The main strength of the change.gove is, Klingler rightfully argues, that it allows visitors to participate in the political debate, just as BarackObama.com, the official campaign website, did. It allows visitors to become actively involved in the debate, in the government and to organize themselves in communities that tackle national, state, regional and local problems.

As Klingler explains, change.gov could very well be used to bypass the mainstream media in times of hardship; it will be a tremendous tool for the new president to reach voters, unhindered by the filter of MSM, if that would ever proof necessary.

Change.gov is still being developed, but I already noticed some things no one else seems to have noticed yet. For instance, and this is important: you can now register at change.gov by filling in the questions in the top right corner (e-mail address and zip code). Once you register, you are referred to a new page where you can send an invitation to your friends to register as well. To make it easier for you you to do so, and this is yet another sign of the Internet smarts of Team Obama, you can import your e-mail contacts. I tried it myself by sending an invitation to several people, among whom the Managing Editor and Assistant Editors of this site; it seems to have worked quite well.

The following message was sent to those individuals:

Hey,

President-Elect Obama is hard at work getting this country back on track, but he’s counting on all of us to get involved.

I just signed up to learn more about the presidential transition, and I thought you might want to do the same.

Just visit http://www.change.gov, and enter your e-mail address in the top right corner.

Thanks.

Aside from Change.gov yet another initiative was launched recently, which also aims at working with grassroots in order to ‘improve’ the nation. WhiteHouse2.org is a site very similar to digg, but then only about policy questions. This site is not an official part of any one campaign but it is used to rally the troops and to influence policy.

Visitors can vote for and suggest policies they would like to see implemented. These policies will then be ’suggested’ to President Barack Obama. Leading examples of such policy suggestions at the time of writing this article were “kill the Patriot Act” with 402 recommendations, “stop the Iraq War” with 380 recommendations, and “shut down Guantanamo” with 329 recommendations. Another very popular one was “energy independence in seven years.”

Visitors can endorse suggestions by clicking on the “endorse” button. If they attempt to do so for the first time, they have to register first, in a very fast and simple procedure taking 10 seconds or so. After this, they can endorse as many suggestions as they want, and they can share their own ideas.

Although Team Obama has no official ties to the website, it seems reasonable to suggest that they would focus on it and use it to their benefit nonetheless in the coming years: considering the high degree of Internet outreach by the campaign during and before the election, and the creation of change.gove afterwards, WhiteHouse2.org seems to fit right into the Obama play of reaching out to voters in new, untried ways.

Even if Team Obama does not do so, it could learn from WhiteHouse2.org and create a similar website, or a similar page on change.gov, which would increase people’s participation in the political process tremendously, which seems to be a key goal of the president-elect.

Changes are indeed coming, if not necessary in politics, than at least in the way politicians deal with the public and reach out to them over the heads of the mainstream media.

In the meantime, Team Obama announced at the old campaign website BarackObama.com that this website would continue to function in the coming years in order to help citizens “organize locally” to improve their neighborhoods, villages and cities.

“The online tools in My.BarackObama will live on.  Barack Obama supporters will continue to use the tools to collaborate and interact.  Our victory on Tuesday night has opened the door to change, but it’s up to all of us to seize this opportunity to bring it about,” the team said in the statement.

“In the coming days and weeks, there will be a great deal more information about where this community will head.”

There is Change.gov, BarackObama.com and other options such as WhiteHouse2.org for the Obama campaign to use to keep in touch with grassroots, to organize locally, regionally and nationally, and to assemble e-mail lists of potential donors for future campaigns. Obama’s campaign and behavior in the aftermath indicate that Obama may very well be the first politician who truly understands the power of the Internet, and who is determined to use it in order to bring the “change” he talked about so frequently during the campaign.

©2008 PoliGazette. All Rights Reserved.

I arrive into DC and the first thing I hear on the metro is the guard announcing after the train pulls out of each station: “welcome to the yes we can service …..”

Outside the White House, a group of students were chanting “yes we can end genocide (in Darfur)”.

And on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in the same spot where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech 40 years ago, the global citizen advocacy group Avaaz has set up a giant “Yes we can together change the world” board for people to write their messages of congratulations to Obama on.  It is part of a global ‘petition’ Avaaz is organising. 

