February 15, 2008
by Rose Cohen
Barack Obama first won me over at Washington Square where, like all his listeners, I was transported to a better place.
He is a brilliant orator. Maybe because I worked on the John Kerry Campaign for President, campaigning came easily. Soon I found twenty or so people organizing in my living room. They represented communities all over Westchester, and all ethnicities and backgrounds. Obama for America had inspired them to work together; our rallying cry: “Yes, We Can!”
And if one person stands up, another person stands up. Here in Westchester, there are approximately 300 active Obama volunteers and Obama won 45% of the vote on February 5th. In Chappaqua, a six person phone bank called every Democratic household in Chappaqua and thirty or so people participated in three mini-rallies. Obama supporters were active enough that opposing Democrats called the police at least twice to complain (By the way, that has to stop. Free speech is a right ). And the police called my house to ask me to contact whoever removed some of the opposing candidate’s signs (most of which were illegally posted by the way). This action intimidated me for about, ahhhh, three hours.
Answering questions about Obama
Over these months, I’ve answered every question about Obama. No, he did not go to a terrorist school in Indonesia. He is not a Muslim, he became a confessing Christian twenty years ago. (He is the Senator from Illinois after all. Last time I checked people in Illinois seemed quite level headed.). He has pages and pages of real plans on his web site at Barackobama.com for you to read over. His economic plans include a plan to protect and create jobs in this country, restore fairness to the tax code and reach energy independence. Well, perhaps that tax code will be a little less easy on the wealthier residents of Chappaqua, but I’m willing to pay up a bit.
I’ll pay up for a bit of hope. As I now phone bank nationwide for the Obama Campaign, I’ve found people are just overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by fear and anxiety over terrorism, Iraq, the economy, debt and climate change. Overwhelmed by the supremacy of the interests of corporations over the individual and the inadequacy of our government to aid the weaker members of our society. (Louisiana comes to mind). They are so overwhelmed they’ve stopped voting and stopped participating in local government (except, of course, for Chappaqua schools). Greed and consumption seem to have become the only motivators.
Barack Obama offers a vision for our country that puts politics as usual behind us. He inspires us to end the politics of division. And, most importantly, he can inspire and motivate people to work together. Because together, people who love their country can change it.
Rose Cohen has lived in Chappaqua for 14 years. She has one child at Greeley and one child at New York University (a Greeley graduate). She’s married to Dr. Martin Cohen (also an Obama supporter) of Westchester Medical Center. She works as treasurer of the Golden’s Bridge Fire District (fun and very part-time) and is a CFA. She received her MBA from San Diego State and obtained a BA in Economics from UC San Diego. She was born in San Diego to parents who both served in the military during World War II. Oh, and one of her great, great uncles served in a Wisconsin Regiment in the Civil War (he has a very entertaining diary).
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