Email about Superdelegates from David Plouffe

[fight4my3sons]

This is an email that I just got (probably one you all just got also) thought I would post just in case you all don't get these.

As you've probably heard, there could be a wildcard in the race for the Democratic nomination.

We firmly believe that the candidate who has won the most pledged delegates -- the result of having more voters in more places supporting your campaign -- will be the Democratic nominee.

But to be safe, we are working to attract the support of "superdelegates" -- party officials and Democratic officeholders from across the country -- who also have a vote at the Democratic National Convention.

You may already know some superdelegates -- they include senators, governors, and even former presidents and vice presidents. But many others are ordinary people who hold positions in the state and local party operations.

These nearly 800 superdelegates will vote alongside the more than 3,000 pledged delegates who are chosen in the various state primaries and caucuses. The candidate that gets a majority of all delegates (superdelegates and pledged delegates combined) will be the Democratic nominee for president.

Right now, Barack is ahead in the contest for pledged delegates. We've won 23 contests out of the 35 that have been held so far -- including the last 8 in a row. And with our decisive victories in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC on Tuesday, we now lead by more than 135 pledged delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination.

While we intend to continue winning states and expanding our lead among the pledged delegates, and believe that will likely ensure that Barack is the Democratic nominee, we're also doing the work of reaching out to superdelegates and making sure as many as possible support Barack Obama.

Here's where you can play a key role.

Our work so far has taught us one important lesson: that your personal story about why you support Barack Obama is often the most powerful persuasion tool for someone who's undecided. That's true whether that undecided voter is your neighbor or a superdelegate.

The story of where you're from, what brought you into the political process, the issues that matter to you, and why you became part of this movement has the potential to inspire someone who could cast a deciding vote in this contest.

Our staff will compile stories from supporters like you and make them a key part of the conversation with superdelegates as Barack asks for their support.

Share your story to help persuade superdelegates now:

http://my.barackobama.com/superdelegates

I've received a lot of email from folks asking how best to help with the superdelegate effort, and this is it.

Your note, combined with those of other Obama supporters, will tell the story of an extraordinary movement of ordinary people -- a story with a common thread of hope that becomes all the more powerful when it brings together the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our supporters.

Together we're building something historic, and your story can help make someone else a part of it.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

David

[StoryTeller]

1. Got it! Here's my reply:

I'm a 33 year old stay-at-home mom with two daughters who are each a year older than Sen. Obama's girls. I'm a novelist and a freelance editor. I live in a fixer-upper Victorian in an urban neighborhood in Omaha, NE.

My entire family, my in-laws, and most of my friends are conservative Republicans. My husband and I are evangelical Christians. I was raised with fairly conservative, "right-wing" beliefs and was a registered Republican until 2004.

I was always cynical about politics, though, and my political activity was strictly limited to exercising my right and duty to vote. In 2000, I voted for George W. Bush because I failed in my responsibility to inform myself about him. I trusted my church, my family, and what little I heard in the media and in his speeches instead of really thinking critically about my political beliefs and the assumptions made by my conservative community.

When he started talking about war with Iraq, I was very concerned. However, I couldn't quite accept the idea that our president would lie to start a war. I thought there had to be some dire threat that he couldn't tell the public about. I wanted to believe the best about him. I didn't want to believe that he'd be drumming up an unjust war.

It soon became clear, though, that my faith and trust in this president was as unjustified as the war he had lied us into. I was deeply grieved and angry, and I felt ashamed to be an American.

Through much soul-searching, my husband and I reevaluated nearly all our long-held political beliefs. We are now quite happily liberal! And proud of it, much to our family's dismay. We joined the Democratic party because we realized we fit there far better than we did anywhere else.

I was proud to vote for John Kerry in 2004. He was the first politician I'd ever really taken the time to study, and I came to admire his integrity, his honesty, and his vision for our country. I still hold him in the highest esteem because he serves our country faithfully and humbly whether he wins, loses, or is admired, or scorned.

Now, four years later, I see many of those same qualities in Barack Obama. He is honest, he has integrity. He has a desire to serve our country. His values, his positions, resonate with me because they are based in justice and a true desire to improve the lives of other people.

What I keep telling my conservative friends is that what matters to me most is character, followed very closely by political beliefs and philosophy.

I want a leader we don't have to be ashamed of. I want a leader who doesn't lie. Who doesn't play games. Who has a good marriage. Who conducts his life with dignity and decency. I want a leader who empowers the people who follow him, and who is in office because he loves the people of America. I don't need a leader who wants to do things "for me" or who is hungry for power or who wants to make a historical statement.

I want someone real, someone whom the rest of the world will respect and--even more importantly-- who will respect the rest of the world. Who doesn't govern through fear, but through love and respect and hope.

Barack Obama's character embodies all these things. This is what I want in a president. This is why I support him, even though I love the idea of finally having a woman president. We need character and integrity more than we need broken glass ceilings.

Policies are important, and I value Senator Obama's views and plans on all the issues. But ultimately, the president is not a law-maker. The president is a leader. And Barack Obama's leadership style and his philosophy about leadership can transform the character of our nation.

I was speaking to my pastor about Obama recently. Told him that Obama is committed to leadership that comes from the bottom-up, not from the top-down. My pastor was impressed and told me, "If that's so, it would be revolutionary."

And he's right. This whole talk of "change" isn't ephemeral. What we are seeing right now in the "Obamamania" is the true, real change that happens in the spirits of people who realize that they DO have power, that they CAN do something about what burns in their hearts. This energy doesn't come when a leader imposes his vision onto his followers. This energy comes when the leader stirs and sparks vision in those he leads.

This is revolutionary. This is a new way of viewing ourselves, our democracy, and our country. It's a new way of viewing the presidency. This is what we want so very much.

Between John Kerry and Barack Obama, my views and my attitude about politics has been transformed. I will never again go back to that place of disdain and hopeless cynicism. I can't claim to be an activist or be as politically involved as I wish I could be. But in the last several years, I have done things and gone places politically that I never would have dreamed. I have made a difference. My voice has been heard. It's an incredible experience.

I want to follow Barack Obama. I want to shed the cynicism and apathy of my earlier years and follow his example of service and justice and integrity. There aren't many people I am excited about following. But Barack Obama is one of those few.

It would be tragic to waste this opportunity. I would like to respectfully ask superdelegates to help me, help all of us, put in place a presidential administration that we can be proud of, that we can look back on as one of the high points of American history. We are hungry for Obama's kind of leadership and to be involved in righting what has gone so horribly wrong these past years. Please help us.

[fight4my3sons]

2. Storyteller,

that took my breathe away reading it. :applause:
We come from very similar backgrounds. I have yet to reply to the email. It is tough to think in my household with two three year olds and a five year old - loud boys! I am going to try to get some thoughts together when they go to sleep or possibly when my husband is not working over the weekend.

[Inuca]

3. Absolutely WONDERFUL, StoryTeller n/t

[ginnyinWI]

4. I'm also a converted Republican

Except that I changed over before the 2000 election. First I voted for Bill Clinton in 1992--knowing nothing about issues, but just that I didn't like GHWB. Then it was during the late 90s that I went back to college and finished my B.A. degree--and by then I knew and could articulate just why I was a Democrat. But the rest of my original family is still varying degrees of Republican, from Moderates to Right-wingers. :( Fortunately, my present family--husband, three grown kids and their spouses/fiances all vote Dem and all like Obama. My husband would call himself an Independent, but I have a great deal of influence on him. ;)