10 People, 10 Backgrounds, One President (VIDEO)

First published at WashingtonTimes.com

Call it Real World: Inauguration.

What happens when you bring together 10 strangers, with nothing in common save one incoming president, for a conversation about what his candidacy means to them and how they may continue their work to help the administration?

We decided to give the experiment a shot, hosting a group of Obama supporters hailing from coast to coast and from just about every demographic.

Most of the people in the room have appeared in the paper and on this blog before — the South Carolina Republican who worked for Strom Thurmond, the Ohio woman whose fervency at an Obama rally made her YouTube famous, the West Virginia volunteers who faced tough odds.

The result was a great discussion over several hours, held on the eve of President Obama's inauguration, and a front-page story today:

President Obama's grass-roots supporters remain energized and ready for him to call them to action and service, pledging they will mobilize around the new administration's policies.

Obama loyalists who knocked on doors, gave money and made phone calls for more than a year are still glowing from his ascension to the presidency, but say they recognize it's time to roll up their sleeves again.

"That whole strategy and network is going to keep building," said Carol Myers, a former high school principal from Indianapolis.

"I see people getting mobilized. ... He's going to push that, and it's not just him, it's this whole network of people who are now saying, 'What can we do?'" she said. "If there's a flood in Cincinnati, it's not just going to be Cincinnati that's going to be dealing with it. It's just the beginning of that kind of compassion and commitment and action and that feeling that we're all part of this."

"You're right," responded Marie Engles, of Springboro, Ohio. "We're all in it together."

The Washington Times captured that conversation between the two voters, who had nothing in common except Mr. Obama.

The newspaper recently hosted a luncheon for 10 people living in areas ranging from San Francisco to rural South Carolina who came to Washington for the Obama inauguration, helping to bring together the coalition that contributed to his win.

Read the full story here.

Here's some video of the group discussing how they will remain active for Obama:

And a conversation on race:

— Christina Bellantoni, White House correspondent,
The Washington Times

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Comments

[lilalia]

I enjoyed the article and listening to the luncheon discussion. It is too bad that your blog readers can not subscribe to your blog, but only bookmark it. Bookmarking is so 90s, please ask your paper to move with the times.

[Christina Bellantoni - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi there - Thanks for your comment. I think you can do the blog RSS at this link: http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/feeds/entries/bellantoni/

[manahans]

What a wonderful video! Brought tears to my eyes! Geneva Clark from Cincinatti, OH said it prefectly!!!

[MagicalPossibilities]

Beautifully expressed sentiments from the last video. I never saw Barack Obama as a black man. I never really was able to nor wanted to put a label on him. He's an awesome human being who will be the best leader we've had in a very, very long time. Of course a leader can only inspire. We all have to pitch in and fully show up. We are all part of this movement - a quiet, peaceful, beautiful revolution.
We are all one.

[ZimboChick]

one word AWESOME!

[MPeter]

This is brilliant. I loved it. Thanks Christina. I agree with the entire bunch, Obama carries within him the DNA of his mother and his father. He is America in every sense, especially the values. Thank you.