Obama Grass Roots California Supporters Buoyed by Iowa Win

Messenger told me afterwards that he was getting into the Oakland headquarters early today to prepare for calls from new volunteers and that they would run a “comprehensive field operation.” He then added—“I get in early every day.”

Edward Webster, a 33 year old who has never volunteered before in a campaign, carried with him a sign that said “precinct leader.” I asked him what that meant and he said “I’m in charge of 600 to 800 people in my neighborhood and I’m going to contact every one, identify the Obama supporters and make sure they vote.” With a wry smile, he said, “My first vote was for President Clinton, how ironic. I think it was the same energy that got him elected is what happened tonight in Iowa. It’s young people—the youth vote, the minority vote, and actually independents and Republicans.” He mentioned the lofty goal the campaign had set when he signed up of 10,000 precinct leaders in the state and added, “We may actually reach it.”

Gia Calvillo, an area coordinator for North and central Oakland, who has voted Republican for President all her life with her first vote for George Bush Sr., said that she already had 200 volunteers in her area alone and “they show up and work without being contacted.” She grew up in Chicago and sheepishly admitted she had last worked on the campaign of Ed Vrydolyak. She told me she was drawn to Obama because “he is really trying to work to build a coalition and bring us back together and find a place to govern before.”

Erin Callahan, the Northern California political director, who I have known since Presidential campaigns in the 1980’s, told me the campaign has made over 270,000 contacts with permanent absentee voters, and the momentum of the evening was at the right time as ballots were about to be mailed to these voters who often cast them early. She indicated, “This reflects the support we’re getting in California and the way we’re running things from the grassroots—the way they’ve been doing it in Iowa.”

Sharing the megaphone with Messenger to speak to the crowd was Maria Blanco, a civil rights attorney, fired out these words describing Obama, “He represents change, he represents hope, he represents the future.”

A bit more laid back and low key, a happy Craig Neumark (the entrepreneur behind Craig’s list) started off, “Speaking as a nerd...” and as the laughter died down continued from the heart: “We can see the values that people share for this country are mostly about fairness and a level playing field. People are frustrated that our government has gotten out of control and its not about people anymore. Barack is about restoring the government to the people in this country, and that works for this nerd.”

One final note: The results from Iowa and what I saw here in California are great harbingers for November for the Democratic Party. Polls and election results show that Democrats do best with younger voters, who have not voted in at the levels they used to vote in years ago. This is additive. It gives me hope, not only in California, but in other states more in play in November.