Denver Convention. Indescribable, but I'll try.

I'm still somewhat scrambling for words to give you a sense of the convention - the emotion, the spectacle, the events. Photos seem more capable. Here are a few; these & others are in our slide show in the right column.

Our New Mexico Delegation (left), decked out in blue shirts donated by a sponsor. What a great group of people from around the State! We breakfasted together every morning at 7:30 and lunched each day, so we really got to know each other. I was honored to be among them! Thank you, again, for sending me!

One morning, unplanned, Donna Brazile dropped in to speak to us during breakfast and was introduced by our Lt. Governor Diane Denish. Donna is one of my favorite "talking heads" on CNN so it was a great personal treat!

Morning schedules included a wide choice of special caucus meetings. Howard Dean (above) addresses the Native American Cacus which was extremely well attended and very informative. The Native vote is vital to Barack's success.

"Gavel" banged at 3:00 pm each day in the Pepsi Center where all speeches and official business was conducted. It was awesome to see the Center fill up and amazing to watch "reruns" on tv at night and be able to say, "I was there today!"

Some of us, like Sean Simmel, had a great time expressing ourselves with fun & silly hats.











And Debra Haaland, Barack's Delegate At-Large from Laguna Pueblo, wore her Native dress on Thursday to honor Barack's acceptance speech. (Me? Hat & boots, otherwise you wouldn't recognize me!)

THIS POST IS STILL "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" thus sometimes it will look like it needs "editing." I've not done a good job of working on it!! Maybe some midnight hour I'll get it completed. Thanks for your patience. Gaye

Major canvass -- convention weekend!

We have only five weekends left until Vote-by-Mail, and we need help knocking on the doors of the 60,000 sporadic-voting Democrats who will not vote unless we contact them.

Join this convention weekend of action on Saturday, August 30 / Sunday, August 31 / Monday, September 1. Stop by the campaign office anytime between 9:30 am and 5:30 pm to help.

Volunteers activities September 2-8

All events and activities are at the Santa Fe Obama Field Office on Saint Michaels & Pacheco, Suite N (unless noted otherwise).

Stop by the office any time to find out about volunteer activities. It's a busy, fun place!

Tuesday, September 2:
5-9:00 pm: Women for Obama Phonebank. Come join women in calling other women to get them to support and volunteer for Obama!

5-9:00 pm: LGBT for Obama Weekly Phonebank. Come join other members of the LGBT community for a phonebank!

Wednesday, September 3:
5-9:00 pm: Mamas for Obama Phonebank. Bring your kids to a phonebank, we'll have childcare and a play area! All others welcome as well!

Thursday, September 4:
1:00: Voter Registration Training. Here's your chance to get certified.

2-8:00 pm: Zozobra Voter Registration. New and experience Agents join us!

5-9:00 pm: Youth Phonebank. Come volunteer for the phonebank and stick around for jazz.

Sunday, September 7:
Santa Fe Fiesta Parade
Noon: Gather if you're marching
1:00 pm: Parade starts

Monday, September 8:
6-9:00 pm: Grassroots Reunion Meeting. Convention talk and phonebanking.

Volunteer activities from Friday 8/22 thru Thursday 8/28

All events and activities are at the Santa Fe Obama Field Office on Saint Michaels & Pacheco, Suite N (unless noted otherwise).

Stop by the office any time to find out about volunteer activities. It's a busy, fun place!


Friday, August 22, 5pm-9pm, & Saturday, August 23, 9am-9pm:
Hispanic Community Leadership Training. Sign up (link removed) or contact your field organizer.

Camp Obama New Mexico Hispanic Community Leadership Training Alamosa Community Center 6900 Gonzales Rd, SW (Corner of Bridge and Coors) Albuquerque, NM 89102 Free.

Transportation provided. This two-day leadership training session is designed for supporters who want a more in-depth volunteer role in the campaign. Please plan to attend for the full training. The training is led by Marshall Ganz, professor of community organizing at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and former United Farm Workers organizer, along with national and local campaign staff.

All levels of experience accepted and all meals are included.

Saturday, August 23, & Sunday, August 24:
Door-to-door canvassing. Connect with your neighborhood team directly or visit the Santa Fe Obama headquarters for details.

Monday, August 25:
Beginning at 5:00 pm and beginning at 7:00 pm
New Volunteer Training - two separate training sessions

7:00 - 7:30 pm
Youth Meeting. All ages welcome. Send your kids!!

