Burned Meat and Politics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAchCB90pZ4 

Katie and I are taking off on Sunday for the first bus trip I've been on since junior high.  The Delaware County Democratic Committee has hired a bus to take us to the Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa.  Sen. Tom Harkin holds this event each year as a fund raiser and it's always the #1 place to be for Democrats. (There will be people from all over the US attending.) This year is especially exciting because all 6 of the Democratic candidates will be there to meet and mingle with about 3000 enthusiastic supporters.  Obama supporters from all over the country are going to gather before the event to rally in support of the next President of the U.S.  (See the You Tube clip above.)

Other political happenings -

The Chairs of the 50 county Women for Obama groups will have a statewide meeting in October in Des Moines.  It's highly likely that Oprah Winfrey will be there as a keynote speaker.  I'm looking forward to meeting other women from around the state.

I've been asked to be one of the members of our county Obama Leadership Committee to oversee the campaign between now and the caucuses in January. 

Our Women for Obama group will be hosting a showing & discussion of "An Inconvenient Truth" sometime in October.

I attended a Faith & Politics forum at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque last week.  Our speaker was Father Michael Phleger form Chicago.  Fr. Phlegar is the pastor of St. Sabina parish in south Chicago and has been very involved in the civil rights movement for many years.  He spoke about how our faith influences our political beliefs and the many ways we can use our faith to advocate for change in the US. 

I had a fascinating discussion with a seminary student, Hanne, from Norway who had been in the US for only 2 weeks.  She told me about the negative feelings that many Europeans have towards the US and her own trepidation about coming here.  She said that after meting me and hearing Fr. Phflegar, she had a much more positive outlook. 

All in all, it's just way too exciting to be living in Iowa during this time.  I feel blessed to have the opportunity to become involved and to see how the political process works form the ground up.