A Sunday With Obama Folk In East Oakland

Although I've lived in Oakland for thirty-two years, I had never been to East Oakland until Sunday when I turned my car onto the short residential street that dead-ends in Arroyo Park. Seriously protective iron fencing encloses many of the small houses on Krause Avenue, as East Oakland gets more than its fair share of crime. I parked by a house fronted by glorious pink roses, the kind of floral abundance you see only in California. Then I walked into Arroyo Park, heading for a campaign event listed on the Barack Obama website as a gathering, part of the East Oakland Concert series, with Oakland Councilperson Desley Brooks and musician Dwayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone!, hosted by Stanford Wilson. After this Obama event, I was headed to another function out in Concord. Based on the puny showing for the Obama Walk for Change earlier in the summer--at least in the Oakland neighborhood I canvassed--I made a bet with myself that I would find a dozen people in the park and half-a-dozen at the sports bar in Concord.

There were two Obama folk in the park. Stanford, a personable young man with a diamond stud in his ear, and Daniel, a sweet, befuddled college student, had set up a table to register people to vote. It had taken me a minute or two to find them, because there was no bunting, no balloons--nothing that shouted out Obama! In the distance, children played, grown-ups picnicked; nearby, Brenda Vaughn & Club Nouveau were warming up for their afternoon concert. It turned out that the Obama "event" was not actually part of the Third Annual Liberation Fest Concert series (its real name). The Obama guys were merely using the park at the same time, as Stanford took pains to make clear to me.

Stanford, Daniel, and I chatted for awhile. I asked them if they were discouraged by Obama's poll numbers in our state, where a recent Field Poll (released August 16) shows Clinton with 49% support among California Democrats "likely to vote in the primary" and Obama with 19%. They were unfazed. "Most of the people I talk to aren't quite sure who Barack Obama is," Stanford said. They brushed aside with laughs the statistics for young men, their own demographic, who are also polling strongly for Hillary. "They aren't talking to any of the guys I know," Stanford said. When I asked them why they were working for Obama, both men spoke vaguely about "change." And they were quick to add that, in the end, they would be happy with any of the Democratic frontrunners.

Stanford and Daniel had just finished Camp Obama in West Oakland. (There have been Camp Obamas across the country this August to train volunteers.) It had been like boot camp, with strenuous, demanding 14-hour days. Stanford said that 150-200 people showed up the first day, with fewer returning each day. But the survivors had learned a lot, and now at last, Stanford said, the campaign was beginning. The campaign is beginning? What was this: the race of the tortoise and the hare? Clearly, Barack Obama is a laid-back guy. But the race for the presidency has been going on for some time now, even though the official start is Labor Day.

"The Obama Campaign--it's going to be a real grassroots effort," Stanford said. "But," he added, "East Bay for Obama and United for Obama are refusing to join us. They want to do their own thing." Here is a potential problem for Barack Obama and one reason I'm always skeptical of grassroots efforts. The Clinton Campaign is already a juggernaut in northern California at a time when the Obama folk still can't form a line and march in step. Moreover, the official campaign has already had problems in California with "unauthorized efforts" on Obama's behalf. In July, for example, the campaign's lawyers shut down the web site "Californians for Obama," and the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that none of the $10,000 raised by the site had gone to the Obama campaign but instead had been spent by Emmett Cash III, the site's founder.

But I suppose that stranger things have happened in politics than coming from behind to win. So I will continue to follow the California grassroots campaign for Obama. After all, in Obama's race for his Senate seat, both his formidable Democratic primary opponent and later his first, credible Republican opponent flamed out at the last minute. And so the tortoise crossed the line.

Comments

[EastBayForObama]

It is important to realize that tabling events, like the one you recently attended, typically only require a few volunteers. Where is everyone else, then? This weekend, many local volunteers are holding Barbecues for Barack, a coordinated effort across the country. In the Bay Area alone, there are at least half a dozen such events, drawing in neighbors and friends to talk about Obama and a new direction for this country. And that represents only a third of the local Obama events this weekend. Still more volunteers are doing field trips to Nevada (a strategically important state), to help with our canvassing efforts there.

You link to a well-publicized article about the "juggernaut" Clinton campaign in CA. Please note, though, that it is based on a leaked campaign *strategy* memo - what they hope to achieve and what they have achieved, are two different things. I would encourage you to look at the actual evidence of their current campaign efforts. In the next week alone, Obama supporters are holding 26 events in the Bay (over 50 in CA), and Clinton supporters are holding 1. The Clinton campaign is trying to build up a volunteer base, has opened two offices in CA, and is starting to hold training session. But a closer look at the training shows they provide little instruction, in only 2.5 hours of training. It's more than nothing, but nothing like the 30 hours of training at Camp Obama. When it comes to building organization in CA, the Clinton campaign is trying to catch up - not the other way around.

It is valuable, though, to hear about your experience. You make some good points about increasing the visibility of our volunteers at tabling events, which we and others will try to address in future events. You sound like an Obama supporter with a number of good ideas for how we can better reach out to our fellow constituents. I hope you will join with your local Obama team to help make this happen.

All the best!

