Caitlin is in the New Mexico office of the Obama Campaign. She was recently at a Fourth of July event as staffers and volunteers registered voters. 

Yesterday, Obama staffers, fellows, and volunteers were out in full force at the Albuquerque City Fireworks at Balloon Fiesta Park.

Kristen is in Florida working for the Obama campaign. She spent her weekend at voter registration events.

Never leaving the house without a couple of blank registration forms, Democrats across Florida grabbed a few extra this 4th of July.

Hady, from Melbourne, organized an all day voter registration drive to coincide with the Independence Day festivities.  He organized volunteers by the hour and sent us some exciting numbers.

We got 91 Voter Registration forms, and about 15-20 volunteers showed up, and another 15 signed up for events in the future!  

Across the state in Tallahassee, an Obama crowd set up a tent at Tom Brown Park.  Here's a note from Rick, an organizer of the event:

The Obama campaign had an EXCELLENT showing at Tallahassee's Fourth of July festival at Tom Brown Park!  We set up our tent around 1pm, and our first shift of about twenty volunteers arrived soon afterwards to receive training on voter registration.
 
The local newspaper estimated that up to 40,000 people visited the park yesterday, and we were in a prime location.  Thousands of people got off the shuttle busses and couldn't miss our tent as they walked to the main concert stage. 
 
The sun beat down on us all day, but the heat couldn't stifle the energy and enthusiasm for the next President of the United States!!  All throughout the afternoon and evening, people LINED UP to talk with us about the Obama campaign, register to vote, volunteer, and take a picture with our lifesized, cardboard version of Barack!

Yesterday we told you about Lois in Vermont who was holding two voter registration events this weekend. She told the campaign...

I love this country, and I will not give her up without a fight. I am doing everything within my power to see to it that Obama is elected the next President, and I believe that lies in empowering the disenfranchised people in our country who have never voted and who have never registered to vote. These people must be included and energized for us to win in November, and in my own small way, I want to do something about this!

Here are the pictures from Lois' events...

Send your pictures to photos@barackobama.com.

Jen is in Colorado working on the campaign. Yesterday, she attended a voter registration drive as part of Indepedence weekend celebrations.

On any given day there are hundreds of voter registration drives all around the country. Not all of them involve a live buffalo.

Ralphie's Annual Independence Day Blast, named after CU's mascot, is a huge family friendly event so it was a perfect opportunity for the campaign to reach the masses and get all who are interested involved.

Among the thousands of people walking to CU's Folsom Field, there were the local Obama Organizing Fellows making sure all who attended were registered to vote.

Devon, one of the Fellows was particularly excited:

Boulder is terrific and everyone out here loves Obama. We’re getting a lot of support -- high fives, a lot slaps on the back. Our job is about letting people know about the opportunities for them... because they're already so active and engaged.

Devon spent the morning at a pancake breakfast in Superior, where a number of people ended up registering to vote and changing their party affiliation.

The Obama campaign wasn't the only one present at Boulder's biggest fireworks display -- organizers from Mark Udall's senatorial campaign and other local grassroots organizations were also taking the nation's birthday to make sure that the people of Boulder were engaged in the political process.

Voter registration events will be going on through October, you can get involved by attending one near you.

The July 4 celebration and fireworks at this nearby park was going to be a good audience for registering new voters, so I planned the event for it.  It also struck me that one of the most fundamental things about our system of government is the vote, and voting (and helping people register to vote) is one of the more patriotic things you can do.  So, it seemed quite natural to register people to vote on the day we celebrate the declaration of independence from the British crown. 


I also like hosting events because it gets people to be more active - I've given them an event in their area to participate in, and afterwards they are trained in voter registration and more comfortable with it.  Turning ‘newbies’ to voter registration into people with some experience is pivotal, because it makes them realize it's not rocket science.  They are more likely to do it in the future and to tell others that they are capable of doing it too. 


I can also feel the roots spreading in other ways:  One new volunteer is on the faculty at a local college and arranged for Vote for Change to have a table at the college's new student orientation - she wouldn't have done this if she hadn't known there was a way to find volunteers to staff it.  Also, a couple other attendees met each other today and are making plans to do registration efforts targeting young Korean-Americans in the area. Without the event, they wouldn't have been able to meet, brainstorm and plan future efforts. 


Voter registration is important because it's actively building the party, and the new Democrats and left-leaning independents will help not only Barack Obama, but all the down ticket races.  The trend in California is that every single congressional district is getting bluer - registration drives like we did today help continue this trend.

Peter has done voter registration events because he feels proud to be a part of this campaign. He explains why this campaign is different from others…

I support Barack because of the emphasis in his campaign on empowering people to make the change they want to see.  This aspect of the campaign, and his providing infrastructure support to let supporters make connections amongst ourselves on MyBO, shows that he means what he says.  

