After visiting the Ironworkers Local 401 this morning, Joe Biden, his wife Jill, and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell stopped by The Dining Car restaurant in North Philadelphia. They had no time to eat, but they did chat with patrons, paid a visit to the kitchen, and left with a bag of eclairs.

While in the restaurant, a woman named Betty who was thrilled to see the Bidens told them, “You look like you were made for each other,” to which Joe replied, “Well thank you. It took me a long time to get her.”

With a bag full of pastries the Bidens joined their motorcade and drove west across the Berks county line into Langhorne, where Joe led a rousing event at Maple Point Middle School’s gymnasium. The event drew a capacity crowd of 1200, according to Middleton Fire Marshall James McGuire.

The event was spirited, with Joe picking up from where he left off at the Ironworkers Local 401 event earlier today. Not only did he speak with fiery conviction about how the Republicans seem out of touch with the issues facing the American people -- job loss, high gas and food prices and lack of affordable healthcare -- but he also talked about how he and Barack Obama have the experience to shake up Washington and get things done.

Joe also shared a story about how he and an unlikely partner worked together, in the early 1980’s, to change the system in Washington:

Enjoy this recap of Joe’s day in pictures:

Peter Rubi
Wilmington, DE

Barack Obama was joined by Senator Bob Casey this morning for events in Duryea and Wyoming, just outside Scranton. As a native of Northeastern Pennsylvania, this was territory that Bob knows well. He was equally at home in a town meeting at the SCHOTT glass factory as he was grabbing a slice of pie at the Avenue Diner.

Bob is always impressed with the grit or his neighbors, in tough times past, and in our current struggling economy. "The people of Northeastern Pennsylvania have a heritage of struggle and sacrifice," Bob told the crowd in Duryea. He also cited Barack's own success as a self-made man, explaining that "This is something that Barack knows about."

Enjoy the day in pictures,

Arun Chaudhary
September 5th, 2008
Newark, NJ

Joe Biden and his wife Jill left their home in Wilmington, Delaware this morning to head to eastern Pennyslvania for a visit with the Ironworkers Local 401 in North Philadelphia.

Retired roofer, Norman Payne came to the event early, eager to see Joe speak. He said, “I hope to hear something different. The Republicans say nothing about the economy. We need a change. A big change.”

Talking to a small crowd of workers and their families, Joe spoke about the need for an administration that understands the value of maintaining and building our middle class. He spoke about creating jobs, and giving tax breaks to those who need them most.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter were also on hand. Tom Jacobs, vice president for the United Steel Workers Union, introduces this clip from Joe’s visit to the Ironworkers' union:

Peter Rubi
Philadelphia, PA

Earlier this afternoon, in response to the final night of the Republican National Convention and this morning's newest unemployment figures, campaign manager David Plouffe sent out the following email:

John McCain and the Republicans had all week to make their case -- and they didn't do it.

The whole Republican convention went by without offering a single idea about how to improve the lives of ordinary Americans.

People noticed. In the last 24 hours, more people donated to this campaign for the first time than ever before. Thank you for responding so strongly.

Barack is making clear what this election should be about. At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania yesterday, he spoke out about exactly what we didn't hear at the Republican convention.

You can help make sure Barack's message of change is heard loud and clear. Will you watch the video and make a donation today?



We learned just this morning that unemployment jumped to its highest rate in five years, and our economy lost 605,000 jobs this year alone -- at a time when John McCain believes that the fundamentals of our economy are "strong."

John McCain can talk all he wants about change, but he has voted with George W. Bush more than 90 percent of the time, and Americans aren't buying it.

Here are a few of the responses we received from voters who watched the Republican convention:

"This is one Republican for Obama that knows 100% now that I made the right choice and will in November vote for Obama-Biden." -- Bev from Georgia

"Republicans like Palin, Giuliani, and Romney can engage in red-meat partisan vitriol all they want, right out of the Karl Rove playbook, but this isn't 2000 or 2004. Americans now have seen the full impact of GOP policies on their pocketbook." -- Rick from Colorado

"What the Republicans displayed ... is more of the same old thing -- unproductive politics. I hope and pray that the American voters will see through this and realize that we need a different mindset and approach if we are ever going to get things done in Washington." -- Patricia from Kansas

Watch Barack's response to the Republican convention, and join these folks in supporting real solutions and making sure Americans far and wide know what's at stake.

Thanks for everything you're doing,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

"This is the second day in a row that we are talking about manufacturing," Barack told the crowd of 150 in the SCHOTT glass factory. "When you meet the workers, it gives you pride that great manufacturing work is still being done in America."

