Carson City Democrats

Vice-President-elect Joe Biden turned 66 years old today. Yesterday President-elect Obama surprised Biden with an early birthday gift:

photos from Change.gov

CNN reported:

The day before Vice President-elect Joe Biden turns 66, President-elect Barack Obama presented his running mate with 12 candlelit cupcakes after their weekly lunch on Wednesday. He also gave Biden Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bears hats as well as a bucket of Garrett's popcorn as presents.

Vice President-elect Biden spent his birthday today in his home state of Delware. You can share your birthday wishes and messages to Joe in the comments below . . . 

On Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama called California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa to receive an update on the wildfires that have ravaged Southern California. Monday morning, we asked our supporters to help join in the relief efforts, either by volunteering or donating.

The following day, the Washington Post reported:

Barack Obama [on Monday] displayed once again the power of the vast online network he built during the presidential race, giving prominent display on his campaign and transition Web sites to efforts to help the victims of wildfires burning across Southern California.

...Obama's plea contributed to a surge in visitors to the site, a branch of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office that helps coordinate disaster relief efforts. The number of daily hits on the site increased from 15,000 Monday to 179,000 Tuesday, said Karen Baker, Schwarzenegger's secretary of service and volunteering.

Throughout the past 21 months, you've shown again and again your willingness to come together and help those in need, and this time was no different. It's a spirit that was ingrained in the campaign from the beginning, and continues on in the community that you've created.

In a speech in Iowa in December of 2007, Barack Obama explained:

I won't just ask for your vote as a candidate; I will ask for your service and your active citizenship when I am President of the United States. This will not be a call issued in one speech or program; this will be a cause of my presidency.

Relief and recovery efforts in Southern California are still underway, and you can still be take part by volunteering or by making a donation.

Visit CaliforniaVolunteers.org for more information on how you can help.

On Election Day, we spoke to some of the thousands of people as they gathered in Grant Park in Chicago before Barack's Election Night speech:

As one supporter said:

He can't do it by himself... He has to do it with each and every one of us. Just like we showed up to the polls today to cast our vote, we have to continue to show up and do what we're suppossed to do... to help this world be a better place.

Over the past two years grassroots supporters across the country have shown up, day after day, to work for change. For many of you, we know that this is just the beginning. We want your feedback on what's next and where we go from here. You can also share your memorable stories and experiences over the course of this historic campaign.

One of the most inspiring things about this campaign was to see how generous people actually are when they are exposed to tools and information that they can use for the greater good. -- Jade from Rochester, New York

Two weeks after Election Day, supporters are continuing to use the online tools at My.BarackObama.com to gather together to celebrate, to reconnect, and to find ways to stay involved politics and in their communities.

There are hundreds of events planned for the upcoming weeks. Cambridge, Massachusetts supporters are organizing a "Thank You Party" for which over 350 people have already signed up - so many that they had to relocate the meeting to a larger venue.

In Michigan City, Indiana a "One Month Anniversary Celebration" already has nearly 60 members from a dozen local groups signed up to attend.  

In Sanford, Florida supporters are turning their attention to local issues.

Judy from Camdenton, Missouri reported that:

Camden County Missouri Obama volunteers are determined to stay together in the spirit of this movement! We are considering a community service mission. Our first projects may be helping some of the neighbors we canvassed: an elderly woman who needs someone to help with her fall leaves or another elderly neighbor who would just enjoy a post-election visit. Our field organizer David encouraged us from the beginning to keep our group together and as we grew in numbers and spirit we knew we had to keep moving forward.

And in Georgia, local supporters are using MyBO to help organize for the December 2nd Senate runoff. There are nearly 60 separate events scheduled in the upcoming days, including phonebanking, canvassing and organizational meetings (you can check out Georgia.BarackObama.com for the latest on the Georgia runoff).