Tuesday, August 26:
5-6:30 pm: Women for Obama Phonebank. Come join women in calling other women to get them to support and volunteer for Obama!

5-6:30 pm: LGBTQ for Obama Weekly Phonebank. Come join other members of the LGBT community for a phonebank!

Both phonebanks on Tuesday followed at 6:30 pm by Potluck Convention Watch Party for Hillary Clinton's speech here in the campaign office. (See Watch Parties post for full details.)

Wednesday, August 27:
5-9 pm: Mamas for Obama Phonebank. Bring your kids to a phonebank, we'll have childcare and a play area! All others welcome as well!

Thursday, August 28:
5-6:30 pm: Phonebank. Get people on the phone and remind them of Barack's speech tonight! Come join us!
Followed at 6:30 pm by Potluck Convention Watch Party for Barack's speech with Ben Ray Lujan here in the campaign office. (See Watch Parties post for full details.)

Obama Speech Watch Party!!!

Join us for the Obama Speech Convention Watch Party.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 28 -- Come watch Barack Obama's speech!
6:30 pm -- Potluck at the Campaign Field Office
720 St. Michaels Drive at Pacheco, Smith's Shopping Center, between Delicasa & Chow's

Bring a dish to share and join the crowd to watch Barack's historic acceptance speech. For details: Contact Katrina Godshalk

Barack's town hall in Albuquerque high school gym.

Anyone who witnessed first-hand Barack's town hall meeting in Albuquerque came away re-energized and knowing more than ever how important it is that we pledge ourselves to getting Barack elected as President. His statesmanship, his humor, his intellect, his grasp of issues, his ability to listen, his willingness to hear and respond to dissenting views...it is unequalled and defines "the fierce urgency of now."

Ladies and Gentlemen, volunteer!

Clinton urges support for Obama at Española rally.

Senator Hillary Clinton urged support for Barack Obama at a rally in Española on Sunday, August 17, that drew hundreds of local Democrats. She thanked the crowd for the support many of them had shown her during the primary campaign and urged her supporters to "work as hard for Senator Obama as you worked for me."

The event drew many heavyweights in the state Democratic Party, including Governor Bill Richardson, Lt. Governor Diane Denish, U.S. Representative Tom Udall, U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, and 3rd Congressional District candidate Ben Ray Luján, who introduced Clinton.

For photos of the event, click on the "Santa Fe for Obama" slide show in the right-hand column of this webpage.

Senator Clinton Campaigns for Barack in Española Sunday, August 17

Senator Hillary Clinton will be in Española on Sunday, August 17, to campaign for Barack. This is a terrific opportunity, just prior to the DNC Convention, to join in an important gesture of coming together in New Mexico.

To help make the visit successful, we're holding a Phone Bank in our Santa Fe field office on Friday and Saturday nights to invite supporters of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama to attend the Española event. Please call the campaign office to sign up for phone banking. Or just show up Friday or Saturday for an hour or two between 5 pm to 9 pm.

Then join the crowd on Sunday to see and cheer Senator Clinton in person.

Northern New Mexico College
Española Campus Gymnasium
921 Paseo de Onate, Española
Doors Open: 2:00 p.m.
Program Begins: 2:45 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public.
Seating is first-come, first-served.

LGBTQ group to phonebank every Tuesday evening starting 8/19

LGBTQ has committed to supplying at least 5 people every Tuesday evening for phone banking at the campaign office, 5-9pm, starting 8/19. Come for any portion of that time; even if it's a 1/2 hour, it will make a difference.

You can sign up for a Tuesday by calling Cheri (or email her) or sign up at the campaign office, at Max's Cafe or Rainbow Vision. Or you can just come to the office any Tuesday (make sure to tell them you're with the LGBTQ group), but it would be great if you could sign up. You don't have to be LGBTQ to participate. Please commit to a couple of Tuesdays!! Thanks for your support; you're a hard core group.

Obamarama t-shirts.

Not too late to order a t-shirt for yourself or little people you know from the Obamarama event last July . Visit the Sprouts for Change website.

Survey Results In re: Policy Discussion Groups

Results from the survey on the policy discussion groups call for discontinuing the groups, at least for now, in favor of focusing on other campaign activities. If you'd like to access succinct summaries of the Campaign's position on the issues, go to http://www.barackobama.com/ and select "Issues" at the top of the page for a drop-down menu of all topics.