I was there: albeit at the edge of the Grant Park, Chicago, celebrations.  Couldn’t wish for anymore, given we didn’t have tickets to the main section and also had driven for 6+ hours from Cincinnati that afternoon and only arrived at the park after 9pm, having made stops at the different sets of friends we were staying with.

We parked ourselves fairly close to a jumbo screen on one edge of the park, so we could easily watch the results and Obama’s speech.  Here is the first few minutes of Obama’s victory speech.  Stirring stuff.  

And here are a selection of photos from that night: mainly taken inside the park watching as history unfolded around us.  It was amazing to be part of it; eventhough tiredness and gaining an extra hour in the time change from Cincinnati left us without the energy to continue celebrating in the streets all night. 

"It was the greatest day."

“Yes we can” has been the mantra of hope for the Obama campaign. Prior to November 4, I found myself occasionally repeating these words, but not really thinking about what they meant. But after my experience in New York City on election night, and after hearing president elect Obama make his victory speech, this campaign slogan became a concrete reality for me.

A group of friends and I were watching CNN at our resident hall’s TV lounge. As the results came in, excitement started to brew. Was this really going to happen? Would history truly be made in our generation? Was the change that America and the world longed for truly going to come to fruition? As all those questions hovered in our minds, suddenly, CNN announced: “Breaking news! Barack Obama elected president!” The whole room went berserk! We all started singing “Obama! Obama! Obama!” The whole group then ran down towards Harlem and hundreds of other Columbia University students joined us. “Obama! Obama! Obama!”

We joined the march begun by the people of Harlem. People of all races and gender were dancing, hugging and singing “Obama! Obama! Obama!” The streets of Harlem were so full of people that cars could not even move. So they decided to join the celebrations and hooted as we kept shouting “Obama! Obama! Obama!” We then took the celebrations to Times Square and celebrated until the break of dawn. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my life.

Being South African, I can almost equate this experience to how people must have felt in 1994 when former president Nelson Mandela was elected. I was only eight years old during those elections, so I don’t believe I fully understood the gargantuan meaning of his election. We ran around the streets as little kids singing “Mandela is president,” but back then, I did not fully appreciate what it meant both for South Africa and the world at large. But now, it seems I have been given the opportunity to fully experience the hope that South Africans and the world must have had in 1994 and it is beyond comprehension.

As president-elect Obama delivered his speech, I found tears streaming down my face. He emphasised the importance of unity and pointed out that the road ahead would be steep, but that together as a people, progress and prosperity for all would be achieved. He also noted the contribution of young people in this election – disproving the myth of apathetic young people. His devotion to his family and his love for the nation were poignant. I was further moved as I saw the sincerity and humility in his eyes as he said the words: “Yes we can!”

So what did this historical event mean for me, especially being a South African who plans to go back home after my studies and effect meaningful change? President-elect Obama’s election showed me that it is possible for people from all races and genders to come together as one for a cause that is bigger than themselves and the differences that separate them. In the end, we all bleed red, so I don’t understand why we let irrelevant factors separate us when they don’t really have to. Secondly, this election showed me the power of grass roots level interventions. The funding for the Obama campaign began with small donations of $10 or $20 from the normal man on the street. These contributions played a salutary role to the success of his campaign. As much as I support macro level interventions, Americans have just shown that micro level interventions should never be undermined as the collection of the whole can have a colossal impact on the final results. Thirdly, I was inspired by president elect Obama’s honesty that the road ahead would be steep, especially considering the current economic crisis. Often leaders like to promise the sun, moon and stars, but Obama was honest about the tough times ahead. What I truly appreciated though was his call for the people of America as a whole to join him in the fight to effect change. He was clear that change would not occur through government intervention alone, but that every citizen would have to play his/ her part through service and together rebuild the country. I couldn’t agree more with that call and my views on citizen participation were expressed in my previous article titled “South Africans, here is an inconvenient truth”. (If you want more information about my opinion on citizen participation, you can read that).

