I became politically involved as a teenager. We realized that to effect change, we had to come together and understand the process of politics. We had to involve as many people as possible. I got involved because of one Ms. Fanny Lou Hammer – a civil rights leader in Mississippi who came to help people get the right to vote. She said, “It doesn’t matter what people do to me. I’m still going to fight for what is right.” And I followed that message.

I do it to help get people more politically involved. There were people who died to provide us the right to vote, and so many young people don’t have an appreciation for that. It’s my job to help people understand the history and the obligation – and privilege – to vote because they are lucky to be free and living in the United States. We all need to encourage our friends and family to go out and vote!

We can all effect change. Get out the vote, knock on doors, make calls, help on Election Day. We need to all do the best we can now because the best change we can effect today is to take back the White House.

Gerri, who retired from General Motors a few years ago, sees jobs, healthcare, and the mortgage crisis as the major issues affecting her community right now. “GM is one of the biggest companies here in the state. They’ve been forced to downsize, and it’s really affecting our community. So people need to be retrained with new skills to get new jobs.”

Gerri’s looking forward to the convention and hopes that she can bring some of what she learns back home to Flint.

This is my first convention. I am so very excited! We all know that we’re making history here. I am so honored that my county elected me to represent them, and I will do the very best job that I can. I hope to network with other Democrats, get ideas to bring back to Michigan, and empower our residents here in Genesee County.

Gerri is excited about the historic nature of Barack’s candidacy.

I remember when Reverend Martin Luther King was alive, and he tried to help America understand that people should be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I think Obama personifies what Dr. King was referring to. He’s a strong, kind, intelligent man with a strong sense of community. For him to be the nominee, I am overwhelmed with pride and so happy that we are moving to a time where we can look at people for their character and what they stand for.

With one day to go until the start of the Democratic National Convention, excitement is building in Denver and across America. Soon, delegates from all fifty states will convene in the Mile High City to cast their ballots for Barack Obama and witness his acceptance of the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States.

Thursday, August 28th will be the biggest night of the campaign so far. Even if you can’t be in Denver, you can be a part of this historic convention by attending a Convention Watch Party in your area.

Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president on August 28, 2008, before 84,000 people at Mile High Stadium, in Denver, CO.

Author: BarackObamadotcom
Keywords: barack obama 2008 nomination presidential campaign denver colorado dnc
Added: August 29, 2008

A single mom with a three-year-old son, convention delegate Chelsie from Rosenberg, Texas considers herself a very blessed person.

Two years ago, Chelsie, now 22, was in an abusive relationship. When she broke up with her abusive ex-boyfriend, he continued to follow her. She got a protective order from a judge, but that didn’t stop him. One day he followed her home and shot her in the head with a gun he stole from a neighbor’s house.

If it wasn’t for the grace of God I wouldn’t be here today. But also thanks to Joe Biden and his Violence Against Women Act, my ex is in prison and can’t hurt me again.

Chelsie’s ex-boyfriend was convicted and will spend the next 25 years in prison. And Chelsie came out of the experience a strong advocate for smarter gun control.

There are too many instances of people committing crimes with guns they’re not supposed to have. We need to control that better. In my home state of Texas, it’s very easy to get a gun. All you have to do is go to a pawnshop. They will hold it for three days ad if you pass a simple background check, they’ll give you a gun. 

Chelsie hopes Barack will help create a smart gun control policy to help protect others from becoming victims of violence.

Since her ordeal, she’s become an advocate for the Violence Against Women Act.

So many people don’t realize what a problem domestic violence is. I know many women who have experienced violence at home and didn’t do anything about it. Joe Biden has brought some much-needed attention to this issue. I was thrilled to see him selected as the nominee for Vice President. We need to let people know that violence is not right, and there is help out there.

Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden drafted and sponsored the Violence Against Women Act in the 1990s. This act put violence against women on the national agenda and held batterers accountable. Joe said, "I consider the Violence Against Women Act the single most significant legislation that I’ve crafted during my 35-year tenure in the Senate. [S]ince we passed the Act in 1994 over a million women have found justice in our courtrooms and obtained domestic violence protective orders." Read more about the Obama-Biden plan to strengthen the lives of American women.

Chelsie was excited to attend the convention to share her story and bring attention to two important issues. She raised money to get to the convention by holding bake sales, yard sales, and passing around pledge forms to her friends and neighbors. She raised nearly $2,000 to pay for her flight and hotel.

“I very much enjoyed the convention,” she says. This was my first convention, but it definitely won’t be my last. It’s been so great to be involved. I was deputized to register voters and have been doing that every day in a local minority neighborhood. If I’m not at work, I’m usually out registering new voters.

Chelsie says she supports Barack because he will work for ordinary Americans.

Barack represents all Americans. He’s a true Democrat and understands we need important Democratic social programs to succeed. My son is on the SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program) program in Texas, and I was on Medicaid when I first had my son. I used it as a stepping-stone until I got a better job that provided health insurance. I think I represent a true Democrat – the kind of person Barack is working for.

Barack wants to do something to help everybody – no matter what color they are of what walk of life they come from. He’s lived the American dream, and it’s so beautiful to see someone actually make it.

Chelsie says she will do everything she can between now and November to get Barack elected.

I got a second chance in life. Now I want to be involved in politics so that my son will have a better future.

Join Chelsie and find out how you can get more involved in the Obama-Biden campaign and create a better future for all Americans.

Today Barack, Michelle, Joe and Jill headed to Pennsylvania to kick off the “On the Road to Change” bus tour through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. They will host their first event as the official Democratic nominees at Irvine Park in Beaver, Pennsylvania.

Watch the event live below...

Today Barack, Michelle, Joe and Jill headed to Pennsylvania to kick off the “On the Road to Change” bus tour through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. They will host their first event as the official Democratic nominees at Irvine Park in Beaver, Pennsylvania.

Watch the event live below...

[UPDATE] This event has ended. Check back for more coverage from our road team.

Originally from New Orleans, Lauren Mayeaux is a Field Organizer in Las Vegas for the Campaign for Change.

The semester that Katrina hit, I was studying Homeland Security and Emergency Management in Louisiana. I was looking at statistical data and correlating it with data from local, state, and federal agencies to minimize damage and save lives. My graduating class would to be the first hires of the new hurricane center to be being built on the West Bank of New Orleans.

“We just did a study,” one of my professors told me. “Hospitals will need seven days of food and water for a fully occupied hospital in order to be fully prepared for a storm. Right now the law only requires that they have enough for three.”

That was August 24, 2005. Katrina would hit five days later.

The night the storm hit I was in Marksville, Louisiana. My mother was lost in McComb, Mississippi, right in the path of the storm. My father was on his way to save her. I was busy trying to find a way to get his medication. He has leukemia, and in our rush to evacuate had left his pills at home. We didn’t go back for them because we thought we would be gone for only three days.

When exhaustion claimed me, I thought that life would be bad for a while, but at least our government would be prepared for this kind of thing.

The next morning, my parents home safe, we waited for news. The one moment that we learned our fates happened with no fanfare. The out of state reporter for Fox News clearly didn’t understand the magnitude of his broadcast.

“I don’t know if you can see this...the water behind us has been rising steadily over the last hour or so.”

It hadn’t been announced officially, but if you grew up in New Orleans, you knew what that meant. A levee had broken.

Read more...