what to do in los angeles for obama?

i'm totally committed to this campaign, in seeing it through to the end and beyond. obama must win and i will do whatever it is that i can to make sure that happens. the thing is, i can't figure out where and how to best utilize my particular skills. i'm really hoping you can help me, by voting in my poll, and leaving a comment if you're so inclined.


i love field. i love being with and around people, i love connecting people, and coordinating events. i'm organized and can fairly quickly develop systems for efficiency. i think i could probably hold my own in a communications role (i do like to write), could probably be more than useful in running phone banks because (and i'm not particularly thankful for this "gift" because i really don't like talking on the phone) i'm good on the phones. add to the mix that congressional districts 30, 33 and my own - 31, want me on their teams.

here are the biggest issues facing los angeles, as far as i can tell:

1) the campaign is in no hurry to staff california because we're fer sure blue, and maybe because the grassroots groups are pretty strong and well organized. the problem is, we don't know how the campaign is going to want us to organize and it doesn't seem to appear as though we're 100% confident enough in ourselves to just carry on via precincts, as we did in the primary (i was not a part of the california primary so i can't speak from experience about the way it was organized (it was only after california's primary that i left my job to volunteer organize in texas, indiana, and south dakota )).

2) we have tons o folks who've been signing up to volunteer, but have nowhere to direct them. we're making up voter reg events (really great voter reg events) to keep people engaged while we figure out what the hell we're doing.

3) our greatest problem areas are within the largely african american and latino communities. south and east la, a seeming no brainer voting block for obama, lacks the enthusiasm, or even knowledge that a black man named barack obama is running for president. we needs lots of spanish speaking volunteers, in addition to everyone else who will spend a day canvassing a neighborhood in south la or east la. the votes are there. we just gotta get to them, tell them about barack, empower them to make a difference, and get them out to get out the vote in november.

as for the congressional districts who've offered me leadership roles... one is too far away and already organized, running, and connected. i want to stay involved with them because i think it's important that the city groups work collaboratively. then there's hope's group. man, i love those guys. they are so committed and warm, and have invited me into their group, their homes and their hearts, and i _LOVE_ them. it would be such an honor to join their group. but they're already organized and they don't really need me. while i will definitely keep in their circle and do what i can to help them. and then there's 31. my congressional district. it doesn't seem like anything going on during the primary are still in the mix. maybe we need to get them back and re-organize with the new volunteers.

i do believe i could make a pretty big difference in organizing the shit out of cd 31, but then i think, isn't it already going to go to obama anyway? this is silver lake, downtown, k-town, eagle rock. we're democrats. obama's already won us. or is that false confidence? do we need to be make sure we're organized so we can keep working together after the election?

or do i go to the hood and chat about barack with a group of people who have spent their entire lives disenfranchised? maybe i could make a difference, help them organize, lead them toward the conversation, and teach them how to get involved.

i don't know. i just don't know. what do you think?

cross posted at daily kos