The weather in Ottumwa, Iowa isn’t very nice this time of year, but Kacie Starr Triplett and Yaphett El-Amin are trying to fill two busloads of St. Louisans to make a trek there on Dec. 15.
The projected high in Ottumwa for that date is 33 degrees, with the low temperature 10 degrees below that.
The Barack Obama campaign for U.S. president, however, is hot, and Alderwoman Starr Triplett and Committewoman El-Amin are recruiting volunteers to go canvas for their candidate as part of a final push before the critical January 3 Iowa Caucus.
“This is the best Christmas gift you can give Obama,” said Starr Triplett, alderwoman of the city’s 6th Ward.
“We’re going to hit the doors and talk to Iowans about Obama,” said El-Amin, vice chair of the City Central Democratic Committee.
“We hope to get people to commit and maybe even change some minds of people who might be leaning toward someone else.”
Recent polls have reported Senator Obama (D-Ill.) edging ahead of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) in Iowa, with John Edwards trailing just behind.
Starr Triplett and El-Amin are both founding members of the new Missouri Women for Obama Leadership Committee. One of their colleagues on the committee, Comptroller Darlene Green, was recently “leaning toward someone else” (Clinton) herself.
When Obama visited St. Louis recently, and U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay convened a small group of black leaders willing to commit to the campaign, Green did not commit.
In explaining the change since then, she referenced a U.S. Today article that suggested some black women were reluctant to endorse Obama because they feared for his life, given the fate of so many strong black male political leaders in the U.S.
“I’ll admit, I was one of the women who feared for his life,” Green said.
“But he and his wife have both called for women not to fear for his life.”
The candidate’s wife, Michelle Obama, spoke to Green, Starr Triplett, El-Amin and other women in their committee last week via conference call.
El-Amin said Michelle Obama spoke about “how we bring our issues to the campaign as women, fighting for stable families regardless of race.”
The other members of the leadership committee are state Sen. Rita Days, state Auditor Susan Montee and state Rep. Robin Wright-Jones. All of the women on the leadership committee, except Montee, are African-American, which points again to how crucial the vote of black women may be in deciding the Democratic nominee for U.S. president in 2008.
“Black people and women always play strong parts in Democratic elections,” El-Amin said.
“If it’s close between Obama and Clinton, our vote could be the deciding factor.”
Obama recently received some powerful assistance in wooing this “deciding factor” when Oprah Winfrey endorsed his campaign and promised to help him stump for votes in Iowa before the January 3 caucus.
Three-quarters of Oprah Winfrey Show viewers are women, and she reaches some 46 million viewers each week. More than half of her viewer are over 50 years old, a demographic more likely to vote.
But the December 15 caravan to Ottumwa is not for blacks nor women only. Montee already is confirmed, as are state Rep. T.D. El-Amin, state Rep. Rodney Hubbard and Alderman Frank Williamson.
Starr Triplett said the African-American Aldermanic Caucus and grass-roots activist April Harris had been helpful in recruiting canvassers. El-Amin was busy this week calling contacts in the black clergy, urging them to make their parishioners aware of the caravan.
Starr Triplett’s recruiting letter extends the invitation to the entire family: “Bring your kids, grandkids and have them experience this moment in history,” she urged.
Given that busses depart at 6:30 a.m. and don’t arrive back in St. Louis until 8 p.m., parents and grandparents have their challenges ahead of them if they intend to accept her offer.
Money should be no object.
Starr Triplett said, “This trip is 100 percent free. Your only payment is your time.”
People with no previous campaign experience will need none.
“You don’t need to have prior canvassing experience,” Starr Triplett said. “Its easy and fun, You will be trained on the ride to Iowa.”
To sign up for the Dec. 15 trip to Iowa, call Quentin Anderson at (314) 436-2708 or email qanderson@barackobama.com.
Election info
The 2008 Iowa Democratic Caucus is Jan. 3, followed by caucuses and primaries in Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. The Missouri primary is Feb. 5.
To exercise your right to vote, you must be registered to vote by the fourth Wednesday before the election. To vote on Feb. 5, you must be registered to vote by Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008.
City voters can register to vote by completing a Missouri Voter Registration Application and presenting it in person or mailing it to the Election Board (300 N. Tucker, St. Louis, MO 63101), a deputy registrar in your community, voter registration agency (DMV, Health and Social Services, Community and Regional Affairs, recruitment offices of the armed forces of the United States).
Visit www.stlelections.com for more information.
County voters can register to vote at any St. Louis County library, at the office of the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners (12 Sunnen Dr., St. Louis Mo, 63143), at a driver’s licensing office while applying for or renewing a driver’s license, at a designated state agency while obtaining services, or by downloading a voter registration form with mailing instructions from the County board website at www.co.st-louis.mo.us/elections.
