I just returned from a party to mark the opening of the new Headquarters office of Obama for America. If the crowd and the enthusiasm are any indication, Barack is going to win a lot of votes in New York's February primary.
Barack Obama is spending a lot of time in the early states these days, which is understandable. A win in Iowa followed wins in other early states could give him the momentum he needs going into Super Tuesday to win the nomination.
But the campaign is starting to put more resources into big Super Tuesday states, including Hillary Clinton country: New York. Why bother with New York? Well, the 24,000 who came out to hear him at Washington Square Park last month give some indication of the excitement here for Obama's candidacy. And the more than 50,000 supporters who are fired up and ready to go are proving that Barack can do well here. Now we have a local campaign office to make sure we're all doing our best to make that happen.
Obama has a chance to do very well in New York, to win many of the 231 delegates in play in the state. The New York Democratic primary is not a winner-take-all primary, any candidate who gets at least 15% of the vote wins delegates proportionate to the percentage of votes in each Congressional District.
Heading up the new NY Headquarters is Rudi Shenk (front, right). Joining him are three other staff people, including Joyce Johnson (front left), who is coordinating petitioning for the state.
The opening party brought out many volunteers and supporters from all across the city.
Also present was NY State Senator Bill Perkins, who was the first New York elected official to endorse Barack Obama.
As you can see in the photos, the office has just barely opened, but does have working computers and phone lines. It's going to be a hub of activity over the next few months, coordinating petitioning (to get Obama on the ballot), outreach, communications, trips to New Hampshire and upstate New York, and a host of other activities.
If you would like to help Barack Obama in New York and aren't sure how to get started, email me at casperr 67 at earthlink dot net. There's plenty for everyone to do!
UPDATE: A fellow Obama supporter and Kossack just sent me photos from the petitioning training that was held in our NEW office tonight after the party.
And this is the sweetest picture! This man is Gregory, who introduced Barack at the Brooklyn Rally in August.