Even though the 2008 presidential election has ended, the tools here at My.BarackObama.com remain active. You can still find events and groups near you, or reach out in your community and create your own. We've already seen that, as powerful as the tools themselves are, it's the relationships and groups that they've helped form that are one of the true strengths and lasting legacies of this campaign.

Today, Obama for America Campaign Manager David Plouffe sent out a message to supporters, asking them to share their feedback and help answer the question, "Where we go from here."

Please take a few minutes and help shape the future of this movement.

Share your campaign experience and your thoughts on the best way to keep supporting our agenda for change.

The inauguration is just 63 days away, and as President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden prepare to take office, they'll need your support more than ever.

You've built an organization in your community and across the country that will continue to work for change -- whether it's by building grassroots support for legislation, backing state and local candidates, or sharing organizing techniques to effect change in your neighborhood.

Your hard work built this movement. Now it's up to you to decide how we move forward.

Take this short survey and share your ideas.

Thanks to you, this country has an historic opportunity. Electing Barack was the first big step, but there's a lot of challenging and important work ahead.

Together, we can keep making history,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

From Pennsylvania:

Last night, 60 Minutes aired the first interview with President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle since Election Night. The 41 minute interview covers a wide range of topics, including the economy, the ailing automobile industry, the $700 billion bailout program, the personal adjustments the two have made in their new roles and the promise they made to their daughters for a family dog.

In case you missed it, or if you want to watch again, you can see the full interview below:

Over the past few days, wildfires in Southern California have destroyed nearly 900 homes and burned over 37,000 acres of land, forcing many more families to evacuate their communities. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by the fires.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are coordinating relief for the victims, and volunteers on the ground are being organized to help with long-term recovery efforts in the days and months to come. If you live in or near Southern California you can volunteer now, and no matter where you live you can help by donating to the relief efforts.

Throughout the campaign, we saw time and again that when ordinary people act together, they can make a huge difference.

Visit CaliforniaVolunteers.org for more information on how you can help.

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will appear on 60 Minutes tonight for their first interview since Election Day. The program airs at 7:00 PM Eastern on CBS. Check your local listing for times and channels.

Today, President-elect Barack Obama resigned his Senate seat and he sent the thank-you letter below to newspapers across Illinois:

Obama's Letter to the People of Illinois

November 16, 2008

BY PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA

Today, I am ending one journey to begin another. After serving the people of Illinois in the United States Senate -- one of the highest honors and privileges of my life -- I am stepping down as senator to prepare for the responsibilities I will assume as our nation's next president. But I will never forget, and will forever be grateful, to the men and women of this great state who made my life in public service possible.

More than two decades ago, I arrived in Illinois as a young man eager to do my part in building a better America. On the South Side of Chicago, I worked with families who had lost jobs and lost hope when the local steel plant closed. It wasn't easy, but we slowly rebuilt those neighborhoods one block at a time, and in the process I received the best education I ever had. It's an education that led me to organize a voter registration project in Chicago, stand up for the rights of Illinois families as an attorney and eventually run for the Illinois state Senate.

It was in Springfield, in the heartland of America, where I saw all that is America converge -- farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard. It was there that I learned to disagree without being disagreeable; to seek compromise while holding fast to those principles that can never be compromised, and to always assume the best in people instead of the worst. Later, when I made the decision to run for the United States Senate, the core decency and generosity of the American people is exactly what I saw as I traveled across our great state -- from Chicago to Cairo; from Decatur to Quincy.

I still remember the young woman in East St. Louis who had the grades, the drive and the will but not the money to go to college. I remember the young men and women I met at VFW halls across the state who serve our nation bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I will never forget the workers in Galesburg who faced the closing of a plant they had given their lives to, who wondered how they would provide health care to their sick children with no job and little savings.

Stories like these are why I came to Illinois all those years ago, and they will stay with me when I go to the White House in January. The challenges we face as a nation are now more numerous and difficult than when I first arrived in Chicago, but I have no doubt that we can meet them. For throughout my years in Illinois, I have heard hope as often as I have heard heartache. Where I have seen struggle, I have seen great strength. And in a state as broad and diverse in background and belief as any in our nation, I have found a spirit of unity and purpose that can steer us through the most troubled waters.