He's constantly making the point that people need to get engaged, and that simply voting isn't enough.  This is the only way real change can happen - if we the people make it happen. 

I became an Obama supporter following John Edwards’s departure from the primaries.  Barack's embrace of the 50-state strategy and his putting real resources to build the whole party and not just help his campaign were really important things that made me come to support him.

Are you involved in the campaign? Create a my.barackobama.com account to connect with other supporters and sign up to attend a voter registration drive in your town.

As Fourth of July fireworks lit up the Missouri sky and parades marched down streets across the state, Obama supporters were hard at work. Equipped with clipboards and a stack of voter registration forms, they sifted through the crowds, doing their part to ensure that every voice will be heard this November.

In Chesterfield, Missouri a crew of ten volunteers gathered at the Chesterfield mall parking lot just before dusk; a prime viewing spot for the town’s annual firework display.

After a brief meet up, they set out to find high traffic areas to try and register voters. An Obama Organizing Fellow named Marta, who was leading the effort, choose a particularly novel spot. Instead of roaming around the parking lot, she stood at the top of a tall embankment that overlooked another parking area. As people arrived for the fireworks, they’d climb up the mulch covered hill and be greeted by Marta as soon as they reached level ground. “Hi, are you registered to vote?” she’d say with a smile. Regardless of their response, Marta always warmly waved and replied “Have a happy fourth!”

There were similar scenes all across the parking area, with volunteers trying to interact with as many potential voters as possible. As the sun began to set, a few volunteers gathered to review their progress. Suzanna, who had helped out at Vote for Change events in the past, shared her thoughts as she flipped through the six new registrations she had garnered. "I feel good… I got a much better response than last time." Carol, who wasn’t having quite the same luck chimed in with a smile. "I’m hanging around you from now on… you’re good luck."

Their initially light conversation soon transitioned to a more earnest reflection on the state of politics in the area. Carol recounted how as recently as 2004 she felt like being a Democrat in her neighborhood was a scarlet letter.

When I asked for a Democratic ballot, I used to whisper it under my breath… I remember going to vote in the primaries in 2004, and the polling place was essentially empty. George W. Bush was an incumbent, so the only people who would be showing up were Democrats. It was tough... but things are shifting.

Suzanna agreed, adding that the last few months had helped inspire her.

Seeing more Democrats come out than Republicans in the primary was so encouraging for me.

While they surveyed the ever growing crowd and clutched their clipboards, a lady came up and said “I am registered, but I need to update my address. Can I do that here?” The volunteers instantly lit up, “Absolutely” said Sarah, who had taken over the hilltop position “it will only take a minute”.

As the lady signaled for her husband to come over and register as well, Carol turned to Suzanna." See, I told you you’re good luck."

When the last Vote for Change team finally turned in for the night, the tallying began.

Below are photos from Chesterfield’s 4th of July Vote for Change event, along with a few highlights from other events across Missouri.

From the Washington Post:

Sen. Barack Obama ended a week's focus on values by giving a conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church a highly personal account of his spiritual journey and a promise that he will make "faith-based" social service "a moral center of my administration."

"In my own life, " he said, "it's been a journey that began decades ago on the South Side of Chicago, when, working as a community organizer, helping to build struggling neighborhoods, I let Jesus Christ into my life. I learned that my sins could be redeemed and that if I placed my trust in Christ, that he could set me on the path to eternal life when I submitted myself to his will and I dedicated myself to discovering his truth and carrying out his works."

He suggested that he would apply the lessons of his faith to the problems he would face if he became president. "The challenges we face today -- war and poverty, joblessness and homelessness, violent streets and crumbling schools -- are not simply technical problems in search of a 10-point plan," he said. "They are moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness, in the imperfections of man. And so the values we believe in -- empathy and justice and responsibility to ourselves and our neighbors -- these cannot only be expressed in our churches and our synagogues, but in our policies and in our laws."

..."If we show up," Obama told reporters aboard his campaign plane as he left Montana on Saturday, "if we let folks know that we're interested in them and we share a lot of common values, then we're not going to win 100 percent of the evangelical vote. We might not even win 50 percent of the evangelical vote. But we will at least take some of the sharp edges off this divide that's existed in our politics. And that hopefully will allow people to listen to each other, and that will help me govern over the long term."

..."Democrats can't shrink the map to win. I think we have to expand the map to win," he said. "And for a bunch of election cycles, we had such a narrow path to victory that if one thing went wrong, we were going to lose. I can't guarantee that we are going to win in any Southern state anymore than I can guarantee we're going to win in a place like Montana or North Dakota, but I can guarantee that we can give it a good shot."