SCHOTT is a bright spot in an otherwise worsening economy. Today the Department of Labor Statistics released new numbers: The nation's unemployment has reach a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August and employers laid off 84,000 workers.

It's no wonder that folks in Northeastern Pennsylvania are so intent on the the choice they have to make in this election. Voters as well as Barack are trying to keep focused on substantive issues rather than the personality issues that can creep into a campaign.

"Personalities? I think I've got a pretty good personality, but that's not why I'm running," Barack said at the town hall meeting. He is running to fix a broken healthcare system, bring balance to a faltering economy, and help the American people pass on a better life to their children.

"So if someone asks you what I'm going to do, now you know!"

Here are the rest of Barack's remarks from the SCHOTT glass factory in Duryea, PA:

Arun Chaudhary
September 5, 2008
En route to Newark, NJ

Grandparents Day is this Sunday, September 7th. The Obama campaign has put together an easy way for you and your family to reach out to grandparents or a special older person in your life and let them know how much they mean to you. Check out our selection of online Grandparents Day cards.

Barack's grandparents played an important role in his life. He was shaped by their values and love, and he learned from their example that each generation has a responsibility to work for the generations that will follow.

Today, with your help, he is putting that lesson into action. Share Barack's story and your enthusiasm for this campaign with your Grandparents and thank your grandparents for the important place they have in your lives. Honor their example and ask them to join you in our movement for change.

We've created online greeting cards you can send to show your love that we will auto-deliver on Sunday, September 7th, Grandparents Day. Together we can make a difference that will last for generations.

Yesterday Barack spent the day in Pennsylvania where he held a discussion on the economy at the Siemens Hydro Powerplant in York. Afterwards he traveled to Buchanan Park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he held a "Change We Need" event.

Here is the day in pictures...

As Vote for Change continues, with voter registration drives continuing with urgency ahead of state filing deadlines, one of the best places to hold drives has been at new citizenship ceremonies. Gabrielle, a resident of Miami-Dade, has been driving much of the grassroots effort in her part of Southern Florida.

Gabrielle has hosted 16 voter registration events since June, including 10 at new citizenship ceremonies. Occurring roughly once a week, each event draws about 6000 new citizens over three sessions a day.

We speak to attendees as they line up and wait to go into the ceremony generally speaking about the importance of registering to vote to have a political voice, exercising their rights and protecting their future and democracy in America.

Gabrielle organizes her events well ahead of time, trying to bring the biggest Obama presence possible to the events.

I post on my.barackobama.com, send emails to my volunteer base, make calls to volunteers and Obama group leads, local Democratic organizations to get volunteers for theses events. I encourage them to sign up on MyBO so we are clear on resources available and where there are deficits. Training is done at the site/event as volunteers arrive. We train and register new volunteers for other events - canvassing etc. - during down time or otherwise place them strategically to cover flow of attendees and family to pass out lit and speak about the importance of registering to vote.

Gabrielle has been involved in political campaigns in the past, but has become particularly motivated to help the Obama campaign: just at the new citizenship events, she and the other volunteers have registered more than 3000 new voters.

I have spent most my life in other countries where voter turnout is above 70 percent. The United States has elected leadership based on general election population minority. We need to first get the voters registered, then educate them on the issues. The era of a voting minority acting as the majority voice and influence must end.

Gabrielle is still doing her part, with nine more new citizenship registration efforts planned. She is always looking for more volunteers. If you would like to help with a voter registration drive in your area or find out about your voter registration status, you can find information here.

Last Monday was Labor Day, but that doesn’t mean our volunteers took the day off. A group of Obama supporters in Englewood, Florida decided Labor Day was the perfect time to show their Obama pride and get others involved.

The group entered an Obama car in Englewood's annual Pioneer Day Parade. “We decided to design an Obama car so we could have a presence in the parade,” explains organizer Katherine from nearby North Port. “We got a local artist to do cut-out figures of Michelle and Barack, and created banners and signs for our volunteers to hold.”

About 35 Obama volunteers marched in the parade while registering voters along the parade route. “It was great to see people’s response. People saw the figures of Barack and Michelle and their faces lit up and they started cheering! It’s like people down here in Englewood have been afraid to come out and support Obama, and our efforts gave them a chance to do so.”

Katherine says they entered a group in the parade because:

We wanted to create an event that would highlight the Obama campaign and show people that we’re out there and getting the vote out, getting volunteers. The campaign doesn’t have a presence yet in this part of Florida, so we wanted to show people that we’re here, and we’re working hard for Barack.