It was long ago that another son of Illinois left for Washington. A greater man who spoke to a nation far more divided, Abraham Lincoln, said of his home, "To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything." Today, I feel the same, and like Lincoln, I ask for your support, your prayers, and for us to "confidently hope that all will yet be well."

With your help, along with the service and sacrifice of Americans across the nation who are hungry for change and ready to bring it about, I have faith that all will in fact be well. And it is with that faith, and the high hopes I have for the enduring power of the American idea, that I offer the people of my beloved home a very affectionate thanks.

"The climate has made millions of Americans who haven't been involved in a political campaign ever in their lifetimes very active. We estimate that 70 percent of our grass-roots volunteers haven't worked in a campaign before. . . . We're somewhere just shy of 2 million volunteers, and we think we can potentially triple that on Election Day." - Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand

One of the most amazing aspects of the grassroots movement that grew alongside this campaign is the number of people within it who had never been involved in politics before, had never seen themselves as political or had never known the role that an individual can play. For many of them, this campaign has provided a chance to learn not just about politics, but about their communities and themselves. 

Kimberlee from Kentucky explained what she learned from this experience:

I learned I could ask total strangers to vote for a candidate they may never even heard about. I learned about great strength with a local union volunteers. I learned about solidarity and teamwork. I learned that the voices of a few can change a city or a county. I learned how to get past my fears and call people and ask for a vote or donations. I learned you can love total strangers, even some from a different state. I learned how to persuade many people. I learned about sacrificing and donating money to a cause bigger than myself. I learned that change is possible. I learned I could survive eating doughnuts and pizza.

...I learned I had a family on a blog who was always there and where we could pump each other up or just vent. I learned I helped in change... I learned that I could get and liked working in politics. I learned politics wasn't only for my parents.

I learned a lot about myself.

What have you learned along the way?

On the afternoon of November 4th, with the work of the election almost done but the results still unknown, one of the members of the National Call Team, Eleanor in Clovis, California took a moment to record her story and the part she played leading up to this moment. She wrote on the group blog:

I signed up for Camp Obama thinking that I was going to stuff envelopes - not actually talk to real people....especially people across our nation. That myth was shattered quickly and happily. After my first calls to New Mexico, I became hooked. I called from the office on Shaw and Maroa, my home, and at Obama gatherings on the weekends. I talked with people in Ohio, Virginia, Nevada,Colorado, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. I have forged bonds with those who both supported Obama and were on the fence. One theme emerged after each session: the need to reduce the division and heal the broken promises. Some felt betrayed by politicians, others had a need to say everything bad about one candidate or another. Each time, I found a way to meet halfway.

I learned that the folks in Ohio were so friendly and kind. Even if they were voting for another candidate, they were nice about it. Virgina was close behind.

...I learned about the lives of so many folks. First, the pundits are wrong. Age is not a barrier to reasoning the better candidate. The wisest voters were those who were chronologically older but of a much younger spirit. One woman who was in her eighties shared that she cast her vote for Obama for her grandchildren so they would not have to die in Iraq. I think those who experience the worst of hard times know what is ahead and want to protect their families from the pain they recall.

Serving as a volunteer on the phonebank has enriched my life and left me feeling that our nation has grown into that purple majesties...the reds and blues have seeped together to form a purple hue.

Of Election Day itself, Eleanor wrote:

Today is a day to remember. Today is a day to cherish... I am proud that I could make a small -- less than small, a fraction of a fraction -- contribution to the whole that I now feel a part of.

Millions of volunteers like Eleanor played their own small part in this campaign, making phone calls, knocking doors, organizing. The online community here has provided a way not just for supporters to connect with the campaign and contribute to the work at hand, but to share their experiences as well. Together you're building a record of a moment in history. 

What part did you play, and what did you learn from your experience with this campaign?