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday told a roaring crowd of religious African-Americans at the America's Center that they should have no doubt of his commitment to his Christian faith, his nation or his political principles.

In an address filled with religious and patriotic references, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president told delegates attending a national conference here of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that his career and his life revolved around his belief that, "I won't be fulfilling the Lord's will unless I'm doing the Lord's work.''

Obama said his faith would continue to influence his performance and his politics if he wins the White House, and he recounted the strong role that churches have played in tackling numerous issues — including slavery and women's rights — facing Americans since the colonies declared independence 232 years ago.

Obama ignited repeated cheers and standing ovations as he reaffirmed his proposals to expand on faith-based government initiatives begun by President George W. Bush.

And in a pointed jab at the national news media, Obama singled out denomination leaders who he said could attest to reporters that "I've been talking about this for a couple years now. Don't think this is news."

"It is not part of a political strategy,'' Obama said with emphasis, his voice booming throughout the convention hall.

...Obama called on parents to take on their proper roles.

"Only we in the home can teach our daughters to never allow images on television to tell them what they're worth,'' he said. "Only we as parents can make sure that when our sons grow up, that they treat women with respect and understand that when they have the ability to have a child, they must have the courage to raise a child."

Obama also said that most of the nation's challenges "of war and poverty, joblessness and homelessness, violence on the streets and in the public schools ... are not simple technical problems in search of a perfect 10-point plan. They are also moral problems rooted in social indifference and individual callousness."

His audience, estimated by organizers at 10,000, was unabashedly supportive. Dozens sported pro-Obama T-shirts, and the crowd spontaneously began shouting Obama's campaign slogan — "Yes we can!" — before he uttered a word.

The Rev. Marvin Sullivan, pastor of Ward Chapel AME Church in Florissant, praised Obama "an honest person who speaks from the heart.''

Conference delegate Nona Simpkins, also of St. Louis, said that the enthusiasm had less to do with the fact that Obama also was African-American, and more to do with his message.

"He has the right agenda,'' she said.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Barack Obama found a receptive audience Saturday at the African Methodist Episcopal Church convention, where he reinforced his message of service, sacrifice and active faith.

The crowd of thousands of delegates and leaders of the oldest predominantly black denomination in North America welcomed Obama as their own political son, who understands their language of God and church.

"He was excellent, marvelous," said Eunice Williams, a great-grandmother from Jacksonville, Fla. "I think he'll make a blessed president. He wants to do something to help all mankind, not just a few."

...Saying "God raised us for service," Obama told of his own conversion to God's will and truth as a community organizer, lessons he said he took with him in his later roles.

The challenges of war, poverty, violence and genocide are moral problems rooted in individual callousness that government alone can't fix, he said. Individuals must serve too. But he added that a necessary first step is to stop spending billions of dollars in Iraq and instead spend it on lifting people in cities such as St. Louis and Chicago.

"Our nation's conscience can't rest with so much work to be done," he said, calling for a greater role by faith-based agencies for change.v He also had something to say to reporters who may never have seen this side of the candidate.

"I've been talking about this for two years," he said. "This is not part of a presidential strategy."

"I say it because I believe it; I've always believed it. This is the work we are called to do as Christians. We need every hand on deck."

From the Meridian Star:

It wasn't long ago that the presidential election seemed to loom somewhere in the foggy distance.

But now that both parties have presumptive nominees, the realization has begun to spread across the nation that the election is just around the corner. There are less than four months to go until the big day, November 4.

As the day nears, more and more people are beginning to get involved, and more and more localized election-centered events are popping up.

In Meridian, one of the first signs that election season has gone into full swing was Saturday's Obama Fest 2008, a party held at Dumont plaza by the Lauderdale County Democratic Executive Committee, in support of Democratic Presidential Presumptive Nominee Barack Obama.

Everything from voter registration booths to mime performances were scheduled for Obama Fest 2008, and local and state candidates and elected officials, including 3rd Congressional District Candidate Joel Gill, were slated to speak at the event, making it a classic political rally.

Vendors sold Obama t-shirts, food, and jewelry to the excited crowd, which was alive with the anticipation of possibly living to see the first black President of the United States elected.

"We're making history," said Mamie G. Cole of Meridian, "I've been here a long time on this earth, and I never dreamed that I'd live to see a black man become the President of the United States."v "This is an opportunity for History in the country, and it's also history-making," said Meridianite John Flowers.

