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San Francisco's new HQ opened with great fanfare and throngs of visitors on Saturday Sept 13, as hundreds poured thru the doors to ratchet up campaign efforts to elect Barack Obama and support or defeat important State and SF Ballot Propositions and Candidates. This unified camapign office supports California Democratic Party, San Francisco Democratic Party, and - last but far from least - SF's volunteers efforts to do all we can to elect Barack Obama!

Kamela Harris, Betty Yee, Tom Ammiano, Melanie Nutter and others addressed the crowd, most of whom joined the back-room phonebanking to Nevada as the ceremonies wound down. Jennifer Longley, CA Dem Party Northern California Field Organizer, manages the facility for the Dems, and SF Obama Leader Anhoni Patel manages San Francisco for Obama volunteer activities. DemocracyAction's Erik Wood took lots of great pics, see sampling below. Check out other pics at the SFObama website.

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About 1,000 people joined together at the Hyatt Regency August 28th to watch Senator Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party's nomination for the Presidency. The convention-style setting and giant flat screen TVs made it feel almost like being there...if being there were in a normal convention hall and not the huge expanse of Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver!

Lots of attendees, a great speech, and knowing that Hope is On the Way made for a memorable evening, and some great pics by Democracy Action Communications Chair Erik Wood.


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About 400 people rallied outside San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel on Sunday, August 17 to give an enthusiastic welcome to about 1800 donors attending a max-out $7.8 million fundraiser to help Barack Obama counter McCain McSame's recent burst of negative advertising.

SF Board of Supervisors President and Democratic Party Chair Aaron Peskin offered some great comments to help start things off, and Christine Pelosi set a new standard in leading chants along the line of rally'ers. Congressman Mike Honda came out from the hotel to great everybody and underscore the importance of this election. Monique DeBose, Kim Clark, Brent Turner, Steve Noetzel, Alec Bash and the enthusiastic rally'ers kept chants going, in this rally promoted by San Francisco for Obama, the SF Democratic Party and DemocracyAction.

Check out coverage in the SF Chron, a TV clip and the Huffington Post, and some pics by DemocracyAction Communications Chair Erik Wood, Ravi Chandra and Bill Doggett. Some of Erik's pics...

 


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...and Choose to Unite, a music video

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California and San Francisco volunteers have made many thousands of calls to New Mexico to identify independents who support, lean towards or are undecided about Barack Obama. This is important information for New Mexico's campaign in this toss-up Battleground State. This early field work can make the difference in carrying New Mexico for Obama this November. Join us this Saturday for landlines (11am-2pm) or cellphones (12-5pm) phonebanking, click for details and to RSVP.

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The Cook Report and Rothenberg Political Report rate Democratic and Republican chances in the many House and Senate Races, and the Washinton Post's Chris Cillizza is continually evaluating the prospects. The Dems hold 12 and the Repubs 23 of the Senate seats up for election Nov 4. Winning our filibuster-proof 60 seat majority requires 9 Repub seats and keeping all the Dem seats

Louisiana's Mary Landrieu appears the only Dem in any jeopardy, while the retirement of Virginia John Warner (R) leaves former Governor Mark Warner (D) the favorite, as is Congressman Tom Udall in New Mexico's open seat (formerly Pete Domenici (R) and Alaska's Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (vs. indicted Ted Stevens). Dem toss-up races include Congressmen Mark Udall, running for retiring Colorado Wayne Allard (R); New Hampshire former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen v John Sununu (R); Minnesota Al Franken v Norm Coleman (R); Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkle v Gordon Smith (R); and Mississippi former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove v Roger Wicker (R, Trent Lott's former seat). Other Repub jeopardy - Maine Congressman Tom Allen v Susan Collins (R); Nebraska Scott Kleeb v Mike Johanns (R, retiring Chuck Hagel's seat); North Carolina State Senator Kay Hagan v Elizabeth Dole (R); and Kentucky Bruce Lunsford v Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R).

