Follow Up: Women Connect for Obama Sept 17, 2008

REPORT OF WOMENCONNECT FOR OBAMA MEETING SEPTEMBER 17, 2008

Over 150 people attending the meeting called "YES WE CAN Convince the Undecided" originally scheduled at the Cleveland Height-University Heights Main Library, but moved to Grace Lutheran Church when a power outage led to a hasty evacuation.  (For a full account of this moving experience please scroll down to the end of this email to read Joanne Lewis's stirring,  " A Tale of Challenge, Persistence and Triumph.") 

PURPOSE: The intent of the interactive evening was to empower people to respond to myths about Obama. Community members were invited to attend to get the facts, practice the arguments and become effective persuaders on behalf of Barack Obama.

PROCESS: The meeting opened with a dramatic enactment of a conversation between two women, one supporting Obama, the other opposed.  The Obama supporter  modeled a non-confrontational approach asking "which issues are important to you?" and "how did you come to your position?" along with thoughtful, fact-based responses.  Their  advice was to take a deep breath rather than launch into the "I can't believe you think that" mode when talking with an undecided voter. 

Following the presentation, attendees, who were seated in small circles of 10-12 people were given an envelope with a set of cards stating different myths about Obama.  The groups then engaged in role-playing exchanges which were recorded by a volunteer.  After about 30 minutes, the entire group came back together for a debriefing and each group sent someone up to the podium to share the ideas that were generated. 

We hope you will find the following selected comments useful. 

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                 HIGHLIGHTS AND SELECTED RESPONSES

1.MYTH:OBAMA IS NOT IN TOUCH WITH EVERYDAY PEOPLE

RESPONSES:

  -his family background is not one of privilege; in fact his mother used food stamps at one time

  -he worked as an organizer on the Chicago's South side with ordinary people

-our president should be smarter than we are

2.MYTH:I CAN'T VOTE FOR A BLACK PERSON

  RESPONSES

  -his philosophy is one of inclusiveness

  -what matters is the content of his character, not the color of his skin

  -we are voting for the future of our country

  -we must discuss the issues

3.MYTH:OBAMA IS A MUSLIM

      RESPONSES

  -Obama is a Christian.  He belonged to the United Church of Christ.  His children were baptized

  -Obama never practiced Islam

  -Remember:  lies travel around the world while truth is still putting it's boots on.

4:MYTH:OBAMA WILL RAISE MY TAXES

      RESPONSES

-economic experts say Obama's plan is better for 75% of Americans

-only those with incomes over $250,000 will have increases

This was an area where people felt more information was needed.

5:MYTH:OBAMA HAS LITTLE EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE

      RESPONSES

  -he is a great collaborator and is skilled in bringing people together, a key leadership trait

-the way he runs his campaign gives evidence of his executive abilities

  -most presidents have come into office with little executive experience

6.MYTH:MC CAIN/PALIN WILL MAKE US LESS DEPENDENT ON FOREIGN OIL

BY DRILLING OFF-SHORE AND IN ALASKA

    RESPONSES

  -drilling will increase our dependence on oil

-it takes 10 years to produce oil from drilling

-our mantra should be "invent, baby, invent" not "drill, baby, drill"

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7.MYTH:OBAMA IS WILLING TO TALK TO OUR ENEMIES

      RESPONSES

  - pretending our enemies don't exist will not make them go away

  -talking is a way to start  diplomacy not the only foreign policy tool

  -even Bush is talking to enemies, now

8.MYTH:OBAMA VOTED AGAINST "WINNING"  THE WAR IN IRAQ

      RESPONSES

  -OBAMA  has voted for all military appropriations to support the troops

   -he never voted against "winning" but wants to withdraw responsibly

  -he had the courage to be against the war from the start

  -he believes the money should be spent on domestic priorities

Please remember that we have a second YES WE CAN meeting scheduled for: 

OCTOBER 22 AT 7:00PM AT THE CLEVELAND HEIGHTS MAIN LIBRARY ON LEE ROAD.

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  A TALE OF CHALLENGE, PERSISTENCE AND TRIUMPH

      By Joanne Lewis

WomenConnect for Obama, a network of over 500 women in northeast Ohio, sponsored a program on Wednesday, September 17^th in Cleveland Heights. We had promoted the event via email and had no idea how many would show up. Being optimists, we prepared for 75-100 maximum.

An enthusiastic cadre of women arrived at 5:30pm at the Cleveland Heights Library Main Branch to prepare for the 7:00pm event. The meeting rooms were arranged, the refreshments were loaded in …suddenly…the power went out! The area had been beset by strong storms resulting from Hurricane Ike, but the weather was now calm. The library staff informed us that we had to evacuate the building. We pleaded that perhaps 100 people would be arriving within the hour. Sorry, fire regulations. Everybody Out.

Maybe the power would be restored quickly. It was now after 6:00 and as we stood in the parking lot, teams of facilitators, volunteers and early guests were arriving. There was soon a gaggle of more than 40 people standing outside with us. What to do? What was Plan B? One early arrived woman got on her cell phone and tried to locate her minister-husband to see if he could unlock his church. No luck. Calls were made to area community centers and other libraries—not possible. News circulated that cleanup crews in sawing trees downed in the storm, had cut through a cable. No light on the horizon.

The library staff members were worried as more and more folks arrived for our event. It was now almost 7:00, the appointed hour. The youth librarian was distraught as cars clogged the parking lot. He made one final call on his cell to his dear friend who was the secretary in a neighboring church. He reached her at her mother's house. Please, he said, this is a desperate situation. She agreed to go to the church, unlock it and allow us to hold our meeting. A cheer went up from the thickening crowd.  It was now 7:10pm. Several friends staked out the parking lot to direct late arrivals to the new location.

A procession of cars rolled into the lot of the Grace Lutheran Church on Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights. The young woman greeted me and announced that our group had already overflowed the space in the Fellowship Hall. We stared at each other. Okay, there was the huge community room, but it was totally empty. We commandeered the custodian who was doing his final lock-up rounds for the evening. He opened the storage room. We instructed the streams of people to grab chairs from the racks and to form circles with the chairs. We had no idea how many more were coming. It had the feel of a Katrina relocation scene.

By 7:30 pm more than 150 people (including several men and babies) were seated in 13 circles and we began our program—only a half-hour off schedule. We skipped the formalities and improvised the program plan. The huge space reverberated with energy,  goodwill—and shared determination to find the ways to win Ohio For Barack Obama.