For Tim Quick, who serves as assistant secretary for the Lauderdale County Democratic Party, the Obama campaign is about moving back into the political climate of the 1960s.v "I think this country went off track in the 196's," Quick said. "There was leadership to try to take us in the right sort of direction - the Kennedy's, Martin Luther King - and they were all shot ... So this in my opinion is an opportunity to go back in the direction we would have gone in had Bobby Kennedy been president."v The air at Obama Fest 2008 was thick with excitement, but the Democrats aren't the only one's getting ready for the election. The Lauderdale County Republican Executive Committee has some plans up its sleeve as well, according to one of its district representatives, Jamie Peavy.

"We're starting to plan a bunch of events," Peavy said, "everything from voter registration drives to going door to door. Nothing is in stone yet, but we're going to make some things happen."

David in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been active in voter registration efforts since March. And yesterday he held three events, at the Party on the Parkway, the local July 4th Parade, and the fireworks show. Each of these events is part of the “Welcome America Festival” held in Philadelphia for a week.

I chose this week to do voter registration because Welcome America draws huge crowds, especially on the night of the 4th and 5th, when there are fireworks. We had 61 volunteers sign up to help at the events today, although because it started raining around 7pm, only about 12 showed up.

Despite the rain, we got a total of 112 registrations for the day. People seemed eager to register, probably because the connection between the holiday and the idea of civic participation and patriotism.

I started doing voter registration back in March, for the Pennsylvania primary. I stood on the corner next to the grocery store near my house and registered 394 people over the course of 10 days. When I wasn't doing voter registrations, I was in the Philadelphia headquarters doing data entry and voter protection.

After the Primary in Pennsylvania, David traveled to North Carolina to help with the Get Out The Vote efforts. He then got involved with the local volunteers in Philadelphia.

I attended the kickoff for Vote for Change and have tried to either organize or attend a voter registration event every week. I really love doing voter registration because I find it satisfying to have a tangible result - a stack of completed forms - at the end of the event. Also, people really seem to appreciate that you are out there volunteering and helping others vote.

Philadelphia has a lot of colorful characters, and I like interacting with people on the street and answering their questions about voting, if I can. We've really increased Democratic voter registration in Pennsylvania since last year, and I feel like we will do even better as the summer goes by. My goal is to help Sen. Obama win Pennsylvania by a record margin of victory.

Nothing is more patriotic than making your voice heard by voting. Like David says increasing Democratic voters can make the difference this November. Sign up for a voter registration event in your town and then tell us about it at blog@barackobama.com. And if you attended an event this weekend, send us your pictures at photos@barackobama.com.

Organizing to bring people back into politics is not a cost, but an investment in rebuilding the democratic infrastructure of our public life under assault for far too many years. - Marshall Ganz, March 2007

One week ago today, over 30,000 people met in nearly 4,000 homes across the country to Unite For Change.

As field organizer Jennifer Scarbrough explained, these meetings are part of a field plan that has grown out of Barack's roots as a community organizer, and represent grassroots organizing at the most basic level: people talking to one another in their own living rooms, about the issues that are most important to them.

One by one, attendees shared their stories and their experiences, and talked about what inspired them to become active. They also watched a special video the campaign created just for these house meetings, about how ordinary people can organize to empower themselves to make political changes:

Last Saturday's meetings were not the end; they were just the beginning of an unprecedented effort to organize support in all 50 states this summer and build the network of volunteers that we'll need to win in November. The time, labor and money put into these events were not a cost, they were an investment in the future of this campaign and in the communities in which they were held.

One week later, you can see this investment paying off already, with nearly 2000 grassroots events planned for this 4th of July weekend alone.

For supporters across the country, the next step can mean joining or creating a local grassroots group, planning another house party, or helping with voter registration. In the weeks and months to come, we will have even more tools for you to organize and to act, to make a difference in your community and in this campaign for the presidency.  

From the beginning, the goal of this campaign has been to bring people back into the political process, to give voice to the voiceless, and to inspire a new generation of citizens to organize, to engage, and to vote. From the beginning, this campaign has been an investment.

Independence Day may be over, but our Vote for Change National Voter Registration Drive is moving ahead towards the election. Today, Lois from Vermont is organizing a drive at the largest annual parade in the state. She's also planning a three day event next weekend at Vermont's Solarfest. Lois says she decided to get involved because she belives empowering voters is the best way to turn the country around.

I created two Vote for Change events because I care deeply about the direction our country has taken over the past 7 years. I see decline in living standards in my neighbors here in Vermont, with many of them in danger of losing their homes. I have experienced and witnessed loss of severe cuts in medical benefits, the cancellation of vacations, cutting down on certain necessities, and most concerning to me, loss of hope that we can recover from this decline in America. I have heard my neighbors and family express despair and despondency over the future of America.