House Dems could pick up 20 or more seats this year, building on remarkable successes winning three special elections this year in long-held Repub districts: Mississippi Travis Childers (54%) beat Greg Davis (46%) in a district Bush carried with 63% in 2004; Louisiana Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. (49%) beat Woody Jenkins (46%) in a 2004 59% Bush district; Illinois Bill Foster (52%) beat Jim Oberweis (48%) in a 2004 55% Bush district held by former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert for 21 years.

The San Francisco Bay Area's nearest competitive Congressional races include Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11), a top target of the Repubs, and Dem challengers Charlie Brown (CA-4), Bill Durston (CA-3) and Jill Derby (NV-2).


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John McCain's big-bucks July 28th fundraiser at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel did not go unnoticed by DemocracyAction, local Dems and others who couldn't stand the thought of Bush's "third term". About 150 San Franciscans came together as McCain's donors began pulling up to the Fairmont. We attempted to engage the donors in a variety of questions designed to test whether they could tell the difference between Bush and McCain, and found most were afraid to test their knowledge! Three members of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) joined in supporting this effort - Chairman (and SF Board of Supervisors President) Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Chris Daly and Jane Morrison (matriarch of SF progressive politics).

McCain donors and his few supporters on the sidewalk were confronted by our series of friendly, good-natured signs and chants, all helping drive home the important truth of this election about McCain - that he's the McSame as McBush. Check out the video, and a second as well. The pics (by Erik Wood) are worth a thousand words!

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On Tuesday, July 15, DA member Clemetine Clarke was at the Palace Hotel to hear former Clinton campaign advisor and long-time Democratic party activist Donna Brazile speak to San Francisco in support of Barack Obama's Presidential campaign. She posted this story.

The room was full of anticipation, as our own SF District Attorney Kamala Harris - a loyal supporter of Senator Obama's campaign and his California Co-Chair - introduced Donna.

Donna did not disappoint her awaiting audience! She spoke with much personal conviction about how this election year is far bigger than both her and Senator Obama. She spent time reflecting on her home state of Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina, which made the audience laugh and cry all in one swoop. She shared the very personal story of how her 92 year-old uncle, who was left on the roof of his house for four days during the aftermath of the hurricane, had been forgotten by his federal government. She went on to say that it's important that we elect a President who is for "all" the people, as Hurricane Katrina's devastation on her family in New Orleans, and of all the surrounding Louisiana parishes, changed her life forever.


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The biggest Voter Registration Drive of the Century is now!

The New Citizen's Swearing-In Ceremonies are always a great opportunity to give out flyers congratulating them on becoming new citizens and highlighting differences between Democrats and Repubs. This is followed by registering hundreds of new citizens to vote, some by County Election Departments inside, others by us -- and the Repubs -- outside. Many are becoming citizens precisely because they, like we, care so much about our country's leadership, and want to help make a difference. America's moral standing in the world under the Bush Administration's practices has never been worse, as have many of the domestic opportunites that have been part of the American dream since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On another front, 2008 Pride provided a great location for outreach and voter registration, as many hundreds visited the Obama Pride booth during the two days of the Civic Center Celebration. Over 300 new voters were registered, and similar numbers of new volunteers enlisted to help Barack Obama's campaign. Obama's cardboard cutout drew great enthusiasm and many photographs.

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Hundred Years War McCain continues to flub the basics in Iraq by linking Iran and Al-Qaeda. Iraq's in a civil war between Shiites and Sunnis, yet McCain repeatedly claims that Shiite Iran is allied with Sunni Al-Qaeda. McCain claimed the power of Shi'a militia leader al-Sadr was waning, and a week later had to reverse himself. McCain said the war would be "fairly easy" before it started, and now he denies ever having said anything about easy. The Real McCain is a Double Talk Express. McCain will continue McBush policies in Iraq with no plan to end a bloody and costly occupation which has brought virtually no political progress even after the Bush/Cheney "surge". McSame as McBush is a recipe for disaster. Many Democratic Congressional candidates and military people have endorsed A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq to

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