It is very easy for all of us to be excited about the victory of the likes of former president Nelson Mandela and president-elect Obama. These leaders are those beacons of hope that we all need and long for. But as President Obama said, the real work begins now. Now is the time that we get our hands and feet in the mud and start digging. The slogan is not “Yes I can!” It is “Yes WE can!” The minute we lose sight of our role in seeing the desired change, then this victory and similar victories to come would be null and void.

These are interesting times for the nation of South Africa as the election of the new president is at its eleventh hour. We too as a nation will have to come together in unity. Obama did not win the elections because only black people went to vote. He won the elections because the people of America went out to vote, regardless of race. I pray that the people of South Africa will come together and vote for the party that they believe can move us forward as one and not vote based on colour or gender. The formation of a new political party and the controversies surrounding such a move bring a new set of expectations to the election process that is about to occur. Whoever the people of South Africa get behind and elect as the next president, may it be the person who inspires us to believe that together we can do it. Perhaps South Africa is also ready for change that we can believe in that will deliver results and not just idle talk.

I know some friends from back home fear what these upcoming elections will bring. But I say let us not fear. Fear is:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Let us continue holding on to the beacon of hope that the likes of Tata Mandela lit up for us. Let us unite, let us choose wisely and let us go and vote so that when April 2009 comes, we can all proudly stand together and say: “Yes, WE can!”

Judy Sikuza is busy with her Master’s degree at Columbia University in New York. She finds delight and value in learning from those who are different from her. Besides dreaming of becoming a rock star, her pursuit to effect change lies in her five seemingly dichotomous passions: business, sport, drama, politics and education (training and development). However, she has realised that the specificity of the medium is not important since there is a common vision behind all her passions. This vision is to emancipate and empower people to reach their full potential.

With votes still being counted in a few states, New York Magazine’s John Heilemann claimed that the web played a transformative role in this year’s election, much like television did for the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon contest. Arianna Huffington boasted that without his mastery of the internet, Barack Obama would not be President-Elect today.

For politicians, the worst thing that can happen is to be ignored. ReadWriteWeb reports that between the two political conventions and Election Day, Obama-Biden recorded more than 500 million blog postings. Of course, it couldn’t have all been positive, but compare that to the McCain-Palin ticket, which only received 150 million posts.

Obama also beat out McCain on social networks. In the Summer of 2007, the President-Elect’s campaign began signing fans up to receive “tweets” on Twitter. Obama’s Facebook page has more than a million friends. There’s also the official Barack Obama blog and a separate channel on You Tube. The campaign also leveraged new media platforms like LinkedIn, MySpace, FriendFeed and MeetUp. All these tools helped keep the candidate in peoples' thoughts, help organize supporters and assisted in get-out-the-vote campaigns, especially important considering the number of people who turned out to cast ballots.

Then came the real-time connection with supporters, from Obama texting people to announce his choice for Vice President (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/11/obama_plans_novel_text_vp_anno.html) to posting Flickr photos from election night. (http://flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/sets/72157608716313371/) These tools worked far from perfectly, but they allowed the campaign to circumvent traditional media and control the flow of information.

From ZenGuide in the United Kingdom, here is a good overview on the importance of social media in this election:

If anyone is still sceptical about the power of social media, all you have to do is take a look at its role in the making of America’s first African American president. Of all the candidates, Barack Obama has probably been the most socially connected online throughout the Democratic nomination race and also in the last year going head to head with John MCain….

But a bunch of social media tools in themselves are not going to make a president all by themselves. The key is how they were used by the Obama campaign. Supporters, fans and followers were encouraged to take an action to show their support for the campaign - whether by organising local events or giving a donation, however small or large, or raising funds. According to the BBC, Obama’s online campaign “attracted more than three million donors. They donated about $650m (£403m) - more than both presidential contenders in 2004 combined.” With an overflowing war chest, he could out-do McCain by buying more airtime in the traditional broadcast media and also extend his own on-the-ground real world contact through more local outreach offices than the Republican campaign.

