BarackObama.com

There's something we all need to do. Please click this link -- right now.

A person's name and phone number are going to come up on the screen. You'll see where this person's from -- it'll likely be a town somewhere in your state -- and how old they are.

Right now, all across the country, thousands of us are doing what you just did. Then, we're picking up our phones, and we're dialing the number beneath the name. And then -- along with those reaching out to folks from the doorsteps and the sidewalks -- we're starting a conversation. It's incredibly powerful.

We're calling today "Change by the Million" -- because we know this is absolutely the most effective way we can reach people. And together, we'll reach out to folks 1 million times before the day ends. But to do that, we all have to pitch in.
Click here now to get started.

At first, the name that appears is just that -- letters on a screen. Look harder.

This person could be a college student who voted for the first time in 2008 -- and has lost interest since then. Not currently planning on making it to the polls in 17 days.

It might be a single mom who isn't sure if she'll have time to get out of work, pick up her kids from school, and still make it to her polling location on Election Day. No one's really talked to her about why it's worth it.

Maybe it's an electrical worker who recently lost his job. He voted for President Obama -- but hasn't been feeling engaged the past year. He's frustrated -- and no one's talked to him about why his vote matters.

Right now, you can be the person who makes sure each of them is committed to vote. You can be the person who reminds them why their vote matters. And you can be the person who ensures that they're standing in line at the polls on November 2nd.

The votes may be counted on Election Day -- but that's not when elections are won. They're won right here, on days like today -- with conversations on doorsteps and on the phones. Conversations like the one you're about to have. Conversations that determine who shows up at the polls -- and who stays at home.

So, please -- don't linger on the sidelines. Don't take a pass and assume there might be a better time you can pitch in, or another way you can be effective.

This is the best time -- and this is the best way.

So jump on the phone -- there's someone who needs to hear from you.

Click here to meet them:
http://my.barackobama.com/CallNow

See you out there,

Obama too smart, too black for declining America

By Richard Gwyn Columnist - Toronto Star

Barack Obama has to be one of the smartest, eloquent, calm and cool and psychologically well-balanced (think of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Richard Nixon) American presidents of modern times.

He’s also one of the toughest, although he neither sounds it nor looks it. Shrewdly, and surprisingly candidly, an aide has recently described him as “the most unsentimental man I’ve ever met.” Ruthlessness comes easily to Obama, that’s to say, which is what it took for him to beat a presidential nomination rival as tough as Hillary Clinton.

And yet his popularity is dragging down toward 40 per cent and by all the omens his Democrats are about to get trounced in the November congressional elections.

Obama does have some serious problems. He’s black.

Unquestionably, a lot of Americans hate their national leader being black, and, worse yet, a black who is the smartest man around. It’s a variant, incomparably uglier, of the widespread loathing of John F. Kennedy for making people feel bad by being so handsome and sophisticated, sort of a presidential Clark Gable.

Then there’s the economy. The lack of jobs is serious and perhaps even more so is the widespread insecurity among those who do have jobs. A double-dip recession is a real prospect.

Yet the truth — admittedly a near-irrelevancy in politics — is that Obama headed off a near-depression caused by Bush and corporate greed and arrogance and stupidity, and by his stimulus package brought the economy back at least to consciousness.

Included in this was financial regulatory reform and reform of the auto companies (it’s working unexpectedly well). Also health-care reform.

Now he’s attempting a second stimulus package. It’s been blocked by the Republicans, who are insisting that planned tax cuts be extended to the wealthy (incomes above $250,000) as well as to the middle class.

This blockage of a second stimulus is being cheered on by the populist Tea Party movement. Go figure that, other than that many Tea Partiers undoubtedly can’t stand the fact that he’s black.

This is the point. Obama’s problem, which indeed is sizeable, doesn’t reside in himself, although he needs to learn the art of faking sincerity that Clinton , with his “I feel your pain” pitch. was so good at. Obama’s problem resides in America . It’s become a near-dysfunctional society.

The Tea Party, which is a genuine grassroots movement, confirms it. It stands for “freedom.” No more big government. No more meddling in people’s lives. But instead, Sarah Palin.

That a sizeable number of people should want Palin for president is irrefutable evidence their society has gone dysfunctional. She’s a third-rater, except in demagoguery (and in faking sincerity). Paris Hilton would do the job as well, probably better.

Why should this be so? My guess is that Tea Party members and a lot of others, including that Florida evangelical minister who wanted to burn the Qur’an, even though it would have put a lot of American soldiers at risk, have actually got onto something important.

That something is that the U.S. today is clearly in decline. This shouldn’t be exaggerated. Americans have an astounding capacity for resilience. Once there was humiliation in Vietnam . Once all the experts were saying Japan was about to become No. 1. Both are now history.

The U.S. will always be powerful and wealthy. But it will never again bestride the world like a colossus towering above all others. It will be, rather, a big guy in a crowd.

America’s conceit of “exceptionalism,” or of being better than anyone else and fundamentally different from all other societies and countries, can no longer be sustained. It’s exhausted its quota, a very large one indeed, of bright, confident mornings.

Obama’s problem thus is stark and simple: He’s the right guy at the wrong time.

NEED TO KNOW | Block by Block | PBS

Letter from Michelle Obama

Ronald --

I've always said that 2008 was an amazing journey. But nothing from that election struck me more than seeing so many giving their time and lending their voices because they were ready for change.

