Here's a Google map of about third of the Obama supporters displaying 'UA for Obama' yard signs. Click on the map to expand the image.

Your response to our sign initiative has been outstanding. Over the last several days we distributed over 100 more signs! Lots of people signed up for a yard sign online and at events.

Be a part of the movement here in UA. Planting a sign really makes a difference in ways you may not know. Your public show of suppoort impacts people in your neighborhood who trust and value your opinion.

Signs are also a great way to fight back against the smears against Barack Obama that will only get worse.

Our goal is to distribute 300 more signs before Barack's historic speech this Thursday. We need you to sign up to turn UA blue by planting a sign in your yard. Already have your sign? Encourage your Obama supporting friend or neighbor-who may not know of our initiative-to sign up.

Sign up here to have a sign personally planted in your yard during the week of the convention. We will include an envelope with your sign in hopes you will mail us a contribution to help defray our costs. We thank you in advance!

Additionally, UA for Obama and Ohio for Obama signs will be available at the Obama Acceptence Speech Party (sponsored by the Worthington Area Democratic Club) this Thursday, August 28, at the Holiday Inn Griswold Ballroom, just south of I-270 on High Street in Worthington. Signs will also be available at our booth nearby the UA Labor Day Arts Festival. Check back with the website in a few days to get more details about our location!

• YouTube Video: 'Republicans and miltary men on John McCain'
• John Kerry: The liars are back. Time to finish them off. John's defense of Barack Obama has been both fierce and effective.
• Check out the front-page Washington Post article profiling Virginia as a battleground state. The article also talks in some detail about Obama’s local organizing tactics.
• Awesome new video: Approval Ratings: The Public v. McCain
• Conservative columnist David Brooks offers a strong endorsement of Obama's education policy.
• Eight Strikes and You’re Out: John McCain has a perfect record on a renewable energy bill. He has missed all eight votes over the last year — which effectively counts as a no vote each time.
• At least two of McCain’s one-time media fans are realizing that he’s not the man they thought he was.
  1. Time’s Joe Klein conceded last week that he was wrong to believe McCain is an “honorable man.” Soon after, writing about McCain’s attacks against Barack Obama, Klein’s headline read, “The Scum Also Rises .”
  2. It looks like Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter has joined the club, saying that he “misread McCain.”

Barack Obama: "Ordinary citizens can have an enormous influence in what happens in Washington. The problem is citizens are just not organized right now, and so those who are organized, the corporations, the special interests and the big lobbies, have a disproportionate influence. Part of what this campaign is about is to tilt the scales more in favor of ordinary people." Watch the video.

Want to know the centerpiece for Obama's strategy for winning Ohio? In two words it's:

House Meeting

On-the-ground, good-old-fashioned grassroots field organizing and social networking is the game plan for winning in 2008. Yup, it's that simple.

It's not going to be the usual candidate campaign tactics in which hordes of political types swoop in and knock on thousands of doors without regard to communities, churches, neighborhoods, cultures and existing networks.

This community organizing and house meeting video describes the house meeting concept. It's not too much different than the UAPA house parties you may already be familiar with, but a big difference is emphasis on grassroots social networking compared to other campaigns. Read 'Obama's paid staff dwarfing McCain's'.

Can you host or attend a house meeting? Sign up here.

Not sure what hosting a meeting entails? It's really easy. Check out our House Meeting Frequently Asked Question list.

Sign up to host or attend a house meeting and we'll contact you with details on how to organize your network to help Obama!

We're putting together 10 reasons to vote against McCain and 10 reasons to vote for Obama. Can you help by sending us your most important reasons for voting for Obama and/or against McCain?

Click here to send us your goodies.

We would like to get a read of how our membership is feeling about the presidential race this year. If your comments are really juicy, we'd like to use them anonymously.

Want to know the centerpiece for Obama's strategy for winning Ohio? In two words it's:

House Meeting

On the ground, good-old-fashioned grassroots field organizing and social networking is the game plan for winning in 2008. Yup, it's that simple. It's not going to be the usual candidate campaign tactics in which hordes of political types swoop in and knock on thousands of doors without regard to communities, churches, neighborhoods, cultures and existing networks. Read 'Obama's paid staff dwarfing McCain's'.

This community organizing and house meeting video describes the house meeting concept.

Jeremy Bird, the narrator of the first video, has rock-star status as a field director within the ranks of the Obama campaign. Jeremy has been brought to Ohio to run our field operation. He perfected the house meeting concept which proved successful in South Carolina.

Every UAPA member needs to host or attend a house meeting. There you'll be able to connect with your neighborhood and hear the whole exciting story for yourself.

We have less than 90 days until the election, so we don't have any time to waste!

Democrats target Ohio GOP suburban stronghold

EDITOR'S NOTE — What makes Ohio, the nation's seventh-largest state, a swing state? One in a series of regular stories profiling regions of Ohio and swing areas within the state.

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press Writer

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio (AP) — Democrats' display of support for John Kerry four years ago in this Republican stronghold ruffled more than a few community feathers.

Despite the efforts of the group UA for Kerry, President Bush beat his opponent handily. But Kerry also received a record number of votes for a Democrat in a city that just two decades ago was voting for Republican presidential candidates by 4-1 ratios.

Emboldened, the group has its sights set on the unthinkable this presidential election: turning a bright red town blue.

"My goal for Upper Arlington is for Obama to win, to get 51 percent," Melissa Hedden, a group founder, said flatly. "That would be my definition of success."

Read the rest of the AP story here.

Democrats target Ohio GOP suburban stronghold

You can make a difference. This campaign is about neighbor to neighbor contact. We give you the training and the materials and all you have to do is take a walk!

There will be a canvass for Obama and the local candidates THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 24th, from 2-5 at 2 locations. If you live in north Arlington (north of McCoy) we will meet at the Northcrest Park at 5095 Reed Road and the rest of UA will meet at Tremont Library as usual.

We will be talking to sporadic Democratic voters, Independents and disaffected Republicans. Help us reach out to this crucial constituency. ALL POLLS show the race in Ohio is a dead heat and these are the voters we need to reach. Only 40 days until early voting starts.

In recent UA canvasses, volunteers have come back with positive stories about their conversations with undecided voters. Your passion and dedication to Senator Obama's message of change has and will change the hearts and minds of voters in your neighborhood.

For more information, contact Ankit Patel at 614-735-2720 or apatel@ohioforchange.com, or Laura Kuykendall at 486-9298 or 783-9677 (cell).

THANKS AND SEE YOU THERE!

What is a house meeting?

A house meeting is an informal meeting of 8-20 people in the home of someone who supports Senator Obama. In house meetings, a volunteer invites several neighbors or friends to their home to talk about the Ohio for Change campaign. House meetings identify new leaders, help people see how they can make a difference and lay the foundation for change in our community and nationwide.

Generally, meetings last for about an hour and have the following components:

• You, as the host, can share your thoughts such as telling the group a little about yourself and why you are hosting a house meeting.
• A campaign field organizer can share a little about him/herself and the campaign organization.
• If you like, the field organizer can show a short video about community organizing and how it is used in this campaign.
• You can encourage the attendees to engage in a discussion about the campaign and how they want to organize over the next few months.

The goals of a house meeting are to:

• Share and learn more about community organizing in your neighborhood
• Motivate and inspire people through personal stories of hope and action
• Extend the chain of house meetings and sign up more supporters of the Obama campaign

Why are house meetings so important?

The Obama campaign has an ambitious agenda: to recruit every supporter to become active and engaged in the campaign and to then reach out to conservative and Republican voters to convince them that Barack Obama is the best option for the future of our country.  We need many people involved in our community with different skills to be successful.

House meetings serve three crucial purposes:

1. Find new supporters. House meetings are an effective way to connect seasoned activists with newcomers. A successful house meeting will be a mix of both.
2. Help people renew their hope. The best way to build a base of committed, engaged volunteers willing to work for change is to draw out the hope that we all need to overcome inertia and cynicism.
3. Begin the persuasion process. If people are fence sitters, a house meeting is a good way to begin the persuasion process in a non-threatening environment. They hear what their neighbors and friends are saying, ask questions and hear the facts about Barack Obama, not trumped up lies and innuendo from other sources.

Why is a home better than a public meeting location?

Most of us feel more comfortable in a casual setting where we know at least one other person. People are more likely to share their own stories, and are more willing to commit to taking action, when they are with people they know and trust. Many people who may be reluctant to come to a large public meeting may be willing to come to a friend or neighbor's home to talk about the same issues with just a few people.

What does a house meeting host do?

A house meeting host must be willing to connect with 15-30 people in their circle of influence; first, to extend an invitation, and second, to share his or her sources of inspiration and hope. The host (or co-hosts) should of course be interested in the issues and willing to help motivate their guests to take action and work for change.

The host has a few simple tasks:

• Make a list of people to invite to the meeting.
• Call potential guests, tell them about the meeting, and persuade them to come. Some hosts serve light refreshments; others organize a pot luck dinner to get people together. The choice is yours.
• Contact invitees 1-2 days before the event to confirm attendance.
• During the meeting, the host will do two things: start the meeting with a simple statement about why they support Barack Obama, and encourage guests to host their own house meetings.

Who should be invited to a house meeting?

People who attend a house meeting should either be Barack Obama supporters, undecided voters or leaning McCain. If you don't know where people fall on the spectrum, invite friends, co-workers, congregation members, neighbors, family and members of other community groups who you think would be willing to attend. You should focus on inviting people who live in Upper Arlington, but we welcome people from outside our community to grow Obama's base of support. The goal is to have 8-20 people attend each house meeting, which usually means 15-30 should be invited.

The host should think creatively about whom to invite; beyond the "usual suspects." We want people with a variety of experiences, and people who are open to listening. Note: Many of us move in circles with people who share our opinions. Although these people are important to involve, many of them are already engaged in civic activities. We need to reach beyond our most intimate circle of connections and take some risks with people we don't know as well to bring new leaders on board.

What will happen at the house meeting?

At the meeting, a field organizer will describe the campaign and its goals for change. The organizer will also tell a personal story, sharing sources of inspiration and hope, and invite meeting participants to do the same. After laying a foundation of hope, the organizer will outline the local neighborhood strategy. Finally, the host and organizer together will ask guests to support the goals of the campaign through concrete action.

What will we ask people to do?

We will ask people to take concrete action.

• Host a house meeting
• Attend a house meeting
• Become part of a Letter to the Editor and Op-Ed writing group
• Canvass neighborhoods
• Phone bank for Obama

We always want people in attendance to host their own house meeting. House meetings build upon each other. If each meeting leads to two or three additional meetings, we multiply our committed volunteer base quickly. One person's invitation of 20 people can become 800 house meeting attendees in just three months!

How do we measure the success of a house meeting?

A house meeting is successful if people show up, if a variety of people attend, and if people are moved to take concrete action and/or volunteer to host their own house meetings. People will respond if we successfully communicate a sense of urgency about the issues, share inspiring stories and convince participants that we have a strategy to help Barack Obama win.