So I decided to stand up. I love this country, and I will not give her up without a fight. I am doing everything within my power to see to it that Obama is elected the next President, and I believe that lies in empowering the disenfranchised people in our country who have never voted and who have never registered to vote. These people must be included and energized for us to win in November, and in my own small way, I want to do something about this!

Vote for Change is continuning all the way through to November, and there are always hundreds of events planned around the country.  Click here to find one near you, and join Lois in enfranchising thousands of citizens.

Tell us about your events at blog@barackobama.com.

Across the country people spent their Fourth of July registering voters at local events. In Ohio, one event caught the attention of the local ABC channel... 

Judy Kraus spent July 4th marching down Hamilton Avenue with other Barack Obama supporters in the annual Northside holiday parade.

Along the route the Northside woman and other volunteers stopped and approached members of the crowd with clipboards.

They were canvassing men and women of voting age, making sure they were registered to cast ballots in the November general election.

"We can reach a lot of people this way," Kraus said. "We know a lot of them are disenfranchised, but we know they want to vote so we're going to help them to vote."

Similar efforts occurred Friday in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, Lima and other Ohio cities.

More than 2,000 volunteers participated.

Sign up to attend a local voter registration event to help those who want to vote. In some states, the 2004 election was won by a small margin of votes. Every vote counts, and this campaign wants to make sure everyone has the opportunity to make their voice heard.

Barack just finished speaking at the annual conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis, Missouri. He told the crowd that he would make faith-based social services an important part of his administration...

The challenges we face today -- war and poverty, joblessness and homelessness, violent streets and crumbling schools -- are not simply technical problems in search of a 10-point plan. They are moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness -- in the imperfections of man. And so the values we believe in -- empathy and justice and responsibility to ourselves and out neighbors -- these cannot only be expressed in our churches and our synagogues, but in our policies and in our laws.

Here are some pictures from the event...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008, will forever remain the best day of my life as a fellow thus far.  

I’m a fellow in Colorado Springs and the past two weeks have been amazing.  The relationships I have built and the people I have met have been really wonderful.  Colorado Springs had the honor of hosting Senator Obama Wednesday at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS).  

The private gathering had 350 people in attendance from all aspects of community service.  My husband Shawn is active duty in the military and has been deployed twice. He is now stationed in Colorado Springs and he was one of the many military personnel that were in the audience.

For the event, each of us had our roles. Keith and I were responsible for making sure people in wheel chairs made it to the proper location. …It was amazing to watch Senator Obama connect with all of us and really make us look at ourselves and not to others to change this world through service.

After the event…we put up all the chairs and tore down the stage.  Then we got the best news ever.  We were going to meet the Senator in an hour for a picture!  I almost couldn’t function.  We were all so giddy, it was pretty funny to watch. 

When the moment arrived, I went blank.  I wanted to say something profound.  I wanted to tell the Senator thank you for giving us hope again.  Or tell him thank you for caring about me and my family being together and understanding that when a soldier is deployed, the whole family is deployed.  I wanted to say something deep.  But as he went around to shake each of our hands, all I could muster was, “Senator, it’s an honor.”  

As I stood next to Senator Obama waiting for the picture to be taken, all I could think about was how historic this election truly is.  My husband is white and I am black.  We have a two-year-old son named Michael.  And that’s when it hit me. I can look my son in his big brown-eyes and tell him, “Someday, if you work really hard, you too can be president.

Check back next week for more from Delia in Colorado Springs.

Yesterday the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had an article about the massive increase of voters in Georgia.... 

The number of Georgia voters has increased by 300,000 since the first of the year, with more than 4.7 million people on the active rolls for the July 15 primary, according to data released Tuesday.

Local registration officials have seen the number of people signing up to vote at a pace that picks up with each passing month.

The bump is significant, said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist. As a comparison, he pointed out that there were 500,000 names added to the active voting rolls in the three years between the presidential election in 2004 and Jan. 1 of this year. "That is more than a 20 percent increase, so more Georgians are getting themselves signed up to vote," Bullock.

In the July 15 primary, Georgia voters will select nominees for a U.S. Senate seat, several U.S. House seats, the state Legislature and various local elections.

Bullock believes, however, that some of the increase before the July voting can be attributed more to enthusiasm for the November presidential election and the presumptive nominees, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"Obama is getting people to show up," Bullock said.

According to numbers released Tuesday, there were more than 4.7 million names on the state's active voter list as of June 16, the last day to register for this month's primary. That number is almost 39,000 more than it was two weeks earlier and almost 60,000 more than on May 31.

While Georgia was virtually ignored during the 2004 presidential race because the state was solidly Republican, both campaigns say it could be competitive this fall.