Obama’s success was not entirely due to social media but he used it smartly in conjunction with other communication tools. Broadcast media is still hugely influential and there’s nothing that will replace face to face human contact whether it’s through speeches at rallies or simply walking among the people and kissing babies. But social media broadened his reach to those people he might not have otherwise been able to connect with and it also enabled ordinary people to do small things which came together as a whole to contibute to an enormous win.

Marc Rogatschnig writes in the South African site Ideate covering small business issues that “the politics of power may be disappearing right before our eyes.”

Obama has secured the most financial support ever in a US presidential campaign and has mobilized over 2 million facebook members to his profile. He has leveraged social media and relied almost entirely on the networks of supporters across the country to mobilize the population. He couldn’t have done that by giving each small support base a daily pep talk; he could only have done that by engaging high energy followship through trusting relationships!

An interesting comment on branding from Fred:

One thing that strikes me about Obama is his brilliant ability in personal branding. He has been consistent and pervasive, his ‘brand positioning’ has been spot on in differentiating himself from the opposition, and his provision of solutions within his message has been outstanding.

Now, the big question is (this is where many marketing and branding campaigns fall flat) is his ability to deliver on the very big promises contained within the message he’s conveyed.

Trevor Cook, who covers PR, social media and politics for the Crickey site in Australia doesn’t expect the Obama administration to put down these tools when it moves into power.

If Obama keeps using social media in the White House, and why not, the impact on corporate, NGO and government interest in social media is going to be huge.

Those of us who have been evangelising corporate social media are in for a fairly exciting time I reckon.

From Grant at One Rock at a Time, entrepreneurs have a lot to learn from the Obama campaign, which won with “perfect (marketing) precision.” Here are a few:

The brand and message stayed the same from start to finish (can anyone remember McCain’s first message??) - it incorporated ‘experience’

…The Obama online campaign didn’t waiver or deviate based on polls or public opinion – it had a well planned strategy and timeline that it followed to the letter. I’m certain there was some flexibility and ‘tweaks’ that happened, but with no prior roadmap or campaign precedent to learn from they leveraged non-political ‘real world’ experience and success to plan a multi channel branding & marketing campaign as if they were launching a new cereal or auto brand.

…Treating the Presidential Candidate as a consumer product, carefully packaged and promoted (and at the right price to make the sale easier), the Obama campaign stepped out of the ‘normal’ mold of big smiles, big promises and baby-kissing. Obama, as an eloquent and effective ‘brand ambassador’ was able to deliver and embody the brand message with a high degree of success (what greater change than a string of white to black?)

Finally, a comment on the blog The Lovable Rogue Also Known as Chris from Danny Brown asks us to get a little more realistic in how we approach social media:

Although I feel social media has more pros than cons, I'm not naive enough to think it's going to solve the world's ills or make your business suddenly take off into the stratosphere.

It's like anything - it has its pluses and benefits. What you get out of it is down to how you use it and using the right tools for your needs.

The one thing I don't like about social media is the surge of self-pronounced experts and gurus. There are definitely some that stand head and shoulders above anyone else in knowledge, but even the best of these experts admit to still learning.

Back in January 2008, when most pundits considered Hillary Clinton the inevitable Democratic nominee for presidency, Fourth World Eye posted a statement by the Center for World Indigenous Studies:

US Senator Barack Obama is a student of political science, international relations and American law. He is a leading candidate for the presidency of the United States of America and he is the son of Barack Obama, Sr., of the Luo tribe in western Kenya. What will President Obama’s American Indian Policy be when he announces it in the Fall of 2009? What will President Obama’s policy be toward other Fourth World nations in the world…including those presently being shot and bombed in Iraq, Iran, Colombia, the Philippines and in Indonesia? In less than a year we will know how a Luo President of the United States handles nations in the Fourth World.

[…]

A Luo may well become the President of the United States. He will have a special duty to the world to bring clarity and focus to US Indian Policy and its Fourth World policies elsewhere in the world. The world deserves a president who will recognize the powerful realities in small places that affect peace and security for us all.

A few days after Barack Obama’s victory, indigenous communities around the world are celebrating hope. Songlines posts news about Australian indigenous leader Patrick Dodson who, encouraged by Obama’s victory, has “called on young Aborigines to participate in government strategies aimed at bringing more indigenous people into the nation’s workforce.”

