Chicago Update

As I fall into the routine of a family with an infant, things start to progress with the campaign.

In the last few days, my prodding has paid off. I have come into contact with an impressive grassroots organization supporting Obama in Evansville. They have a core organizing group of 5 close friends and regularly pull in over 100 people for their events. They are pleased to have support in Chicago, as they have been frustrated by the lack of support from the campaign. I find it easy to empathise.

However, on the campaign's side, things are coming together, as well. I have established some sort of heirarchy within the campaign. Furthermore, we now have communication with the appropriate person within the campaign.

And things are progressing quickly. The emailbox (is that a word?!) is filling quickly. Issues are being addressed, but, more importantly, a dialogue is commencing.

Amidst all of this, support is coming through from within. At each step, I communicate back to Cali to find Kelli (musicbox) right there with me. We're quickly establishing a rhythm for the tag team we'll need come crunch time. With this support, I have the assurance that the Galveston peeps are in the wings, too.

So thanks everyone, if you read this!

Chess

First day in the Chicago office.

By now, I'm pretty used to showing up to an office only to be relegated to a phone bank in the corner of the room. Without a contact, I might as well support Hillary. Luckily I have a strategy.

This strategy has three fronts.

First, I build on the coalition formed in Galveston. This group of people is probably the greatest godsend that I could have hoped for. We have a new operation forming in Indiana, and my first priority is to see this form into action. My first rush of adrenaline in this new phase came today when I received an email from Kelli, ending in all caps: "OWN IT, NICK!"

Second, I plan a trip to Philly. This comes down to one word... experience. In Galveston, there was one guy who kept quiet, but was always there when something important happened. If there's one person I want to show me the ropes, it's him, and he's going to be in Philly for the PA primary.

Third, I search for the holy grail... that strategy team that is hidden behind the smoke and mirrors of "grassroots organization." My quest has had some clear leads. I have identified an external consultancy that models the importance of precincts based on demographics. After some careful research, I now have a treasure map. All that's left is getting past the ogre of secrecy and closedmindedness that guards the gates.

With these three fronts, I will have a network, experience, and expertise, to make up for a lack of money, wit, and boyish charm. And who needs any of those when I have Obama on my side?

Houston (Part II)

Recovery.

Somehow, I have the feeling that the campaign trail will consist of a cyclical stress/recovery tradeoff. I just have to be careful not to get too relaxed during low tide.

Fortunately enough, Sandra keeps me on my toes. One of the great joys about the campaign is the excuse to engage the country, and the life I left behind for two years. I get to see the country that I love, immerse myself in the subjects that inspire me, and re-kindle friendships across the country. I am already used to the process of re-grouping with my LA friends, so the real comeback campaign starts in Houston.

No doubt, inserting myself into the life I left behind will be difficult. I have missed crucial periods in all my friends' lives. It's like I left an agricultural society and returned to an industrial one. Each person will have made the transition from a student to an adult. They will have made strides in answering the nagging question that was plaguing all of us for so long: "what are we going to do with our lives?" Across the country, separate lives will have been forged, with new jobs, friends, and romances. With each city, I will insert myself into a new life, see personalities from memory in complete fruition, and yearn for a life that will include the disparate activities of those I have shaped myself around.

But this is all too sentimental. In reality, I visit NASA, taking pictures posing as a rocket, or getting stuck in a 3 story slide, I learn the two-step while Texas cowboys laugh at my ignorance of country music, I listen to embarrassing 80's music that I missed so much in the UK (they have 80's but it's just not the same).

And all the while, I move forward. While enveloped the Obama campaign, I have my own cause, my own campaign. My friends are my supporters and my advisors, and my cause is my world view. Campaigning for someone else has given me a focus to build my own world.

Day one

Today, it all begins.

I've unpacked the British and French cheese from my luggage, contacted the people I need (one of whom commented, "I've missed these offbeat conversations... welcome back"), and unloaded my travel companion, Lester (a stuffed monkey), from my bags.

The last 3 days have proven useful. After reading Madam President: Is America Ready to Send Hillary Clinton to the White House?, I am convinced that the answer is still, simply, "no."

It was interesting contrasting this book with the Audacity of Hope, as the case for Clinton was very strongly a case for feminism. To be fair, Madam President is written by a pundit, whereas Audacity of Hope is in Obama's own words. However, Clinton is portrayed as a lifelong feminist: despite living in her husband's shadow she has created positive, long lasting relationships that helped her establish her own political career. Thus, a vote for her is an endorsement of this progressive practice. Obama, on the other hand, specifically discusses his governing philosophy and the changes he'd like to see in the US. For him, being part of a minority provides a perspective to build a broad reaching coalition rather than providing a special interest for him to challenge. In his words, "I reject a politics that is based solely on racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or victimhood generally," but "I can't help but view the American experience through the lens of a black man of mixed heritage."

Thus, Hillary argues that feminism would make her a great first female president, whereas Obama argues that being black would make him a great president.

The difference is significant considering the current debate over torture. Viewed from the narrow lens of a feminist movement, this torture can be viewed as macho culture, and from a racial perspective, this can be viewed as dominant aggression. However, from a broader scope, the issue lies in the ideals we live by... that we are committed to preserving individual freedoms and to curbing the government's natural disposure to compromise human rights for bureaucratic, political, or short-term national interests. Only from this "lens" can we justify systematic checks on the government's leeway into human rights.