Barack Obama

Activism is the Agent of Change

Today, at the town hall meeting in Muncie, Indiana, Barack Obama answered a question from an attendee, about how to go about ’selling’ Obama to skeptics when canvassing for him, in an interesting way. He said that this campaign is not about him, and ’selling’ him is not the right approach to convincing people to support and join the campaign. He said, this campaign is about you, the supporters, and the objective is to engage people about the issues and to get them involved in the process. Once people are engaged, and begin to accept responsibility for their part in the political process, they will naturally gravitate to the Obama campaign because it is the most welcoming and inclusive group of supporters amongst the current campaigns.

It is no accident that the Obama campaign has been the most successful campaign (popular vote, pledged delegates, states won, individual donors, total funds raised) of the 2008 primary. The campaign has been managed superbly. Yes, there have been stumbles and mistakes. But there have been many more successes. Yes, Barack is a highly qualified candidate, gifted orator and speech writer, and a natural leader, and without him and his family heading up this effort, we would not have a campaign to support. But without the team that Obama organized to assist him with managing this effort, and the active supporters (the movement) that are the heart and soul of this campaign, the successes would not have been possible either. This campaign is, and always has been, about each of us doing our part. And our part involves being informed and knowledgeable, as well as being good and respectful listeners. If we want to change people’s minds we need to understand their concerns and issues and to help them to see possible paths toward resolution.

So, if you want change it’s up to us to make it happen. Get engaged. Join up. Spread the word.

Yes we can.

© 2008 Life is an Ongoing Process.