First Post-Election Chatham County Obama 'Change Is Coming' House Party Held

At my home in North Chatham County, NC, I hosted one of the 10,000 Obama house parties held across the country in mid-December. Thanks to the powerful tools at http://my.barackobama.com, local Democratic Party email lists and a neighborhood online bulletin board, in just a few days the word was spread. I received 24 RSVPs, and 11 regrets. That's a great response for a rural county AFTER the election.

I was encouraged that more than 20 people showed up. There was a lot of energy in the room -- people seem eager to bring change not only on the national level, but on the state, county, and neighborhood level. 

People discussed their involvement in the campaign, the issues that concerned them most, and we agreed to participate in a service project, "YES WE CANS," to collect canned foods to benefit CORA, the Pittsboro food pantry and emergency feeding program and the regional Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, between now and the inauguration. Hopefully, the energy will continue and we'll meet on a monthly basis over the next four years.

This is a bottom-up movement, ultimately independent of Obama himself -- some of us will no doubt disagree with him on some issues some of time time. Ultimately, it's an effort of citizens to take back their government using 21st century tools. It will develop and mature in the months ahead.

(PS -- The slide show above comes from the Obama campaign.)

Drill Deeper:

• Government 2.0: "What the Obama administration may do with its newly energized grassroots community organizations and estimated thirteen million email addresses." A discussion on Diane Rehm's public radio show with Lawrence Lessig, professor of law, Stanford University; 
  Patricia McGinniss, CEO, The Council for Excellence in Government; and
  Corine Hegland, a reporter for National Journal.
• Scenes from Across America: Change is Coming House Parties
• Health Care House Parties: The Obama movement is already inviting citizens to offer their ideas on health care reform. A house party will be held in Chapel Hill on December 30.