Obama is already running television ads, and the campaign said it has about 75 paid staffers and hundreds of volunteers in the state focusing just on voter registration and turnout. They are going door-to-door, often in their own neighborhoods, handing out mail-in voter registration applications. Their focus is on recruiting African-American and young voters.

...Both parties are predicting voter turnout in November that will top 90 percent in some counties because of enthusiasm for the presidential race.

Georgia is just one example of how our supporters are making this campaign their own. By attending voter registration events, you can help to turn a red state blue, bring first time voters into this movement, and help build a support base for Barack.

Sign up for a voter registration event in your town and help to bring more people in the politcal process.

Greg is part of the Obama campaign staff in Colorado. Yesterday, he attended a Denver event hosted by supporters...

Across the state, Obama volunteers and fellows took every opportunity they could to reach out to voters and register new ones. Here in Denver there were numerous events celebrating the birth of our nation, and the campaign had a presence at many of them – spreading a message of patriotism by getting people actively involved in the democratic process.

An “Old-Fashioned July 4th Celebration” at Four Mile Historic Park was filled reenactments of important moments in the country’s history and talented actors portraying notable American figures.

Another Illinois politician and former president, Abraham Lincoln spent a little time talking to us.

We asked him how he felt about another Illinoisan running for our nation’s highest office. The former told us that no matter what state a candidate came from they should be a person of character – he chose not to endorse at this time.

It’s not too late to get involved this 4th of July weekend, find an event near you.

There are more pictures on our Flickr account.  If you have any great campaign related pictures from today, e-mail them to co@barackobama.com!

From the Flathead Beacon:

Gov. Brian Schweitzer enthusiastically welcomed Barack Obama to Montana for a parade and "family" picnic on Friday, and predicted the Democratic presidential candidate will carry the state in November.

Obama watched Butte's Fourth of July parade with his family, before hosting a free picnic for supporters. Obama is making history by waging a fight with Republican John McCain for Montana's three electoral votes. The state has mostly been ignored in past presidential contests.

Obama pitched a message of independence — including freedom from oil companies and drug companies — to the crowd. Because of security concerns he did not walk in the Butte parade, a traditional stop for state Democrats.

...Obama's appearance Friday in Montana marked his fourth visit to the state during his campaign. Schweitzer said that alone probably is enough to push him over McCain, who has not set up a campaign operation in the state.

Schweitzer and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., stood on stage at a picnic of some 2,000 and introduced Obama.

"He is going to win in Montana because he has already been in Montana more than anybody who has run for president in 50 years," Schweitzer told reporters.

Montana is tough territory for Democratic presidential candidates. Only two have carried the state since 1948.

But Schweitzer said Montanans are libertarian thinkers and Obama has a chance to sway them.

"We don't like the Republican version of telling us what to do, we don't like the Democratic version of telling us what to do," Schweitzer said.

Obama gave a...speech before a crowd that gathered at Montana Tech to eat hamburgers and hot dogs with him.

"I don't want to spoil a good July Fourth picnic with a long speech," he said.

Obama decried the country's reliance on foreign oil and said the current energy policy hampers families confronted with high fuel prices. He criticized health-care systems and pitched his message of change.

"That's the kind of independence we need to declare today," Obama said. "Most of all we need to declare independence from a foreign policy that has not made us safer, but has diminished our standing around the world."

Butte, a Democratic stronghold in Montana, ate up its chance to see a presidential candidate at the city's parade. A Republican float was met with a chant of "Obama."

Officials estimated a crowd perhaps twice the usual size.

Sharon Chebul of Butte said she had never seen anything like it.

"It's telling us that even our little towns like Butte mean something," she said. "We can make a difference."

Obama planned to spend Friday night in Montana, after a stay Thursday night in a Butte hotel. He was scheduled to leave the state on Saturday.

Schweitzer said he does not expect Obama to return — even though Democrats would love to see him at the party's summer convention in Miles City — because the presidential candidates will have to visit other places.

"How hard do you work for three" electoral votes? Schweitzer asked. "He's probably overspent his time in Montana."

From the Helena Independent Record:

Sabrina Holland, 25, isn’t typically an early riser.

“I am today,” said Holland, who at 5:10 a.m. Thursday was the first person in line for tickets to an Independ-ence Day picnic with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

“I’m a Republican,” Holland said. “I’m here (to get tickets) for friends and to see what we’re up against.”

This week, Montana’s Obama for America cam-paign announced not only that the candidate would spend the Fourth of July in Butte, but also that he’d be the featured guest at a public picnic Friday at the practice field south of the Montana Tech HPER Complex.

News spread throughout the community Wednesday night and Thursday morning that a limited number of tickets to the picnic would be available at the Venus Rising Espresso House at 124 S. Main St. beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Behind Holland, Democrat Rob Fleming, 40, was second in line.