Some Australian activists for indigenous rights are already adopting the slogan of “Yes we can:”

We can do it! We can make a difference. Professor Fiona Stanley told Fran Kelly on Radio National’s Breakfast that she plans to end the annual Hawke lecture she is giving tonight at the Adelaide Town Hall, with Obama’s words of hope, “We can! We can! Yes, we can!” Former Australian of the Year, Founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Professor in the School of Paediatrics and Child Health in WA, Fiona Stanley will give the address she has titled “The Greatest Injustice: Why we have failed to improve the health of Aboriginal people”.

An indigenous blogger from Canada writes:

American Indian voters, especially those who support Obama, should seize their right to vote like never before and embrace political participation as a new ethic. I am certain that First Nation voters will make a noticeable difference in the future both in the United States and Canada. I am confident that the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States will change how minorities are viewed around the world. Way to go BARACK!

Canadian indigenous leader Patrick Brazeau is also encouraged. Blogging at Phantom Observer, he asks:

Now that Americans have voted for Barack Obama, can we ever expect that an Aboriginal person will be elected as Prime Minister of Canada? If so, how long will it take and if not, why not? Americans did it, why can't we?

One country, Bolivia, has already made the precedent. According to one blog:

“Evo Morales… called Obama's election ‘historic.' As Bolivia's first indigenous President, Evo Morales knows a thing or two about historic elections….”

An indigenous blogger from New Zealand reports:

A Maori with a long family association with the American civil rights movement says Barack Obama is an inspiration to indigenous people around the world.

Willie Jackson who has visited the US many times and met with civil rights leaders says Obama's election is being celebrated across Maoridom.

He says it could be an ins[p]iration fo other ind[i]genous leadership to come through [a]round the world.

While many are writing about their unprecedented hope, others are writing directly to Obama. The National organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia, according to a blog post, is mailing a letter to Obama urging for fair, not free trade and asking him about his position on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2007, after more than a decade of indigenous activism for this particular document, the United Nations passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Only four countries voted against the Declaration: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

But within a year after voting against the Declaration, both Australia and Canada apologized to their indigenous peoples for forced assimilation. In June of 2008, Japan joined the momentum by recognizing the Ainu community as an indigenous group. Many wondered if the Unites States would be next.

While Native Americans are United States citizens, they are also considered part of the Fourth World – the Earth’s often invisible indigenous peoples who are concerned with issues of health, environment, and preserving their traditional ways of life. In a way, Native Americans don’t have much voice in the United States. That’s largely because the “one person, one vote” form of democracy doesn’t always adequately reflect the ideas of the aboriginal people who didn’t really give consent to become part of the United States. But in 2008, Native America seems excited about the US elections more than ever.

Turtle Talk, writing hours before the US elections polls closed, praised two indigenous activists:

I could not let this election pass without a word on two good friends and the jobs they have done over the past two years. Wizipan Garriott (Sicangu Lakota) and Nicole Willis (Cayuse, Yakama, Nez Perce, Oglala Lakota) have been heading up Barack Obama’s Native Vote Operation since 2006. They have traveled the country and worked countless hours to turn out Native voters for Senator Obama’s campaign. They were with Senator Obama long before his victory was a sure thing - way back in 2006 when Hilary Clinton was still the “inevitable” Democratic Nominee. Their efforts have helped Barack Obama generate unprecedented enthusiasm in Indian Country for the Presidential race, and just may make the difference in several key states. Regardless of the outcome of today’s election, Wizi and Nicole deserve great applause (and rest) for their efforts. Miigwetch!

Encouraged by the Obama victory, another Native American blogger asked young members of the community to think about the next American Indian president:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be proud today: November 5th, 2008. The country elected it’s first black American yesterday. Our nation took a giant step in its history. This left me with a big question, though: Where are our “First American” candidates? Where is our “First American” President?

This is a direct challenge to our Native American youth: Stand up. Start today. Become involved in our nation’s political process on all levels. The election of Mr. Obama proves that ”ANYTHING” is now possible in this Nation. Let this be a message -a call- to our native youth, proof that “they too can be whatever they strive to be.” I want this to stand as a direct challenge to each of them, to rise up and find the true warrior - the leader within them! Step up and have an impact on this nation.