Get involved in your community this weekend. You can sign up to volunteer, or check to find an Obama event near you. 

What events are you doing this weekend? Tell us about your campaign events and send us photos at blog@barackobama.com. 

It didn't take long after Barack accepted the nomination for people across the country to start organizing more than ever for November.  Volunteers spent Labor Day weekend organizing for change and taking action to make their voice heard. The constituents of the campaign were a part of last weekend's campaign-related activities.

In Seattle, Washington the Asian American and Pacific Islanders community held a voter registration drive in Seattle's Chinatown/International District. They spent an evening talking to supporters, registering voters and spreading Barack's message.

Dozens of local small businesses set up booths to sell Chinese pastries, Vietnamese sandwiches and Japanese noodles to several hundred local Washingtonians. Among the crowd were Obama supporters donning stickers and signup forms to encourage Asian American Pacific Islanders to vote. Supporters talked to dozens of local Washingtonians and registered many of them to vote.

According to Christine K, a first time voter, “As an Asian American, I believe that Barack Obama speaks for me. I believe that he understands the problems that my family faces, and I trust him to be my president.”

In Las Vegas, Nevada members of the Latino community gathered to form the Nevada Latino Leadership Advisory Committee. This community consists of over 80 Latino leaders in Nevada.

Among those in attendance were Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, Chairman of the National Association of Hispanic Publications Foundation Edmundo Escobedo, community activist Vito De La Cruz, and Culinary 226 President Geoconda Arguello-Kline. The campaign, working with the Latino community, created this committee in order to highlight the importance of Latino issues to the campaign, and will be vital to Barack Obama's efforts in Nevada.

Escobedo kicked off the event, talking about the importance of this committee in reaching out to the Latino community and mobilizing them to vote. De La Cruz talked about the most salient issues facing Latino families today: healthcare, education, and sensible immigration reform. Finally, Arguello-Kline spoke poignantly about her experience working her way up as an immigrant, as well as the struggles that working families face in this declining economy.

The Heartland Change Tour for Rural Americans kicked-off in Wisconsin on Tuesday with a roundtable breakfast with Representative Phil Garthwaite.

The goal of the tour is to reach out to voters in Wisconsin's heartland - the rural areas and smaller cities of the state that are filled with the farmers and hard-working Wisconsinites that have been the backbone of the Badger state's identity for generations.

...The tour made stops ... in Monroe and Argyle - where it was joined by State Senator John Erpenbach en route to the day's final house meeting in Middleton.

On Thursday, the tour continued on in Sun Prairie with Senator Mark Miller and Wisconsin's Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Randy Romanski.

The Tour ... took several of Wisconsin's most scenic winding county roads through Sauk County to arrive at Geri and Dick's farm in Fairfield Township just outside of Baraboo just in time for lunch.

"I heard Barack speak, and I said, 'I'm going to work for that man,'" Geri said, adding that she had never been involved in politics before.

Twenty of Geri and Dick's friends and neighbors from around the county took time out of their busy schedules to ask questions, offer ideas and to tell the Campaign for Change where they think their nation is going. Several were still negotiating crops that were damaged from the flooding that had occurred in the area earlier this summer.

But for an hour and a half those who gathered at Dick and Geri's put aside the strains of the past and present and looked to the future - and all were deeply concerned with enhancing the quality of rural life in Wisconsin and America.

Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina host Women's Wednesday - a day specifically focused on the diverse women who make up this campaign. Women's Wednesday also allows the opportunity for women to gather and work together to help build the Women for Obama community in their hometown. Minnesota lists all the ways that women can get involved in this campaign.

Being a member of [Women for Obama] allows you to play a pivotal role in the campaign to elect Sen. Barack Obama the President of the United States.

Between now and Election Day there will be many opportunities and events held throughout the state of Minnesota.

Women On Wednesdays
•Women calling women phone banks held every Wednesday at all Campaign for Change offices. Phone banks are from 5:00 – 9:00 pm.

Mamas for Obama
•Group of women with children convene; women alternate between providing childcare and volunteering.

Women “Knocking-Out” the RNC
•Go door knocking during the RNC! 

Team Obama
•Assume a leadership role within your community as a Team Obama Captain or Member.

Women Focused Events
•Organize or participate in a women focused event such as Barack the Walk Against Breast Cancer and Obama Supporters Cheering to End Breast Cancer.

There are 20 constituent groups organizing across the country for Barack. Find yours and join the community today.