Obama. I shook his hand today and spoke to him

[PretzelWarrior]

For the record, I started this political season squarely in John Edwards' camp. I was somewhat impressed with Obama, so when John Edwards dropped out I did some research on Obama and swung my support to him. Since then, my wife and I have made donations fairly regularly to Obama. For her birthday, among other things, I bought her "Audacity of Hope" on CD. She listened to them on her commute and was scared by how moving and energizing he is (she's a card carrying cynic and skeptic). I later bought his book "Dreams of my Father" and am still reading it. What a great biography helping me to feel some of the things a black man goes through growing up and making their way in life here in this country.

Well, all of that had me pretty much in Obama's column so I can say meeting the man today won't sway me one way or another; however, now that I was lucky enough to have him stop at the business in Oregon right next to where I work and then was able to stand in a small crowd gathered across the street and then have him jog across the street and head down the line shaking our hands...and for me to be able to thank him for running for president in the way he has...it was a singularly wonderful moment I will remember always.

I hope I get to meet him again someday. But even if I don't meet him personally again I will work for him. Shortly after I got done swapping stories of meeting the man who may be our next president, I called the local Obama campaign office and let them know I would help out however I could. I'll be stopping by tomorrow to get a canvassing list and will go door to door or whatever to make an attempt to persuade people to vote first and foremost and also to encourage them to consider Obama as their choice.

I also plan to work Oregon phone lines and talk to people in person to get others registered who have not yet. I just KNOW Obama is going to win this nomination soon now, and I want to make sure Oregon is very, very Democratic.

I am proud to be a Barack Obama supporter, and I look forward to converging with Hillary supporters to try with all our might to get the White House and send McCain and his Bush Doctrine * 100 PACKING.

Thank you for listening. If you've made it this far, you are a patient person.

[nomorewhopper]

1. what an amazing day

thanks for sharing and good luck with the volunteering

[PretzelWarrior]

41. thank you! here's a link to photos

I haven't uploaded the few I have...but here are some of him at the Luis Taqueria in Woodburn, Oregon. (GREAT PLACE TO EAT, BTW).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/2478490535/in/set-72157604973312299

[graywarrior]

79. I just love this picture

And thanks for posting your story. How awesome to have met the man today. I can't wait to work for him in NH.

[Tinksrival]

2. Patients has it's rewards!

Thanks for a post that put a smile on my face after working 15 hours and getting home at 10:30pm. I didn't think that was possible!:)

[NanceGreggs]

3. Beautiful.

:patriot:

[SoCalDemGrrl]

4. Wow- I'm jealous.. what a great opportunity

[PretzelWarrior]

7. yes. I'm a guy almost 40. work in a rational office job environment

and still felt like a fainting school girl at a Beatles concert after shaking his hand and coming face to face with a man who represents so much positive change potential for you, me, and many in this country.

[FrenchieCat]

5. That's what I'm talking about........

We cannot rest till this man is sitting in the big chair in the Oval Office. Until then, it's work, work, work.

Fired up, and ready to go! :patriot:

[Jane Austin]

6. Lucky duck!

I'm jealous.

[PretzelWarrior]

12. yep. total dumb luck.

I was bummed when meetings and busy schedule kept me from the downtown rally at his last visit here in Oregon earlier this year. Imagine. I waited for hours to have a chance to be in a crowd who welcomed Al Gore to Eugene in 2000, but I just stumbled upon this. Funny thing is I travel to Seattle a lot and also just got back from the midwest. If he had come to the next door business and I wasn't there I think I would have gone into a major asskicking of myself for that.

P.S. I gotta give total props to his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson (Michelle Obama's brother). He is Oregon State University's new men's basketball coach and he first came out of the building chatting with a couple of others. When the crowd started shouting "WAY TO GO COACH" and "GO BEAVERS" and "OREGON STATE" he looked up, smiled, and waved. Then he sauntered across the parking lot and then the street and met all of us. I shook his hand too and told him he's revived our hope in OSU basketball and keep up the good work.

