Obama Grassroots

John McCain acknowledged Barack Obama's mass appeal through his efforts to tag Obama as nothing more than a celebrity who lacks the experience to lead...

Twenty people were huddled around the fire place in the living room of meeting organizer Sue Staehli. We were seated on chairs of various sizes and shapes, provided food and beverages, and allowed to control the destiny of the party platform for the Democrats.

On July 19th when I first interviewed the host of the platform meeting, she expected about 40 or 50 people. By July 25th she had almost 100 people signed up to meet in a home in Mesa, AZ to discuss the Democratic platform for 2008.

In response to Obama's launch of the "Listening to America" Campaign, delegate Tarsha Hardy decided to organize a platform meeting in Houston. Unlike some delegates who are focused mainly on fundraising for their expensive Denver trip, Hardy is on a different mission. "I'm trying to put in as much time as I can to making sure people in our community have a voice."

Cynara Kidwell dressed up as Obama Woman and yelled out to the crowd, "Be democracy's hero. Register to vote!" She wore blue hair, red heels, a cape and an Obama logo on her chest.

This group should work to defeat the FISA bill by pressuring enough senators to make sure it fails to pass. Instead, a great number of them are targeting Obama and so shooting themselves in the foot.

I was excitedly telling everyone that I was running to be an Obama delegate from California to the Democratic National Convention, until the campaign cut me and 900 others from the list last night.