Up The Mainstream

I'm not sure if you would characterize me as a "political junkie" but I do like to read about, talk about, listen to, watch and experience the political environment in our community. With Super Duper Tuesday only a couple of weeks away there are certainly plenty of opportunities in this realm.

One such opportunity came my way last Sunday morning as I learned of a Barack Obama house meet-up taking place in town. This grass roots gathering took place in a very nice home on the northwest side of town and was attended by folks representing a wide range of ages. In the group of 25 to 30 crowding the living room, there were a few young people but mostly forty, fifty and sixty-somethings and with the exceptions of one Arabic American and one African American man, all caucasians and mostly women.

What I observed there was similar to what I have experienced in other venues when the discussion turns to the Democrat contenders for the presidential nomination. There was a palpable distaste and distrust for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

Once the choir finished with this opening formality, an excellent point was made that with the primary coming so quickly, they need to increase the awareness of Obama here in the 2nd Congressional District in order to get some local delegates to the national convention. With time running short and no money from the campaign to help in the effort, they have their work cut out for them.

The perception among this group, and it may well be true, is that the local Democrat organization is entrenched behind Hillary, and that efforts for Obama are an, "insurgent campaign." As someone who is still undecided about this, I'm not ready to go all in for Obama, but if someone reading this is so motivated, you can find out more information by calling Obama's CD2 coordinator, Kimberly Durso at (530) 521-2948 or via email: kimberlydursok@yahoo.com