To our young, bright Native American women: perhaps the next President should be a Native American woman! But whether it is one of our young men or women, as “First Americans” we need to rise up. In elections past, Native Americans have been brought to the White House“to bless ceremonies, to dance… to perform” for sitting or newly elected Presidents. How about we put a “First American” in office and “bring in our own entertainment?”

Indigenous politics Professor Glenn Morris (Shawnee) is exited too, but he is also cautious. In my Blogian, I interview the director of the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics at University of Colorado Denver.

Morris says he is happy that he has been proven wrong about his prediction that racism wouldn’t let Obama get elected. He’s worried, though, about false perception of overcoming racism.

The professor says that there are different Indian voices in the elections. But the Navajo nation, explains Morris, had a role in delivering Mexico (and almost Arizona) for Obama. And while the restless activist says he’s excited about Obama’s idea to have a presidential adviser on Native American issues, he hopes that “Native participation will translate into policy.” In Canada, for instance, the federal government often makes decisions affecting aboriginal communities by consulting with the First Nations. Morris thinks that consent, not consultation, should be the level of such communication.

Was the Native vote numerically or symbolically important for Barack Obama? Morris says Obama’s outreach to Americans Indians was “partly personal, partly ideological, and partly tactical.”

Obama “may not understand [Native American issues] entirely,” says Glenn Morris, but America’s 44th president seems the only leader so far “who may kind of get it.”

According to triBaLOG, over 80% of Native American voters have cast their vote for Obama. Even a life-long Republican indigenous leader (and a friend of McCain) voted for Obama. In the words of W. “Ron” Allen:

For the past 30 years, I have had the privilege to serve as the Tribal Chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, and for the past 25, I have served as their Executive Director. I have been committed to several of our national and regional organizations and over the years it has been by honor to serve as President and as Treasurer for the National Congress of American Indians.

Throughout all of this, I have been a member of the Republican Party. I was honored to serve as a member of John McCain's advisory committee for Native American issues. While I remain a personal friend to John McCain, my commitment to Indian Country must guide my actions.

As a result, I will not be voting for my party's nominee on November 4th. I have engaged in a great deal of heartfelt deliberation with respect to who would be the best leader for our nation including their platforms, campaigns, position statements and commitments. I have decided to endorse Sen. Barack Obama. I believe he does represent true, sincere and positive change for Indian Country.

I have informed the McCain campaign of my decision. I strongly believe that Sen. Obama has shown leadership and foresight on issues impacting tribal communities and an unprecedented commitment to working with tribal nations. It is truly rare that a candidate comes along who shuns the status quo and is dedicated to fundamentally changing federal Indian law and policy for the betterment of tribal communities. Sen. Obama is that candidate.

[…]

Obama's election has also given hope to Leonard Peltier, an imprisoned American Indian activist. Writing to his supporters in a letter posted on several blogs, Peltier said:

Last night a change in this country took place that not too long ago many people said would never happen. An African-American was elected to the White House and by a major landslide, which gives him a mandate by the public to fulfill his promises. This landslide indicates the people have placed their hope with this man they call their president for a change in this country.

[…]

…I am now 64 years old and coming up on my 33 year of being confined and fighting for justice and my freedom, Obama may be my last chance at securing my freedom.

Hope has elected Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish the 44th president of the United States of America. That's Barack Obama's adopted Crow nation name that means “One Who Helps People Throughout the Land.” Will Obama become the first American Indian president and a leader of the indigenous world?

I had a 6 hour drive from Cincinnati to Chicago on election day.  Aside from listening to CNN on the car’s digital radio, navigating (badly) and catching a few much-needed moments of sleep, I was stuck without anything to do.  I did feel bad, deserting the Get-Out-the-Vote cause to make it to Chicago in time for that evening’s celebrations. I knew I would feel guilty, so I tried to maximise my Obama (and issue campaign efforts in the hours and days beforehand.  I didn’t do quite as much as I had originally hoped and envisaged - the distances between campaign office, local base and where my ’round’ was were larger than I’d imagined; and unlike in Denver and Minneapolis I did encounter some extra challenges as a ‘turn up and go’ volunteer. But it was still a whirlwind of campaign activity for me, my final 24 hours in Cincinnati. 

