[YLS Blue] Campaign News - Go to PA this Saturday! Do research for the campaign! Bake for Obama!

[Scott Anderson]

Hey Obama/Biden supporters!

We had a great first meeting with the 1Ls last night. Despite the long day,
everyone seemed fired up and ready to get involved!  That's great because
we've gotten tons of requests for help with various campaign activities.
Check out the list below to find out when and how you can make your
contribution!

---

*Canvass in Scranton, Pennsylvania THIS SATURDAY!*

This Saturday, September 20th, we're heading to Scranton, Pennsylvania to
canvas neighborhoods, drop literature, and generally help the campaign get
the word out!  The race is getting closer by the week in Pennsylvania -- in
July, Obama was up by 8 points, *but the gap has narrowed to less than 2
points<http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/pa/pennsylvania_mccain_vs_obama-244.html>
*. Direct voter contact is HUGELY important in winning this race, so come
out and help this weekend! For just one day, forget about FIPing, reading,
clerkships, and SAWs and make a real impact in a close race: *it's one of
the most important things you'll do all year!*

*Details: *We're coordinating this trip with the Yale College Dems. We'll
leave together around 8 am  on Saturday and return by around 8 pm.  *The
College Dems have funding for gas,* so the trip shouldn't be too expensive.
And it's supposed to be beautiful outside!

*Interested? *Email your name, school affiliation, and cell phone number to
elizabeth.phelps at yale.edu by *Friday at noon*.  Also, *we're in need of
drivers*, so let us know if you're willing to drive and how many people you
can take!

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*Do Research for the Campaign from Home!

*We're in the process of assembling remote support teams for several key
battleground states, specifically* Ohio and Virginia* and maybe more states
to come! Members of these teams will spend *a few (probably 3-4) hours each
week from now until November* helping full-time campaign staff do research
on election laws, compose memos and other official documents, and assemble
all the materials needed to run an effective voter protection
operation! *Interested?
*Fill out the Volunteer
Survey<http://sites.google.com/site/ylsstudentsforobama/survey>then
send a message to
scott.anderson at yale.edu indicating you want to get involved right away!

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*Volunteer for a SPECIAL RESEARCH PROJECT!*

We also need volunteers are for a *high-priority* voter protection project.
The project requires a degree of discretion, and will probably take about
ten days to complete. The first meeting for htis project is *this Thursday
at 12pm.* If you're interested in attending and participating, please write
to alexander.tausanovitch at yale.edu right away!

---

*Target Swing Voters in Florida!

*We're coordinating with the campaign to *target certain key swing voting
districts in Florida*! Through a special online database typically reserved
for full-time campaign staff, we'll be identifying supporters and engaging
voters about what issues they care about to help the campaign figure out how
to best deploy literature, ad buys, and other resources! *This is one of the
most important elements of an effective campaign*, and Florida needs all the
help it can get!

*Interested? *Write to scott.anderson at yale.edu and we'll pull you into the
loop!

---

*Help Obama's Pennsylvania Team Recruit Lawyers!
*
This Monday, September 15th, Pennsylvania's campaign Voter Protection office
is launching a *Voter Protection phone bank* to contact local lawyers and
law students in Pennsylvania to serve as poll watchers on Election Day.  If
you can help us call ten people on Monday, we'll be able to add potentially
hundreds of volunteers to our roster.  We'll supply you with a script and
all the information you need.  All you need is a telephone (a cell phone is
fine) and two or three hours a week.  You can also help us by recruiting
additional people to make calls on behalf of the Voter Protection Team (a
template you can use is enclosed below).

*Interested? *Write voterprotection at paforchange.com for more information! A
group of students will also be dedicating themselves to this each week, so
if you're interested in making a regular contribution as part of a YLS team
contact mirra.levitt at yale.edu!

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*Graphic Designer Needed ASAP!*

The campaign in Wisconsin needs a graphic designer to help them out with a
project as soon as possible. If you're interested, please contact Peter
Harrell at pharrell at gmail.com for details.

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*A Special Message from the Obama Health Policy Team!

*A study coming out today in Health Affairs projects that 20 million
Americans who have employment-based health insurance would lose it under the
McCain plan.  We need you to help us get the word out by forwarding, cross
posting and talking up the following items:

*McCain's Radical Agenda*
by BOB HERBERT, *The New York Times*

"Talk about a shock to the system. Has anyone bothered to notice the radical
changes that John McCain and Sarah Palin are planning for the nation's
health insurance system?  These are changes that will set in motion nothing
less than the dismantling of the employer-based coverage that protects most
American families.  A study coming out Tuesday from scholars at Columbia,
Harvard, Purdue and Michigan projects that 20 million Americans who have
employment-based health insurance would lose it under the McCain plan." Click
here for more. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html>

*Why Obama's Health Plan is Better
*by David M. Cutler, J. Bradford DeLong, and Ann Marie Marciarille, *Wall
Street Journal

*"Sustained growth thus requires successful health-care reform. Barack Obama
and John McCain propose to lead us in opposite directions -- and the Obama
direction is far superior. Sen. Obama's proposal will modernize our current
system of employer- and government-provided health care, keeping what works
well, and making the investments now that will lead to a more efficient
medical system. . . . In contrast, Sen. McCain, who constantly repeats his
no-new-taxes promise on the campaign trail, proposes a big tax hike as the
solution to our health-care crisis. His plan would raise taxes on workers
who receive health benefits, with the idea of encouraging their employers to
drop coverage. A study conducted by University of Michigan economist Tom
Buchmueller and colleagues published in the journal Health Affairs suggests
that the McCain tax hike will lead employers to drop coverage for over 20
million Americans." Click here for
more.<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122152292213639569.html>

*20 million could LOSE health insurance under McCain plan*
DailyKos.com. Click here for more. <http://www.dailykos.com/story/>

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*Bake for Obama!*

Janice Ta, a 2L at the law school, is trying to organize a bake sale in
support of the Obama/Biden campaign. She needs volunteers to make signs, man
tables, and most of all *TO BAKE*! If you think you might be at all
interested, please send her an e-mail at janiceta at gmail.com. The bake sale
itself hasn't been scheduled yet, but is aimed to take place sometime in
early to mid-October.

---

*Have an idea for an event or program? Want to play a role in coordinating
future projects and trips?* Then e-mail scott.anderson at yale.edu or
marisa.vansaanen at yale.edu about *becoming a Student Organizer* and playing a
leadership role in getting the Obama/Biden ticket elected!

---

Remember, go to http://sites.google.com/site/ylsstudentsforobama/ to find
out more information about upcoming events, to join the mailing
list<http://www.bantha.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/yls-blue>,
and to complete our volunteer
survey<http://sites.google.com/site/ylsstudentsforobama/survey>.
And don't forget to
volunteer<http://action.barackobama.com/page/s/volunteer>with the
national
campaign (particularly for Voter Protection
work<http://my.barackobama.com/counselforchange/>if you're a law
student or lawyer)!
*Please forward this blurb to anyone you think might be interested!*

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And, as always, get in touch with scott.anderson at yale.edu and
marisa.vansaanen at yale.edu if you have questions or want to get more
involved!

Sincerely,

Marisa and Scott
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