Dear EastBayforObama,
Thank you for the well-written and reasoned comment. Yes, I know about the barbecues and the many other events, and if you read my coming posts, you will see that I am attending as many as I can. I chose the first event for my Off the Bus beat at HP because I live in Oakland and I thought, from the description of the event on the BarackObama website, that I would have an opportunity to meet my city councilwoman and a local musician of some note. However, as I tried gently to make clear but perhaps should have hammered home, the Obama tabling was in no way associated with the councilwoman or musician or the park concert. If you read my coming posts, you will see that this has been a trend among the events I have attended (but by no means all). The problem for the Obama campaign folk is that they need to do a little less Sam Graham-Felsen blogging and a little more checking up on the events held in Obama's name. For example, an event listed as part of an event hosted by an elected official should be scrutinized. It is worthy of a phone call. Has this official declared for Obama? Does this official know that an Obama event is using his/her name? Secondly, the two Obama tabling volunteers in Arroyo Park introduced what I have discovered to be two other Obama campaign characteristics: (1) the readiness with which Obama volunteers confide to me that they are (a) really for someone else, or (b) will be happy with any Democrat; (2) the potential problem of Obama groups un-affiliated with the national campaign. As a congressional district organizer said to me yesterday, "the Californians for Obama story really hurt us." Finally, let me confirm for you that you are right in supposing that I am an Obama supporter--I would like nothing better than to be voting for him a year from November. I didn't know what I would find when I set out on this journey for Off the Bus. I'm reporting what I find. There are some very complimentary posts down the road. So try to think of me as a gadfly stinging the campaign to do a better job. Mayhill Fowler
P.S. I have some friends in the Clinton camp. Will talk to them and get back to you about your allegations there.

[EastBayForObama]

Hi Mayhill -

We would like to respond to a few misconceptions and inaccuracies in your recent post.

At the recent Camp Obama (held in San Francisco, not West Oakland), we had over 120 people who came - maxing out our capacity. Those who attended are but a fraction of the extremely committed volunteer force behind the Obama campaign. While there was some minor attrition over the course of the 30 hours of training, it was in no way significant. (Combined, over 250 supporters attended Camp Obama SF and LA.)

It would be more accurate to describe the campaign as moving into a new phase, rather than 'just starting'. The campaign has been going strong here in the Bay Area since February through the work and efforts of a large number of grassroots groups. Seven months before the primary, the Oakland Walk for Change (one of many in CA) had over 100 participants - quite a large number for an early Saturday morning, so early in the campaign season. (Check out some of the passionate volunteers: http://www.eastbayforobama.com/videos.php?set=why .) In this next phase, the volunteer base is shifting into more well defined geographic areas and structures.

East Bay for Obama and United for Obama are two of a number of teams who are supporting this new structure. In fact, East Bay for Obama has been helping spearhead this new structure locally; most of the volunteer coaches at Camp Obama SF, where the structure was disclosed, came from East Bay for Obama. And the leadership and members of both of these organizations are taking on new roles within this new structure. This is a transition period, with almost all preexisting groups moving into sync.

Dear EastBayforObama, once again,
Yes, I know there was a Camp Obama in San Francisco. In my second post in this series "from the road," I talk to a woman who attended. Please look for it sometime next week. I'm not sure when HP will post it. However, there was also, apparently, a weekend camp in West Oakland. And yes, you are right, tabling for Obama has been going on since February. You can look for my post, probably end of next week, from the northern California farmers' markets, wherein the tablers for Obama talk about their experiences and how long they've been at it. Last night I talked to one of the paid operatives in the Obama campaign, who worked at Camp Obama SFO by the way, and I quote him here: "we're kicking it off right now." He made that comment in reply to what he said was a frequent query: "when are we ramping up?" I'm sitting down to write up that event right now. So, yes, you are right that the campaign is not literally just starting in CA--the question--and neither you nor I know the answer for only time will tell--is about the timing of the "ramping up." Mayhill Fowler

[Junehill]

Dear DanielleClarke: The event wss not a scam. The young men were taking and willing to take no money. If you look at the events posting on the Obama website, you will see that there are many every day in our neck of the woods. I chose that one because the posting indicated attendees could meet our city councilwoman and Dwayne Wiggins. If you are interested, the third posting in this series is about an event in Santa Rosa--met several great Obama workers there. Hope to get to Humboldt. And yes, you are right, there are Obama groups everywhere--even in Paris (two). Mayhill Fowler

[twtrmh]

How many Hillary Clinton gatherings have you attended and how many people were there?

You should have come to my house last night. We had a bar-b-que for Obama and I had eight guests plus myself and my husband.

Is my event lessened by the fact that it was only ten (10) proud Obama supporters talking about our candidate and his policies? We talked about future events leading up to the primaries and what we would do to share information about Sen. Obama.

How many supporters had a bar-b-que for Hillary?

The bottom line is this, Senator Obama has 258,000 donors. Whether two came from a park or 10 came from my house - the numbers are climbing sweetie.

Dear Obama supporter,
I think it's great you had a barbecue for Obama. If you look at the events on the Obama website, you will see that there were many barbecues for Obama across California this weekend. For my part, because on any given day I have to choose among several Obama events within a 100 miles of my home, I try to pick one or two that I hope will tell me something about the organization of the Obama campaign, in part, and as a whole. Mayhill Fowler

[DANIELLECLARKE]

That site was a scam with one guy stealing all the donations in Barack's name.

I have friends in san Fran who love obama. Also as you should know Obama got 45% of the vote at www.visiblevote08.logoonline.com
And besides that I have friends in humboldt county working for Obama as well as friends in santa rosa.

Barack has many people on the ground working to educate others about his campaign while respecting others views.

Dear Danielle,
Although I've replied elsewhere to your allegation, let me repeat that the young Obama volunteers in the park were not scam artists. They made it very clear that they would not take any money. Also, once again, I have a post coming, probably end of next week, about an Obama event in Santa Rosa. Mayhill Fowler

[Zennie]

Hi,

I too live in Oakland, but have not seen many Obama turnouts like the one you selected to write about. In truth, not that you're not telling it, there are many Obama events in a vast sea of volunteers, the vast majority positive and well-attended. Here's an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZhYHNcj634