Please join Organizing for America and Gerry Connolly for Congress, with special guests DNC Chairman, Governor Kaine and Congressman Connolly this Sunday, September 5 to knock on doors and engage voters for the critical midterm elections.

Sunday, September 5th  12:30 pm
Connolly HQ (11202 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030; map, click here)

The stakes for the elections this fall couldn’t be higher. The American people have a choice before them. President Obama and Democrats in Congress have worked tirelessly to pull our economy from the brink of disaster, rein in the abuses of health insurance companies, and make pay more equitable between the genders.

This is an excellent opporunity to talk with your neighbors about committing to vote in the upcoming November elections. We’ll be meeting at 12:30 pm to hear Governor Kaine, get fired up and ready to go, canvassing in teams, then heading back to celebrate. Don’t forget to bring a friend to make a difference in your community.

Don’t like knocking on doors? We’ll also be phone banking, so if you have a cell phone and a charger, please bring them if you can!

RSVP on MyBO: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfjrs

But it wasn’t all fun and games. In addition to the cake and singing, we had a phone bank, too and made 1,300 phone calls.  In case you missed here, here’s a quick video of the party!

Happy birthday, Mr. President!

Upcoming Team Alexandria Events:

Phone banking every Wednesday until election day, 6-9 pm
At the Alexandria Democratic Committee Headquarters
618 N. Washington Street, Alexandria
RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpf9pr

Canvassing on Saturday, Aug 28, Noon-3 pm
Meet at Barb’s house, near Huntington Metro
2701 Farnsworth Drive, Alexandria
RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfgdm

Canvassing on Saturday, Aug 28, 4-7 pm
Meet at the Starbucks in Beacon Hill Shopping Center
6754 Richmond Highway, Alexandria
RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfgd8

Canvassing on Sunday, Aug 29, 1-4 pm
Meet at Barb’s house, near Huntington Metro
2701 Farnsworth Drive, Alexandria
RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfgdh

Find another event near you!

Sunday, June 6, 2010 2-5 pm

Host: Barbara Slinker
703-795-3906, barbslinker@gmail.com
2701 Farnsworth Drive, Alexandria, VA 22303
  map, click here.

Directions: From I-495, south on Telegraph Rd., south on N. King’s Hwy., right on Farmington Dr., left on Monticello Rd., then right on Farnsworth Dr. (first driveway on left).

RSVP (MyBarackObama.com), click here.

We need to make a concerted effort to reengage the folks who registered in 2007-2008 so that they could vote for Barack Obama, many of whom have not voted since. Meet at Barb’s house at 2 pm on Sunday, June 6, so that we can go door to door in the area and encourage people to exercise their right to vote in elections this year and beyond. We’ve GOT to try to help people understand that they can make a difference!

There will be water and snacks for participants.

 Read the full article here …

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 9:00 pm EST, OFA members will be gathering at State of the Union Watch parties in living rooms across the country. We’ll huddle on the phone with Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe, and plan for what comes next.

Can you sign up to host a State of the Union Watch Party at your place? Click here to sign-up.

Monday, January 18 from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Arlington County Democratic Committee HQ (*Please bring your cell phone and a charger)
2009 N 14th St.
Ste 612
Arlington, VA 22201

Community Service Events- we have some blood drives set up all around Northern VA, in partnership with INOVA Blood Services. If you’re able to donate, please consider doing so as part of the MLK Day of Service (which is actually a weekend of service). Please RSVP on MyBO so we can keep track of the people who intend to donate. And make sure if you do donate blood, you let them know you’re coming from OFA!

MLK Blood Drive: Woodburn Medical Park Center, Jan 18, 2010 at 9:00 AM
MLK Blood Drive: Mount Vernon, Jan 18, 2010 at 9:00 AM
MLK Blood Drive: Bloodmobile in Leesburg, Jan 18, 2010 at 9:00 AM
MLK Blood Drive: Dulles Center, Jan 18, 2010 at 12:00 PM
MLK Blood Drive: Woodburn Medical Park Center, Jan 19, 2010 at 8:00 AM
MLK Blood Drive: Mount Vernon, Jan 19, 2010 at 9:00 AM
MLK Blood Drive: Dulles Center, Jan 19, 2010 at 10:00 AM
MLK Blood Drive: CentreMed Center, Jan 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM

If you wouldn’t mind promoting the events below to your listservs and groups I’d really appreciate it. We’re still working really hard for health care and plenty to do

Onward,
Chrisi

Some upcoming events:
If you’re planning to attend one of the metro canvasses, please make sure you RSVP online at the link provided. If we get word on an important vote in the Senate this week, we may cancel metro events in order to phone bank out to other VA voters, asking them to call Warner and Webb! (And if the weather is too horrible to be outside we’ll obviously cancel.)

• Phone banks Monday through Thursday of this week (12/14-12/17), recruiting more team members and asking people to commit to call Senators Warner and Webb
  • Fairfax County Democratic Headquarters, 6-9 pm, FCDC 2815 Heartland Rd

• Metro canvasses Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday- asking people to write postcards/holiday cards that we’ll deliver to our Senators in support of health care reform, and sharing some hot cocoa!
  • Dunn Loring Metro (Falls Church), Tuesday (12/15), 5:30-7:30 pm
  • King Street Metro (Alexandria), Wednesday (12/16), 5:30-7:30 pm
  • Court House Metro (Arlington), Thursday (12/17), 5:30-7:30 pm

• Holiday Volunteer Appreciation Night- a little food and a little fun at Bear Rock Cafe in Falls Church
  • Friday (12/18), 6-9 pm, 2200 North Westmoreland Street

Rapid Response Teams:
We’re setting up our rapid response teams- small teams of people who will be able to be mobilized on fairly short notice (72 hours or so) to hop on a phone bank to start calling constituents asking them to call their Senators. If you or someone you know would like to be a part of our team, please let me know. ChrisiMWest@gmail.com

On Tuesday, September 8th at 12 noon EDT, President Obama will speak directly to students in a national address on educational success (Press Release). The President will speak from Wakefield High School in Arlington (4901 S Chesterfield Rd, Arlington, VA 22206). The 20 minute speech will be broadcast live from C-SPAN and the White House web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/), and it will also be available online on Monday for anyone to review before the first day of school.

More information and resources about the speech, including classroom activities, are available from the Department of Education, click here.

Fairfax County Public Schools are not clear on the availability of the speech to all students.

Right wingers are accusing the President of having a hidden agenda. Yes, he does … the hidden agenda is the importance of staying in school, studying hard and being responsible. 

Facebook Poll: Should President Obama be allowed to do a nationwide address to school children without parental consent?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Fairfax County Public Schools and the Speech
source: Townhall.com, a conservative blog 

Paul Regnier [contact information below], a spokesman for Fairfax County Public Schools, said that Fairfax had “determined that individual schools will make the decision” as to whether or not to air the address. But it was impossible to find out exactly what sorts of decisions the Fairfax schools were making, because Fairfax had designed somewhat of a circle of responsibility.

“Any calls a school would get from the media, they would go back to me,” he said.

Regnier also seemed somewhat disappointed at the calls he had received from parents who were unhappy with the prospect of their children watching the video.

“Some people have said they don’t want their children seeing this, despite being the President of the United States,” he said.

If you’re concerned with this approach from Fairfax, please contact:

Fairfax County School Administration Center
8115 Gatehouse Road
Falls Church, VA 22042
General information: 571-423-1200
Fax: 571-423-1207

Paul Regnier
Coordinator, Paul.Regnier@fcps.edu, 571-423-1208

Fairfax County Public Schools >Department of Communications and Community Outreach > Media and Crisis Team

The Media and Crisis Team coordinates communications with school system employees and between the school system and media and community organizations. The Coordinator of the Media and Crisis Team (Department of Communications and Community Outreach) serves as the official spokesperson for FCPS. The office supports divisional emergency preparedness.

Folks from all over the state will be meeting up and making phone calls/knocking doors to collect declarations of support for the President’s 3 principles on health care reform. He has said he wants a bill that:

• Reduces rising health care costs for families and businesses
• Guarantees the freedom to choose a plan and a doctor, including the choice of a public option
• Ensures affordable, quality care for every American man, woman, and child

They’ll also be asking people to share their health care stories, so that their voices can be heard as government officials debate the best way to move forward with reform.

If you think you’ll have time to volunteer for one of these events, please check out the following links:

• Gather Signatures in Support of the President’s Health Care Principles of Reform- Van Dorn Metro
• Health Reform is Calling, Fairfax County! (Phone Bank)

Of course, you can find many more opportunities to volunteer in your area by going to my.barackobama.com and putting in your zip code. Take a look, find something that fits into your schedule, and help make a difference at this crucial time in the health care reform effort.

Be on the lookout for OFA listening tours near you as well.

For more information you can contact one of our two OFA organizers in Lee District:

• 8th District, Jim Ricca
• 11th District, Josh Umar