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Huntsville for Obama News

Huntsville is fired up and ready to go! To help you keep up with what’s going on and stay involved, Huntsville for Obama News is offering monthly snapshots of events and activities hosted by Huntsville for Obama volunteers and supporters as

well as information about other related activities in Madison County. Here’s what’s happened since the last issue of thenewsletter and what’s coming up in August.

What’s Happened

Unite for Change event  —In tandem with the national campaign, Sherry Boyles hosted a local Unite for Change event on

June 28 and wrote the following report about it: “Our event was great! We had over 100 Obama supporters congregate at

Mason’s Pub in downtown Huntsville, and by the end of the event they were fired up and ready to go! Many peoplesigned up to do volunteer work, with an emphasis on a HUGE voter registration drive for this state. We decided that

Alabama will most definitely be a swing state this year. The nicest surprise of the afternoon was the appearance of the

Chair of the Alabama Veterans for Obama, Richard Smith, who had served in Afghanistan and who, like Barack, spoke to

the best in us. We were also delighted when an Obama delegate and an alternate delegate blessed us with their presence.

Of course, most of all it was about all the community of people this campaign is about, and the spirit of community we

felt for two hours on a Saturday afternoon will last long after everyone separated for the day. Thank you Huntsville

supporters, and thank you, Barack and Michelle, for a very special day of unity.” The pictures below show scenes from

the meeting.

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 Independence Day Obama Car Wash event  —On July 4, Melissa Evans and Rachel Williams hosted a car wash fundraiser 

at Advance Auto Parts on Jordan Lane and offered the following report: The Independence Day Obama Fundraiser Car Wash turned out to be a success, even though it wasn’t a big event. Around 3 p.m. volunteers gathered at the Advance

Auto Parts store on Jordan Lane in Huntsville and revved up some enthusiasm for the Obama campaign. The teenager volunteers stood at the corner, held handmade signs, and yelled "Car Wash" and "Vote Obama" to passers by. They got

 plenty of thumbs up, smiles, and appreciative honks and collected donations. Rachel rolled her newly "Obamafied" car to

the edge of the street in front of Advance Auto Parts to help draw motorists’ attention. Melissa and the other volunteers

washed cars and sold Obama buttons and shirts. Shamika Minesee got several young people registered to vote, including a

23-year old young man who had never before done so. Despite the fact that traffic was light and rain threatened the entire

time, the volunteers managed in just two hours to raise money, rally spirit, and register voters—all of which helps to make

a difference for the Obama campaign. Spending a couple of hours on a holiday afternoon trying to help get Obama elected

and gain independence from four more years of Bush policies was certainly time well spent!

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Creation of an Obamabile —Rachel Williams turned her car into a mobile campaign tool and wrote this about it: “Perhaps

the most unique thing I’ve done recently is have my car ‘Obamafied.’ No matter what I do campaign wise, I always feel as

if I need to do something more. But I don’t have a lot of time because I work like most Americans and cannot dedicate

nearly as much time as I would like to getting Barack Obama elected. So one day the idea hit me to have my car decaled

with the Barack Obama site logo and picture. Well, I spent the money and had it done—and I must say, I am truly doing“something more” now! I get to promote Obama by going to work, the store, the park, out to eat—everywhere I go!” Here

are pictures of the car:

Mod Madness Event  —Lena Sledge hosted a voter registration drive on July 11-13 at the Huntsville Dragway during Mod

Madness. Though the weather was very uncooperative, she was able to get 27 people registered to vote. In addition, a lot

of people stopped by the Obama booth to ask questions and get stickers and other items. Here are a few pictures taken on

Friday while volunteers were waiting for the action to get underway:

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 Listening to America —The national initiative called “Listening to America,” was echoed here in Huntsville when a group

of about thirty Huntsville Obama supporters gathered at Lowe Mill on Sunday, August 27 to make their voices heard. The

event was skillfully moderated by Huntsville Activist and consensus-builder Frank Broyles, and everyone participated.

There were some great exchanges about timely issues, yet the most striking thing about the far-ranging discussion wasthat there was no substantive disagreement among attendees on any of the issues. The challenge then was to synthesize the

issues into a cogent platform statement, a challenge that the event’s host, Daniel Walker, was more than up to. Here is the

opening paragraph of the platform statement that was worked out as a result of the meeting:

“We, the Democrats and Obama supporters of Madison County, AL, mindful that the challenges of our times are profound

in scope and complex in nature, present the following statements as a call to action by the Democratic National

Convention. The stakes are high; we hold no illusions as to the seriousness and urgency of these issues. However, we

face our future with a sense of optimism, for in this moment, in this country, and in this campaign we are confident our 

voice will be heard. It is our abiding faith in America and in the rights we hold as her citizens that allow us to overcome

any challenge, and it is in this sprit that we present the following policy recommendations for the 2008 Democratic

 National Platform for America.”

 The platform statement that was developed addresses a wide scope of major issues under the headings of Governance,Economy, Education, Environment, Energy, Foreign Policy, Health Care, Social Justice, Technology and Innovation, and

Immigration. Read the entire Huntsville platform statement at http://docs.google.com/View?docid=d9kkjwh_3gvb2c8cm.

On late Sunday night following the event, Daniel submitted the platform statement to the Obama campaign. He sent out

the following statement to the Huntsville group about how the platform that was developed will be used:

“The ideas we discussed yesterday have been hammered out and sent to our contacts in Chicago. The national hearing,

which should feature our platform, and the meeting of the Platform Drafting Committee is scheduled for August 1-3. The

meeting of the full DNC Platform Committee is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 9th. These meetings are

scheduled to be broadcast on CSPAN, so stay tuned to see democracy at work! After this, our platform will be integrated

into the final Platform which will be presented to the delegates for adoption at the Convention on Tuesday, August 26th;click here for more details: http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/07/listening_to_am.php.”

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What’s Coming Up

Obamaroo 2008 —Saturday, August 2 will be a day of music, voter registration, food, and information at Lowe Mill in

Huntsville, Alabama, with all proceeds going directly to the Barack Obama presidential campaign. All the bands will be playing for free, and we’re still looking for music! To sign up your musical act, or to volunteer with the set up, clean up

vending, and voter registration of the day, email obamaroo2008@live.com. Bands, please include your website or

MySpace.

Obama Birthday and Voter Registration Party —August 4 is Barack Obama’s birthday, and people all over the nation arefinding ways to celebrate. Here in the Huntsville-Madison area, we’re throwing a big birthday party and voter registration

drive. So you are invited to come out and join the party. It will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, August 4, 2008, at the

Madison Mission Family Life Center, located at 183 Shelton Road in Madison. There will be birthday cake, voter

registration and training, fun and entertainment, and campaign buttons, tee shirts, and bumper stickers for sale. So come

out and enjoy. Local candidates are also invited to join the party. For additional information, contact at 665-6257.

Other events —to find other events in the area during the month of August, check the Barack Obama website at

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/aleventsmap. New things are popping up all the time.

And It’s Rumored…

The Alabama DNC is planning a watch party at Mason’s during the Democratic Convention. Stay tuned for moreinformation.

Also, word has it that a campaign office will be opening in Huntsville, unofficially by the end of August and officially

during the first week in September. It will be located on Drake Avenue, at the same site where it was during the Alabama

 primary.