See you on the campaign trail!

Campaign/Grassroots Integration Moves to Next Stage

At a special meeting on August 7, Santa Fe moved to the next stage of efforts to elect Barack Obama in November.

Gaye Pollitt, Grassroots organizer, and Alfred Johnson, official Campaign for Change regional field director, laid out initiatives where the two groups have integrated all volunteer forces to accomplish campaign strategies:

-Establishing neighborhood teams
-Canvassing neighborhoods
-Staffing the phone bank
-Maintaining databases
-Registering people to vote

Sign up to help with these or other tasks. Please drop in and check with Freddie or her team at the front desk to see how you can help. There's always work to be done!

Remember, the Santa Fe campaign field office is located in Smith's shopping center at St. Michaels and Pacheco, two doors down from Chow's. Just look for the Obama signs in the window.

Grassroots Special Meeting THURSDAY 5:30 - 6:30 pm ... followed by an hour of canvass training if you can!

Special Grassroots briefing Thursday to re-invigorate and fully integrate our team into the national campaign. IT'S BEING HELD IN THE CAMPAIGN OFFICE at the corner of St. Michaels & Pacheco, Smith's shopping center, close to Chow's.

Topics: This weekend's CANVASSING EVENT, full brief on Neighborhood Teams, request for special project participation, and more.

Some of you are already signed up for future events. Most are not. This meeting is for as many of the Grassroots Team as can attend. Our purpose is to double back to make sure that every Grassroots volunteer who really wants to be involved gets the satisfaction of fully and effectively contributing to Barack's election.

Please come, even if you are already:

• a Neighborhood Team member.
• an active Voter Registrar.
• signed up for phone banking.

See more details about CANVASSING EVENT this weekend in a separate post.

Huge Canvass Event This Weekend 8/9 and 8/10

CANVASS EVENT:
SATURDAY 8/9
SUNDAY 8/10
Three 3-hour shifts each day beginning at 10am ... 1pm ... 4pm

If you are on a Neighborhood Team, canvass with them.
Be in touch with your Field Organizer if she/he does contact you first.

Or show up at the Campaign Office on Saturday or Sunday 15 minutes before the beginning of each shift.

Help Feed Hardworking Staffers!

Help feed our hardworking campaign staffers! These young people will be working 14-hour days over the next three months right up to the election on November 4. We want to supply them with healthy snacks and one solid meal -- delivered fresh around 4 PM each day at the Campaign for Change office.

We are looking for volunteers to cook/order/supply that solid meal for 12 or drop off healthy snacks. Cynthia Cannell and Candice Kelly are coordinating "Feed the Staff." They need to know what you can do & when. Contact them by e-mail. They'll be at the Thursday meeting on 8/7 from 5:30-6:30 at the campaign office. Call Cynthia with questions.

Santa Fe Campaign Field Office Open House Huge SUCCESS!!!!

Hooray! Obama Campaign for Change has a Santa Fe Campaign Field Office! And the Open House last night was spectacular. Thank you to soooooo many volunteers who help us build, paint, move heavy stuff, run errands, decorate and for bringing the wonderful food and goodies! We performed a small miracle with all that needed doing!

And thank you one and all for coming! Officially 359 folks signed in; almost as many signed up to volunteer! More stats later. For now, enjoy some snapshots I took.

Here's how we looked in the morning...

AND THEN....the fun & great food began!

AND NOW THE CAMPAIGN WORK CONTINUES. JOIN US SEVEN DAYS A WEEK...
LOCATION: 720 Saint Michael's Drive - Suite N
Smith's shopping Center at Pacheco & St. Michael's between Delicasa & Chow's

Obama Pride Unity Gathering: A shout out to all Hillary supporters! Tuesday, 8/5

This has been a historic year and a historic primary. As we move toward the White House, we need to reach out and build bridges. Barack can't do this without you--your thoughts, your concerns, your input. Barack needs Hillary's support to win the White House, we need your support to win New Mexico. We've all been talking among ourselves and now, in Santa Fe, it's time for the GLBTQ community to share our stories, and begin to move forward. Please join us for an informal gathering to tell our stories and come together.
Tuesday, August 5th, 6:00pm, 1721 Medio St.
Snacks and beverages will be provided. RSVP to Cheri.