“I was here at four and nobody was here so I went home,” he said. When he came back a little after 5 a.m. and saw Holland at the door, he got in line.

Like Fleming, Ken Devine, 59, was driving through uptown Butte in the wee hours of the morning, not wanting to miss another chance to see Obama.

“I came by at quarter to three because when they had (the tickets) at the Civic Center I didn’t get any,” he said.

Devine, a self-proclaimed Union Democrat said that he circled back several times before seeing Holland and Fleming and joining them in line shortly after 5 a.m.

Number seven in line was Wende Dwyer, who arrived at 6 a.m. Dwyer is a Butte native who said that she was back in Butte from Fort Worth, Texas for the holiday.

“My boys are 13 and 10 and when you have an opportunity to be part of a move-ment in America that’s so exciting and optimistic I think parents have an obligation to expose (their children) to what’s happening,” she said.

By 7 a.m. the line had extended down to the corner of Mercury Street and for another block and a half. Glenn Bodish, Butte Silver Bow Arts Foundation director, opened the doors to the Venus Rising Espresso House and was busy taking coffee orders from those waiting in line. Bodish said that the Obama campaign had approached the BSBAF about renting the space.

“I think it’s exciting,” he said. “You couldn’t have a better opportunity for the arts foundation.”

Retired teachers Janice and Don Plessas arrived at 7:26 a.m. and took a place at the end of the line. The two had read about the tickets to the picnic in the morning newspaper, put their dogs in the car and drove to the Venus.

“I think it’s remarkable to have a presidential candidate come to Butte,” Don said. The couple said that they had wavered between Obama and Clinton early in the campaign, but agreed that they would be supporting Obama in November.

“I want him as our next president,” Janice said.

The 2,000 available tickets were limited to four per person and scheduled to be available through noon Thursday, but were gone between 10 and 10:15 a.m., said Caleb Weaver, communications director for the Obama campaign in Montana.

“On such short notice, we were thrilled to see such a response,” he said.

From the Missoulian:

The biggest Fourth of July party in Montana was in the Mining City on Friday morning.

Before sunrise, hundreds of people had lined Butte’s Harrison Avenue with folding chairs, determined to claim their spot hours before the city’s most historic parade in recent memory.

U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama chose to celebrate the national holiday here, with his family. And it was indeed a special day, not only for the nation and Butte, but for Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia, born on the Fourth of July and celebrating her 10th birthday on Friday.

By the parade’s start, thousands of people were on hand for the festivities - and to catch a glimpse of the visiting politician and his family.

Secret Service agents closed the three-block area around Butte’s Civic Center to foot traffic only. That’s where the parade route began, and where Barack and Michelle Obama and their two daughters took in the show, presiding over the grandstands.

Bystanders who wanted to be near the presumptive Democratic nominee and the start of the massive 160-entry parade had to pass through a security check, much like that endured by air travelers.

When Obama arrived and stepped out of an enormous bus, he was greeted with a rowdy “O-BAM-A” chant from the crowd, which quickly provided a hearty rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Malia.

Obama took the offered microphone and, as he walked to the intersection of Civic Center Road and Harrison Avenue, boomed “Hello Butte!”

The candidate, who represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate, didn’t use the opportunity to push his political agenda. Rather, he reminded the crowd that what makes America great isn’t the size of the military, or the size of the economy, or the size of a city’s buildings.

“What makes this country great is the people,” Obama said.

...Said Obama: “I just want to thank you for your great welcome. Happy Fourth of July. Thank you.”

In the area closest to the Obama family, the crowd lining the parade route stood four- to seven-people deep.

Bob and Marlys Krause of Victor spurned Hamilton’s Independence Day parade and woke at 5 a.m. so they could reach Butte by 8 a.m. and catch of glimpse of Obama.

“We really like him,” Marlys Krause said.

“He’s our only hope,” added Bob Krause, a 70-year-old who retired from the log home industry. “We just wanted to see him - and to let him know he has our support.”

Butte-Silver Bow County Attorney Bob McCarthy was in the crowd, with a front-row vantage of the day’s twin celebrities: the annual parade and Obama’s visit.

Said McCarthy: “This is terrific. I’m an Obama supporter. I saw him in April when he was here last and shook his hand. He’s a great man, he’s very perceptive and really concerned about things that are of interest to our country.”

Although Obama’s competition, Hillary Clinton, received Butte’s Democratic primary vote in June, McCarthy is confident the Mining City will turn out in support of Obama in November.

“He’ll do fine here,” McCarthy explained. “He’s a Democrat and this is a Democratic town.”

From the New York Daily News:

On a day pledged to the red, white and blue, Democrat Barack Obama Friday chose to focus on the red.

