A community organizer comes to Washington. -- Volunteering for the Obama campaign.

[immoderate]

My grandmother was a remarkable person. She lived with us, and ran the house, since she had been widowed in her fifties. My mother loved the arrangement. She preferred to work. A favorite Nana Lilly story is when I came to visit when she was about ninety. "Are you hungry? Sit down."

A heap of food suddenly appears. As I am finishing, I expect to see her hovering for the plate, ready to grab it and wash it as I took the last bite. I look outside. She is washing my car.

"You have to organize," she often said. "Everything has a place, and you put it in the place." If anything was not in place she would immediately assign it a place, one which might not be intuitive to its owner. If she was around I would put things away.

Sunday I went to a GOTV volunteers meeting that my grandmother would love. I've done some canvassing for previous campaigns, but always at a fringe level, so I may not be well informed. I can't imagine any campaign being more organized and well thought out. I got the strong impression, that whatever it is, they have it covered.

The objectives are clear. The task is well targeted. Walking out of the meeting, we knew just how we were going to get our state, Florida,(!) into the win column and deliver our 27 electoral votes for Barack Obama. Since the task was focused, with enough volunteers, the task would be easily manageable. I mentioned to our group leader how impressed I was with the organization. She laughed, "People wonder what a community organizer does!"

I look forward to the time that Barack can apply his talents to governing the country. It will be good to have a government that works.

I think we must follow his example once we deliver him to the White House. It will take continuous action to guide the president on the path of progress. The real change will come from us.

--IMM

[immoderate]

1. Kickin' for the dinner crowd.

--IMM