Two years ago, in state after state -- no matter where I went -- I saw grandmothers out canvassing, college kids traveling to swing states and sleeping on gymnasium floors, and people using their lunch breaks to make a few more calls. So many got involved for the very first time, each one bringing others along with them.

It was inspiring to witness.

Now, Barack and I need you to help show that energy again. Because this is such a critical moment, a group of grassroots donors are ready to match any contribution you can give.

Across the country, teachers and firefighters, truckers and nurses have made pledges of support hoping to inspire you to take the next step. Because of them, a $5 contribution will become $10.
Donate today and answer your fellow supporter's pledge to match whatever you can give.

Here's how it works:

-- You choose the amount you are able to give and another supporter willing to match that amount doubles it.

-- You can choose to write a note to the individual who matched your donation and tell them why you decided to own a piece of this movement.

Since the day Barack announced his plan to run for office, supporters like you have made everything we've achieved possible.

That's as true now as it was on Election Day in 2008.

You're the reason we reformed a health care system that was broken, progress that means so much to so many. You're the reason we reined in Wall Street banks that were out of control.

But Barack can't keep making progress without strong allies in Congress. And now the same people who've opposed us at every turn are targeting the folks who voted to make change real. They think we can't do it again.

But they're wrong.

If the folks who I saw in 2008 -- those of you who packed up your bags and slept on floors and made calls and talked to voters day after day -- are ready to stand with us again, then I'm ready for any challenge that lies ahead.

That's why we're asking you to help grow this movement once again.

The plan for this election is based on the lessons we learned two years ago. Our organizers and volunteers are knocking on doors every weekend, making calls every night. Your support will help to fund this work.

Another supporter is asking you to join them today -- and has pledged to match whatever you can give.
Please donate $5 or more to help grow this movement before November 2nd:
https://donate.barackobama.com/MichelleMatch

Thank you,

Michelle Obama

One Nation Working Together

One Nation Working Together: Breathing New Life Into The American Dream  The Weekly Challenger Originally posted 10/1/2010  By Benjamin Todd Jealous NAACP President and CEO We are living through a very particular moment in American history, one where diversity is increasing, with prosperity decreasing. Barring great social movement, this is a formula for a battleground. Since the dawn of the nation’s worst economic crisis since the 1930’s, progress has been made. We have expanded healthcare coverage to tens of millions of Americans, cut sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine by more than 80 percent, and saved more than 150,000 teachers’ jobs. Yet, what was a recession for most Americans remains a depression for too many. Black American unemployment is nearly twice that of whites. Eight million jobs have been lost and more than 2.5 million Americans have lost their homes, with millions more in danger of foreclosure.  Schools are closing at unprecedented rates, while Americans are being imprisoned at alarming rates. In each case, people of color suffer more. A strong workforce is the answer to this economic crisis. Families with jobs spend money and as consumers, their buying power increases, allowing businesses to expand and hire more employees. Rather than a trickledown economy, where the rich get richer, we need to create new jobs and financial security for the middle class; only then can the economy grow. We have seen the impact of a top-heavy economy, reliant on prosperity trickling down to the masses, and the result is a nation where the top 1/10 percent of Americans hold 976 times more income than the bottom 90% of our nation’s families. Good and fair jobs must be the top priority, yet we face a Congress where a fringe minority rebuffs measures to do just that. The Miller Bill – legislation that would create one million jobs – is stalled in the House. Anything that could help, whether it was the extension of unemployment benefits during the July 4th holiday or efforts to prevent the firing of thousands of teachers nationwide are met with a chorus of “NO”. Simultaneously, far-right extremists have found their way back into the national dialogue, helping drive a regressive agenda. From the Voting Rights Act, to the Civil Rights Act, to the 14th Amendment; the very pillars of democracy are under attack. Now is the time to get everyone off the benches and back onto the field. We must be bold and aggressive in turning this situation around. We cannot remain quiet in the face of such clear and imminent danger. Tradition teaches us to run and not get weary, walk and not faint. We have made real progress and great strides, but we must press forward because our work is not simply for us, rather for future generations to come. As humans, we possess the ability to imagine the future and its possibilities, to look forward with anticipation for a new tomorrow. But we cannot achieve that new day without putting boots on the ground and seeing to fruition the change that millions voted for in 2008. We have to say “no” to a country divided and “yes” to a country united.  On October 2nd, we will stand together as One Nation Working Together, a broad multi-racial coalition of advocates and activists.  We will come together in the name of putting our nation back to work, educating each other and our children, ensuring justice for all Americans. Critically important to putting the nation back to work and bolstering our economic outlook is a commitment to ensuring that every child has access to a good school and a quality education. Until our children are given an opportunity to get the best education available, we will never be able to compete in the new global economy, where far too many of our corporations are leaving our shores and relocating to get both cheap and skilled labor. Far too many schools throughout our nation are failing our children. In North Carolina, the state is adopting measures to re-segregate schools, returning to the era of separate and unequal. The state’s anti-diversity caucus has dismantled a nationally recognized socio-diversity student achievement policy, which will re-segregate bodies, budgets, and the basic building blocks of a quality education. We are the people who will decide whether our country stays in this valley of joblessness, foreclosures and despair, or fuel the hope and determination of the One Nation campaign, rise toward the mountaintop, and breathe new life into the great American dream. Our voices cannot be consigned to a whisper nor can we stand passively on the sidelines, waiting invisibly for change. Join us in Washington, D.C. on 10-2-10 as we harness our multiracial majority and make our narrative of hope and unity a renewed battle cry for change.

One Nation Working Together 10.2.10