I like to think they had no way of knowing such a sizable crowd would show up (this campaign event location was undisclosed ahead of time) and the warm reception of Coach Robinson caused the campaign staff to clear an Obama visit across the street with the Secret Service.

Who knows? All I know is I am going to a lot of OSU basketball games this year, and I hope Obama and family can make it to Gill Coliseum as First Family for at least one game.

[Buck Rabbit]

16. Oh crap, you had to be a beaver.

You know how difficult this is for me... but I'll be the bigger Duck .... er .. ummm .. uh .. okay .. here goes:

nice thread rodent.

[PretzelWarrior]

17. lol. no problem. thanks for the props, waterchicken

[here_is_to_hope]

33. I knew I would find

a Duck/Beaver thing going!

UO does have the 'O' going though so lets give it to the Ducks-er waterchickens...

(This from a Bruin)

Go Oregon, go Obama!

[roguevalley]

73. my dad was a beaver. loved to yell at the civil war games GO OBAMA

[Cha]

8. Verklempt! I'm so happy for

you and your political journey so far that culminated in shaking Obama's hand in Oregon and thanking him(for all of us I hope:))for being in this race.

[AtomicKitten]

9. I am thrilled he will be our nominee.

I had the chance to speak with him and shake his hand when he was here in SF. The general election is going to be fun!

[PretzelWarrior]

13. yes. I want this OVER precisely because...

Obama stacks up so well against the "dean of the Republican party" John McCain. I mean....is that the BEST THEY COULD COME UP WITH?

It shows what kind of psycho behavior the Republicans engage in when even they have no stomach for their party after 8 years of that assclown, dunce face, monkey George W. Bush.

[Diane R]

10. A memory to have forever! I can't imagine the thrill....

[Usrename]

11. Good for you, PW.

:yourock:

[ORDem]

14. Fantastic! Thank you so much for your hard work in advance!!!

:bounce:

[BlooInBloo]

15. I hate you.

(green with jealosy)

:P

[Emit]

18. I'm reading "Dreams from My Father" right now too. I, too, am enjoying it.

So, what did you and he talk about?

And, thanks for participating in his campaign. We need folks like you!

[PretzelWarrior]

20. I was a goofy star struck numbskull

I told him I hoped he could win all 57 states in November. No....just kidding.

I basically only had time to tell him how much I thanked him for running the kind of campaign he's running and we need him in the WH.

[Emit]

24. Silly question, but, did he have a firm handshake?

I'll get razzed for asking, I'm sure -- but, when I shook Bill Clinton's hand, it was weak ( granted, it was a high-in-the-air-and-over-a-shoulder kind of shake) and it made me wonder what it's like shaking hands all day! They must get exhausted.

Good for you -- I'm jealous. It's hard to think of what to say in those situations -- when I met Elizabeth Edwards, I had it all planned out -- I was going to give her advice on how to combat the swift boaters!! lol! -- yeah, I'm politically naive -- anyway, I must've looked pretty serious because the Secret Service men stopped me before I could get to her. The best I got out was, it was a pleasure seeing you, blah, blah, smile, blah and a weak partial handshake.

[PretzelWarrior]

27. not silly at all. lots at work asked me after.

I told them he has a firm handshake, but not the "I'm insecure and need to show I'm tough by giving you a steel grip" kind of handshake. His hand was kind of cold too because of the cool day I suspect.

[K Gardner]

35. I'm reading it, too.. it is stunning what an incredibly talented writer he is. I wonder if he has

time to " journal " during this campaign.. he said he'd gotten in the habit of doing it.. what a book THAT would make someday, after he leaves the WH in 8 years !

[candice]

19. That is so awe-inspiring. Did he exude hope and change?

[PretzelWarrior]

22. in a word...yes. he has the trifecta

he's truly nice, he is cool...the way he talks, walks, carries himself, etc..and he's a take charge guy.

when I saw him in person I had to ask...how could someone NOT vote for him.

