Hope: Come Catch It!

(Guest-Blogged by MB, a Brighton resident who attends Northwestern University and is a volunteer for Barack Obama in Livingston County)

There was excitement in the air Tuesday (July 15, 2008) at the Livingston County
Democratic Party Headquarters, as Obama for America hosted an organizational meeting in an effort to bring together people interested in helping with the senator's campaign. And what a showing it was: With over 60 people attending, there wasn't an empty chair to be found!

The meeting's goal was to talk about different ways that people in Livingston County could help bring local support to Senator Obama's presidential campaign. There were many ideas talked about as to how best to campaign locally for the Senator. Two of the main ideas were voter registration drives and household meetings. These voter
registration drives will be taking place on Saturdays in the upcoming months, with the hopes of getting people to the polls who may have never voted before.

Household meetings focus on bringing together friends and family to talk about Senator Obama and his run for the Oval Office. Once one meeting is held, then those attending can host their own and so on, spreading Senator Obama's message of hope to a truly incredible number of people.

While the elections may be months away, those present seemed excited that they were going to have a chance to campaign for their candidate in a historically Republican county. Phrases like, "Change from Red to Blue" and "We are taking back Livingston County" were tossed around with a note of pride and a lack of doubt in voices, and a sense that these goals were ones that can actually be realized.

This event brought people of all ages and sizes. People laughed and applauded, tears were shed, and personal accounts were given as to why Senator Obama was the candidate in which they put all of their hope and faith.

This meeting is proof that the Democratic Party can be a factor in Livingston County in the upcoming presidential election. This organizational meeting was just the first step towards realizing our goal and fight for change in government.

The attitude of hope and determination at this organizational meeting was contagious: I could not help but feel that our push for hope and change was one that would end in success. Now it's time to make sure that the rest of Livingston County can catch this hope bug, too.

If you want to a part of the movement for change in Livingston County, please contact Chelsea at 1-(734)-323-2487 or Fahad at 1-(517)-214-9228.