A red state, that is: Montana.

Obama, with his wife and two daughters, attended an Independence Day parade and picnic in Butte - and celebrated daughter Malia's 10th birthday.

The holiday sojourn in the Western outpost is part of the Obama campaign's avowed strategy of taking the fight to traditionally red states.

Obama has said he doesn't buy that states like Montana and North Dakota, where he also spent time on Thursday, cannot go blue. And his advisers have said that even if Obama cannot ultimately capture such states, he can force Republican John McCain to expend time, energy and money to defend them.

"I think it's a smart move," said David Birdsell of the Baruch College School of Public Affairs, noting that states like Montana have trended Democrat in recent years.

"There's at least an argument to be made that a Democrat who doesn't sound too much like a traditional East Coast liberal...has a shot at one or more of the traditionally Republican Western states," Birdsell said.

Obama's upcoming campaign itinerary includes a number of states where a Democratic victory is hardly guaranteed....

Stops are also planned in North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Ohio and Colorado - all states captured by President Bush in 2004.

From the CBS News:

With his family in tow, Barack Obama kicked off the Fourth of July holiday at a parade in downtown Butte. As his black campaign bus rolled up to the site, the crowd cheered and then sang "Happy Birthday" to his eldest daughter, Malia, who turns ten today. The family jumped out of the bus, one by one, including Obama's half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. Michelle Obama and the girls were all sporting chic leggings.

...The Obamas later attended a picnic, where Michelle passionately spoke about her husband’s candidacy.

“He is consistent, he is honest, he exactly who he appears to be, he adores his children,” she said, “and the one thing I know, the reason why I’m standing here today is that if he cares have as much for his country as he does about his own children, we’re gonna be just fine.”

With the mountains and American flags has his backdrop, Obama said his candidacy may have been unlikely in any other country.

“I know that there is no other country on earth where I could be standing before you, as somebody who could potentially be the next president of the United States of America.”

He asked the crowd for their support and said, “I promise you that just about four months from now, just about four months from now we will have won Montana, we will have won the general election, and you and I together we are gonna change this country and we are gonna change the world.”

From Reuters:

Democrat Barack Obama mixed presidential politics with parades and barbecue on U.S. Independence Day on Friday, celebrating his daughter's birthday with a picnic and fireworks in Montana.

Obama, concluding a week-long campaign tour focused on values and patriotism, was cheered by crowds as he watched a holiday parade and threw a picnic for supporters in Butte -- a Democratic bastion in a state that normally votes Republican in White House races.

Obama was joined by his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia, who was celebrating her 10th birthday.

"I finally told her the truth that all these fireworks and stuff are not just for her," Obama said of Malia, who was serenaded with "Happy Birthday" by crowds at the parade and the picnic.

Obama and his family sat in bleachers and watched passing floats and trucks for about an hour in the broiling sun. He apologized for not walking in the parade, a tradition for most U.S. politicians, and blamed his Secret Service protection.

"This is the first parade where I haven't walked. The problem is if we start walking the Secret Service was going to have everybody put their hands up the whole parade route," he said. "We decided that wasn't gonna be much fun for everybody."

Obama later walked along the parade route for about 25 minutes anyway, shaking hands, holding babies -- at one point he took two at a time -- and wishing supporters a happy 4th of July.

"Can't wait for the inaugural parade," Linda Beischel of Helena, who drove to Butte to see Obama, told the Illinois senator.

"It will be fun," Obama replied.

...Obama told supporters at a picnic hosted by his campaign later in the day that battling special interests, forging a policy of energy independence and revitalizing the economy were patriotic endeavors.

He praised the U.S. military for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan and said improving treatment for veterans would be a priority.

"That's how we show, on this 4th of July, our patriotism," he said.

Happy Fourth of July from the Obama campaign. This is your Friday night open thread...

Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha has a family picnic in Butte, Montana this afternoon. Before sitting down to eat hot dogs, Barack said...

What makes this country great is not the size of our military, not the size of the economy, not the big buildings we have. What makes this country great is its people.

Here is the video and some pictures from the event...

In celebration of America's Independence, Obama supporters have fanned out across the state of Ohio to register new voters, walk in parades, and reach out to folks in our communities.

They're both design students. I told them that they were free to use our posterboard and markers to make signs that my team could carry in the Northside 4th of July parade. They told me that they would go home, brainstorm and return in a few days to make the signs.

 

 

I was blown away and so was everyone else in the office. The lesson learned here is that we can always find ways to include everyone. Brittany and Caitlin want to help and now... I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of them over the coming months.

 

FIND an Obama event near you, or SIGN UP to volunteer and find out how you can get involved.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!