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In 2007 when the candidates for the Democratic Party began emerging I began my research to determine whom I would support. Wait let me back up a little even before that time. I volunteered during the re-election campaign of President Clinton in 1996, while still living in my hometown of Chicago, IL making phone calls. The phone calls I made to garner and retain support for President Clinton included little known local candidates Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama. I chose to make calls for the South Side candidate Obama, mainly because I could pronounce his name. During the victory celebration at the Hyatt Hotel I shook hands with State Senator elect Barack Obama and hugged his beautiful wife Michelle.
Now back to 2007, there were a lot of people talking about the Senator from Illinois and how dynamic his speech was at the 2004 Democratic National Convention but they were supporting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. At this point I was a 10 year resident of the first in South primary state, South Carolina. I chose to research and determine the platform of each candidate before making my decision and quite simply Obama’s website contained the most detail. Clinton’s contained the least, so on April 27, 2007 after seeing and hearing then Senator Obama speak at the world famous Jim Clyburn fish fry, I chose to support Obama for President. In May 2007, I was one of four people to attend one of the first volunteer meetings, which would grow in size needing to meet in the Columbia Convention Center.
Republicans are still sitting a little dazed and confused after President Obama’s re-election this past Tuesday, November 6, 2012. They didn’t believe in the ground game that individuals like National Field Director Jeremy Bird who I personally worked with and know spoke about to the media. But I can say yes there was and still are an extensive amount of active supporters of President Obama. We do not merely support him in words and rhetoric but in action by stepping up and volunteering using basic grassroots tools. We learned how to win from the President himself, once a Community Organizer. And some of the best campaign strategy was created in the campaign office located on the corner of Calhoun & Assembly St. in Columbia, SC. This strategy would be fine-tuned and grow to help lead Obama to victory in 2008 and now in 2012.
Quite simply this re-election campaign was successfully because of a structure formed five years ago and developed way before that time. Supporters like me who were active not only during the election process but who helped to move the Obama Administration agenda forward made it possible. We are the backbone of a well-managed organization where the life’s blood is the data that was collected by the work we did. In addition, the majority of this organization was funded by donations from the 47% that Romney didn’t think would vote for him. I am proud to have stepped up way back when to volunteer for a little known Barack Obama and I am even more excited to see President Barack Obama re-elected for four more years.
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PaisleyPerspective 
Yes You Did!