[candice]

21. The books for the campaign are a little fictitious...composite characters and self-advertisements

...for a job. For some fact checking, see:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0703250359mar25,1,6124597.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[PretzelWarrior]

23. I feel sorry for you.

p.s. check the original publish date on "Dreams of my Father". I doubt he planned that far ahead for a presidential run. Like I said...I feel sorry for your negativism. It is so strong you even jump into this thread to try bringing it down.

How about instead you start your own uplifting thread about why you are so motivated to vote for your candidate of choice?

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

30. exactly. I believe that some people believe that only politics as usual will work

because the GOP has trained democrats to be ashamed of even our brand name.

[TragedyandHope]

25. Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience!

[VolcanoJen]

26. I love these stories!!

Thank you so much, Pretz!!

GOBAMA!!!!

[PretzelWarrior]

28. I'm stoked. my new avatar of Obama coming to greet us

and I'm envisioning him heading to the press conference outside the White House.

[Emit]

29. You should post a bigger picture of that

I'd like to see it bigger, although it makes a fiine avatar

[aaronbees]

31. What a wonderful story....

That's something I'd like to experience someday! Now I'm just giddy at the thought of Oregon helping to push Obama over the top and on the road to the White House. Can't describe or pinpoint why but it would just feel fitting. I lived six years there in PDX and I'm so proud of that city, and I have family (dad and stepmom) in rural NE Oregon and thinking of those two big old school progressives casting their votes for Obama just ... wow, makes me happy beyond belief for them. (Originally from Chicago, they know the kind of knowledge Obama gained as a community organizer there. They did it too.)

GObama in Oregon!

[Window]

32. What a lovely story.

Good for you, and thank you.

:kick:

[K Gardner]

34. Not sure why this post made me cry, but it did. Thank you :-) K&R

[PretzelWarrior]

38. I've been feeling that way recently too

when I consider the potential for change....when I consider having a REAL president in office again....it just feels like it can't happen but at the same time I have that little thing called

hope

It is very easy for me to get emotional when I see signs that our long national nightmare may be over at last.

[FrenchieCat]

49. Awe gawd......did you have to?

:cry:

[mmonk]

36. Good story.

I enjoyed it. It's what makes the experiences memorable.

[WillyT]

37. Thank You For Sharing That !!!

You lucky bum, LOL!!!

:bounce::applause::bounce:

[Kajsa]

39. What a great experience, PW!

Thank you for your dedication and hard work
to help us get Obama in the WH next year.

:D :hi:

[PretzelWarrior]

40. thank you! this is going to be a tough fight

I also found out my wife will get her citizenship after FIVE LONG YEARS and will get to vote for Obama this fall.

[sandnsea]

42. Explain that one

Why does it take so long for a spouse??

[PretzelWarrior]

44. believe me. we are pissed and think it's a conspiracy

during Bush years to control the number of immigrants who skew toward Democrats getting the right to vote.

Essentially, we've done everything by the book since day one when we applied for her green card back in 1999. She got that in 2000 and we applied when first able to for citizenship (after 3 yrs of permanent residency). Well, later in 2003 she passed her civics interview with flying colors but it was accepted CONDITIONAL on background check with FBI. Being so soon after 2001 I guess they decided to sit on hundreds of thousands of applications. We've talked to congress people, written letters, visited the INS, talked to FBI to no avail.

Finally, out of nowhere the wheels started moving and she'll get her interview and ceremony in June.

Oh, did I mention I hate the world's worst fucktard, George Bush

[sandnsea]

46. That's awful

I stupidly thought that a spouse got a fairly rapid immigration process. I can understand wanting to make sure we don't let a murderer or molester in I guess, but that shouldn't take any time to investigate. Curiously, would she have to go through all this if she'd had a baby too?

[PretzelWarrior]

50. that's a great pic u got there, btw.

and I am not sure about any fast tracking if she'd had a baby, but I don't think so. I read an investigative report in The Oregonian where 2 brothers from Mexico both applied for citizenship on the same day. One got his a few months later and the other one is still waiting.

