The Obamathon Begins

From January 25th, 2008

Ever since I drifted onto the blogs I have written a lot about Barack Obama. I have done this because I believe that his campaign is the most important one for activists and because I think he would be a great president. Over the last few months and weeks I have become more active in my support and lately I have been thinking about the best way I, as a netroots activist, can support his campaign. After thinking and talking with some fellow bloggers I have come to a conclusion. A netroots fundraising drive.

From the Draft Obama days up until this day this campaign has been about people-power. Now I am starting a fundraising drive to show the power of people-powered fundraising and to give Barack the resources to win on Super Tuesday. I am setting a goal to raise $220,000 by Feb 5 to put Barack over the top. 10k for each state that will be voting on February 5th.

Obama has tremendous support here in the netroots. However we in the netroots have not yet put together any major drive for change outside our diaries. That's were this fundraising drive comes in. Obama has tremendous support on the ground on Super Tuesday states but needs more resources. That's were this fundraising drive comes in.

People like Farouk Olu Aregbe and Tamer Abouzeid who changed the way people think about the Facebook; Meredith Segal, who in 2006 founded the Facebook group that was to become the official student wing of Obama's campaign; citizen ad creators like lovingj; independent bloggers like sagereader of Think on These Things; assorted netroots diarists; Phillip de Vellis and Joe Anthony. All these people represent the people-power that is Obama's campaign. However we need to turn that people-power into votes.

Obama is running a people-powered campaign with staff in all 22 Feb 5 states. It takes a lot of money to have staff in 22 states. It takes a lot of money to run a national grassroots campaign that builds our party. However that's what the Obama campaign is doing. The big donors don't like this and they will fight it just like they fight the 50 State Strategy. However if we the people fight back and help Obama win with this strategy we can change the way campaigns are run and change our party.

So in some conversations with fellow bloggers we came up with the idea of a fundraising drive for netroots supporters of Obama to show our strength and help Obama win at this crucial time. The idea that we have come up with is the Obamathon Netroots Fundraising Drive. We're aiming to raise $220,000 dollars by February 5th for the drive so we can help change politics. 10k for each state that will be voting. It won't be easy but it must be done.

So I have set up a fundraising page here. If you want to donate then just click here. This might be a hard goal to reach but we're going to go for it. Why?

We're doing this for real change.

We're doing this because this election will determine the future of the Democratic Party.

We're doing this because of people like Joshua Stroman.

All around the country Obama has tireless field organizers working their butt off for Obama. All over the country volunteers are working 24/7 for Obama. Lets put it this way, giving them the resources so that their hard work will pay off is the least we can do.

We can no longer stand on the sidelines, we need to take action. More bluntly we need to raise a #%!*load of money for Obama. Won't you join us?

But I can't do it a lone even with the help of a few activist friends. I need you're help to take action and spread the word. How can you help?

Use the code
The easiest way is to put this code in everything you do, blogs, Facebook, MySpace, you're personal website, anywhere.

< src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2219768496_cbfe9150bf.jpg?v=0">

When you put the right stuff around that code it should show up as this:

Write a diary:
If you write a diary for Obama make a appeal for a donation to this drive. Put that code in the diary. If you really want to help write a whole diary about why you're donating as part of the drive and ask someone to match you or something like that.

Promote, promote, promote
Another great way you can spread the word is by linking to the drive in you're comment signature. Go up to the top of the page and click on "Yourusernames Page" and go over to "My Account" then under "Comment Signature" and post this code or something like it:

< href="https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/pf?outreach_page_id=24094">Donate to the Obamathon Netroots Fundraising Drive< /a>

Once you remove the space after each <>

Donate to the Obamathon Netroots Fundraising Drive

Donate:
A fundraising drive doesn't work without money. So if you can, please donate. It doesn't matter if it's $5 or $2,300 or something in between. Take ownership of this campaign, help change the party, help change the world.

I am 14 years old and this is my first political campaign but I'm doing everything I can to win because it's not just about winning. It's about my future. I'm knocking on doors, calling people, blogging and more because I want a future to grow up in. If I have kids I want them to be able to grow up in a better future. If they have kids I want them to have a better future.

That's why I'm fighting. I'd be hugely grateful if you joined me and donated and spread the word. And if you have any questions send them to obamathon(AT)gmail(DOT)com

10 days left. To action!

Donate to the Obamathon Netroots Fundraising Drive