On Monday lunchtime, I handed out flyers at the youth get out the vote r&b concert, and also encouraged people there to vote / volunteer on election day.

Not staying for the speeches and live performances, I made my way to the nearest Obama campaign office to do a stint of volunteering.  I was sent about a 20min drive north, to the Blue Ash suburb, to do the first wave of placing voting reminder door-hangers on the handles of (potentially) supportive voters.  There was some jogging involved, trying to get as many doors as possible before the sun set and it got too dark to see the house numbers.

Meghan and I grabbed a quick dinner with Randy and Jodie, who handily lived in an almost neighbouring suburb.  That was an unexpected bonus seeing them again.

Then it was back downtown and, after a quick change, to the TV studio for my little stint promoting Obama on Al-Jazeera.  Strictly speaking not a get-out-the-vote activity, and a part of me was itching to get to a phone bank or help in some other way.  But the ‘media-whore’ side of me won out. 

Afterwards, I called some campaigner friends in Cincinnati and the Obama office I had been to earlier in the day, to fix up my shifts for election day itself.  I had hoped to start at 5am, but was unable to find anywhere or activity that was starting so early.  Instead I was given a polling location to report to for 6.15am.

Thus I found myself at 6.15am arriving at a polling station situated in a predominately African American suburb of Cincinnati.  My task was to be an ‘external line manager’ - in other words to supervise people queuing up, to check that people weren’t having problems, and to fill out a report sheet should there be any issues with the voting process / procedure.  As I’m not normally up at that time, I hadn’t realised how cold it would be.  Still, that didn’t deter people from coming to vote.  By 6.30am, when the doors to the polling station (a community centre attached to a retirement home) opened, there were about 85 people in line.  Almost all of whom African-American; and many 60+.   There was nothing of note to report in the 90mins I was there, though someone else there (a trained electoral law expert) had heard reports early on of a few ballot papers not cleanly going through the machine very early on.  But apart from that there seemed nothing else, and queues had died down enough for them to stretch outside the building and its immediate environs.  Thus, the urgency of the sitation dissipated, there was less to do, I felt able to move on to the next location.

On the way to the next stop, I picked up a ‘yes for 8′ sign (in favour of electoral reform for the city) and did some “visibility” - basically standing in a prominent place or wandering around making the placard seen by as many people as possible.  

Then at 9.30am I turned up a the Democrats’ precint HQ for the Mount Adams precint (ward).  This was a beautiful and historic area, on a slope overlooking the city and the river Ohio.  The owner had turned the ground floor of their house into an organising base and after some inroductions to the people there, I was given my ’packet’ - the list of houses I woild be going to and the materials I would be distributing.  In this case it was more door-hangers (all with poll location and timings on and contact details to report voting irregularities or problems. The weather was no warming up substantially, so it was a pleasantly warm leaflet run.  And much easier than the suburban area of the previous day, as the properties were sensibly numbered and mich easier to find the right flats.  After completing my list, it was back to the precinct hq for a quick debrief. 

And then it was off in the car to Chicago … and that lull time for me.

I am sorry but what Sharia those dear brothers and sisters are speaking in a non Islamic country !!?? God ordered you to change the world in to a better place as far as if we can .With my all respect those dear brothers and sisters who have the ability to vote and to change even on a very narrow scale the politics of America and the world and refuse to do are silent devils. They may not save the middle east but at least they may enhance in a way or another their living.

Last month there was a debate between a democrat American diplomat and a Republican American diplomat in Alexandria ,both of them agreed that the Jewish lobby can have a real rival if the Muslims and Arabs are united in one or two lobbies that work for their interest just like the rest of the lobbies in the States whether ethnic or religious lobbies.

How can The Arabs and Muslims form a lobby if they can’t agree on anything or even refuse to vote because of fake reasons like this ??Sometimes I think that some Muslim and Arab Americans do not vote because they fear to engage in any kind political activity .