[sandnsea]

53. Interesting

So the whole anchor baby thing is pretty much nonsense, it takes a long time for just about anybody to become a citizen, it sounds like.

[PretzelWarrior]

56. it will help get them "legal status" but citizenship is up to

the gears of power. There for awhile the INS gal serving in Clinton administration was under great pressure to lower the cycle time. It had been getting down to about 6 months or no more than a year. Then 9/11 happened and Bush kind of said fuck you to immigrants. There's nothing to check. They already did an exhaustive check for the permanent residency application.

They just had power to be bitches about it so they were bitches about it. Naturalization through marriage should ordinarily only take around 4 years from start to finish. It's taken us over 9 years from start to finish.

[sandnsea]

59. I think 4 years is too long

9 is just completely nuts. No wonder people come in illegally. Well at least she will be a citizen soon, and maybe we will soon have a President who will make that citizenship something to be proud of again.

[Kajsa]

80. That's great,PW!

Congratulations to your wife!

I'm so glad she will be able to vote this November.

:pals:

[quantass]

43. WOW!

[Yurovsky]

45. The only thing I worry about ...

is just how accessible he is. There are far too many racist whack jobs out there, and the Secret Service better be on top of their game at all times.

[PretzelWarrior]

48. just so you know...

the only reason I think he was even allowed to jog across the street to a relatively modest sized crowd there was because after they determined they would have him greet us they sent 2 uniformed secret service agents over ahead to frisk and metal detect wand all of us.

In my judgement, it was a very safe event for him.

Still, I too sometimes hold your fears and concerns.

[Yurovsky]

60. Well, that's reassuring ...

but I can remember Reagan getting shot. Didn't seem like a very sophisticated "plot", just some whack job with a gun. A whole lot more racists out there than Jodie Foster fans, and that scares me.

We all just have to try to keep sending the man and the Secret Service good vibes. Hopefully technology and competence can keep our next President safe.

[Politicalboi]

75. A whack job

Who's family were friends of the Bush's for 20 years. The Hinkley's who owned an island where Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's assassin) worked at. Can you say Manchurian Candidate?

[Willo]

47. That is so cool!

I loved your story and the pics.

Dreams of my Father is waiting in the wings until I finish the Audacity of Hope.
Both in book form. I'm a diehard reader but I considered getting the CD's because I like hearing him speak.

Thanks for sharing.

[Faygo Kid]

51. I too started with Edwards. But I am pumped for Obama.

Bring it, McCain and you dirtbags Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, et al.

Gonna enjoy the country we're gonna have while you go screaming into the night about Rev. Wright. Assholes.

[PretzelWarrior]

52. I'm going to love watching what they talk about

wait. no I'm not. I never watch Fuck News.

Those pathetic little wastes of human tissue will slide further and further into history as mere footnotes to an ugly divisive period brought about mainly by BUSHes and CLINTONs and the divide and conquer politics they love so much.

[Dystopian]

54. Thank you! k&r

It didn't take patience to read this...I loved your story.

Thank you again for sharing this....awesome!

peace~

[flpoljunkie]

55. Thanks, pretzelwarrior, for a great post and great read!

[classof56]

57. How lucky are you! Barack was in Bend today.

Tickets (free) were gone in an hour yesterday, not much of a surprise there. I didn't get to attend the town hall at Summit High School but the two local TV stations carried the event live, which I of course watched. 2,000 fired up Central Oregonians were there, and Barack was ibtroduced by Myrlie Evers Williams (Medger's widow who lives in Bend and is awesome!), and he started his speech by saying "You guys have some pretty real estate out here. I want to stick around. Who's gonna teach me fishin'?" What a great connection he has with his audience! He talked 30 minutes on the issues, no script, walked around with the mike, then did a 25-minute town hall with questions from attendees. Wow--would have been more than great to be there, but I didn't make the trip to the Bend Obama HQ in time. State Sen. Ben Westlund mentioned the last serious presidential candidate in these parts was Bobby Kennedy in 1968. We only get the best, huh?? :-)

Pretty exciting to have Oregon in play re the primaries. I used to live east of here where I swear I was one of only three Democrats in the entire county. Getting to be more of us in Deschutes County all the time, glad to say.

What a special memory for you, meeting the man. Like you I started out supporting Edwards, but Barack suits me just fine. Me and millions and millions of others, let us hope. Keep up the good work!

Tired Old Cynic

[yellerpup]

58. 100% Packing!

Thanks for the great report. K&R! :kick:

[netgui68]

61. Your story is much like my own

I was also for Edwards then did research on the two remaining when he dropped and chose to support Obama. I hope everyone realizes how much Edwards contributed to the discussion, he made both Obama and Clinton get on topic and for that we all owe him a debt of gratitude. I am proud of how Obama has run his campaign and I pray he can bring his inspiration into the oval office.

[PretzelWarrior]

62. I truly think he can

and I wouldn't put it past him to have an independent and a couple of Republicans in his cabinet or senior staff.

We're talking Washington/Lincoln/Roosevelt type of possibilities here.

[SaveAmerica]

63. Your story is so much like mine, Edwards and all. The only difference is that I was

making calls and doing online stuff for the campaign before I went to the rally and shook his hand. After the rally I felt that I had to do even more and went out of my comfort zone to sign up for the canvassing. I'm so glad I did. If you know anyone who supports Obama, I think you should talk them into helping too, it's an experience you/they won't regret or forget. Ask the Obama campaign people where there are shortages and send e-mails to your Obama friends to fill in the gaps. The campaign folks really know what they're doing. Have fun and let us know how it goes!!

[PretzelWarrior]

64. thank you for those good suggestions

I will let you all know how it goes when I start doing the canvassing and phone calls.

Kudos to you and all you've done as well.

[Towlie]

66. Just make sure you don't get involved in push polls!

I'm sure Barack Obama's official campaign would never endorse such a strategy, but there may be some independent push polling to watch out for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_poll

[SaveAmerica]

68. I was going to suggest you take a fanny pack or back pack to hold bottles of water

I almost passed out one day because it was hotter than I expected and it was cumbersome to carry enough water and the clipboard/pamphlets.

Kudos to the team!!

Here's my view at the rally:

UNCLE OBAMA NEEDS YOU!!


BITTER PASTORS FOR OBAMA

[PretzelWarrior]

78. yep. sounds like a good plan. Oregon is hot next week

so if I do some of it late in the week I'll have water on me and in the car.

Thanks. I'll let you know how it goes. It feels so good to have Oregon be a major part of the process.

Here's to slamming the door on McCrazy and his continuation of insane Bush policies.

OBAMA is our next PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

[LaStrega]

65. "...to vote first and foremost..."

"...and also to encourage them to consider Obama as their choice."

:applause: Bravo!

I made fifty phone calls yesterday, encouraging exactly the same. I was on my cellphone for so long it was literally *hot* when I finished my calls.

GObama! :woohoo:

(:kick: & rec)

[slinkerwink]

67. I'm so glad you got to meet him!

[pollo poco]

71. Another Oregonian for Obama

Hope he comes back soon!

In 2004 I shook hands with Edwards in Medford, OR

He was super charismatic. Shiny, like a new penny.

It would be a thrill. Congrats!

[lonestarnot]

69. From Dennis to John to Barack. I'm on the band waggon starting next week.

McWar you will not win! PERIOD!

[otohara]

70. Jealous

I've shaken the hand of Al Gore - it's an awesome feeling.

Congrats on your day w/ our President to be.

[Raine]

72. COOL!!!

Lucky you, I'm so jealous! :hi:

[stillcool]

74. Wow...that is very cool...

[mhoran]

76. Terrific post

Thanks for sharing.

[Politicalboi]

77. Yes I too am

Jealous. But maybe in the fall when he comes to Ca I will get to do the same.

[PretzelWarrior]

81. thanks everyone. I will be stopping in at campaign tomorrow

to get my assignments. will make phone calls from home as well. WE CAN DO THIS!!