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TPM-aholics: The Best Guest Speaker Ever
Hi all,
Welcome to your Thursday morning brainstorming project.
For those of you who missed the previous posts, there's a group of us here at TPM who have decided to organize a Barack Obama house party fundraiser. (Note: although we'd originally planned for a June 14th event, we've now rescheduled to July 19th.) We've been trying to work with the campaign to arrange for a guest speaker, but at this point it appears that our event is on a much smaller scale then the events they are focused on at the moment. Therefore, we're exploring other avenues for bringing in interesting speakers.
So what do you think?
Is there anyone you'd be particularly interested in hearing from?
Is there anyone you have a connection to whom you'd be willing to contact (or put someone else in touch with)?
If you haven't yet joined the TPM-aholics group on my.barackobama.com and would like to, please do so. If you would like to host a house party for this event, please contact me or Genghis. (Really, it's not difficult at all -- and the party can be as small or large as you choose.)
Now, the fun part.
Here's a list of possible speakers to get the ball rolling.... (Note: Whether we can arrange to work with any of these people is still very much TBD. So don't get your hopes up to much, but go crazy with the brainstorming anyway!)
Staff...
David Plouffe
David Axelrod
Robert Gibbs
Austan Goolsbee
Chris Hughes (technology)
Jon Favreau (speech writer)
Paul Tewes (field staff)
Mitch Stewart (field staff)
Valerie Jarrett (sr. advisor, insider)
Names...
Tom Daschle
Howard Dean
Caroline Kennedy
Tim Kaine
Janet Napolitano
Gary Hart
Claire McCaskill
John Conyers
Dick Durbin
Geraldine Ferraro
Dick Cheney
This event is neither supported nor endorsed by Talking Points Memo.
Comments (64)
Just to explain for our new viewers: TPM members will hold simultaneous house parties during which there will be an online Q/A session with our TBD guest. So far, we have ten parties planned across the country and around the world. Please contact Paige or me if you can participate.
PS I vote for Cheney
June 12, 2008 12:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would like to hear any of the people listed, with the possible exception of Obama's cousin Dick, but I would consider a member of Obama's campaign staff to be the most awesomest of treats.
Genghis, can I assume you're hosting something in NYC? I would prefer to join you vs. having my own at my house. I guess I should RSVP at mybo.com.
June 12, 2008 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep. Benjoya, AM, and I will be hosting a party in Brooklyn.
June 12, 2008 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ferraro.
June 12, 2008 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cheney.
Sheesh, with 'masters' like these ...
June 12, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Names look great. What's the technology (Skype, ??)
Sorry if that's addressed elsewhere, but just wonderin'.
June 12, 2008 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Probably Skype, possibly a phone call-in number. Once we figure out the guest speaker(s), we'll lock that plan down so we can make sure it works the simplest way possible.
June 12, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
JOSH MARSHALL!!!
June 12, 2008 1:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eh, he's overrated.
June 12, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look who's talkin' Mr. Software...
Hey, how about Michelle?
June 12, 2008 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michelle would be awesome, but my understanding is that she's extremely difficult to get.
June 12, 2008 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about some of the TPM trolls?!
June 12, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
who knows...
June 12, 2008 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed. Always worth a shot. (We've been attempting to coordinate with the campaign, and specifically it seems like they are focused on using the superstars, which pretty much means Barack and Michelle, on larger-scale events.)
June 12, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seconded.
Andrew would be more fun, though.
June 12, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure how the fact that we're doing this as an election fundraiser impacts the ability of the TPM staff to participate. (Though if there is any way to include them, that would be fantastic.) Andrew, if you're still lurking, care to comment?
June 12, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah Andrew! You could bring Greg along.
Hee hee hee hee
June 12, 2008 9:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
how about samantha powers?
i'm serious. she's brilliant, a huge supporter, and you might actually have a chance at getting her to speak, since she's not fully & formally involved with the campaign any more.
June 12, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice suggestion, SPQR. I bet she'd have some fascinating things to say. As a non-campaign rep, I assume she'd be limited in talking about Barack's policies; I'm not sure how important that would be to us.
June 12, 2008 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Recommend, folks
3 ain't going no where.
June 12, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Done, Rec'd from work and here at home. Bumped us up to the front page at Election Central, I did.
workerbee, would you be interested in driving on down to Brooklyn and picking me up on the way? Otherwise, I will learn all about taking the trains to Brooklyn. Weeeeeee!!!!!
June 12, 2008 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
What the heck.It would be more fun to walk in together.
:)
Deal. My Bug is normally reliable (unless I'm late to an important meeting.
Brooklyn is insane, I think, a navigator would be a good thing.
I'll e-mail
June 12, 2008 9:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can tell you about trains and Brooklyn.
June 12, 2008 11:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ok, let me try to redirect this a little. In addition to specific people, above, what line of questions interest you folks the most?
* Campaign Insider stuff -- e.g. What's it like to work on the Obama campaign? what can you tell us about campaign strategy?
* Policy Discussions -- e.g., what should we do about N. Korea? What do you think about the real estate market?
* Party Insider stuff -- e.g., what's it like to be a super delegate?
* Personality stuff -- e.g., what's it like working with/hanging out with Barack?
June 12, 2008 6:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
If we're interested in "Party Insider stuff", why not ask Mr. Super to come to an event? He's been running a pretty interesting blog/website about being a super-delegate: http://mrsuper.org/
June 12, 2008 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
All four sound great. But it is useful to see it broken down like that may help with the brainstorming.
June 13, 2008 12:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Power to the people.
June 12, 2008 6:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen. :)
'Recommended!!!
June 12, 2008 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
But seriously, if NYC is a hub of this teleconference, then we could probably get Bob Kerrey down at The New School in the Village.
Or we could set up at a bar and have Christopher Hitchens give the keynote.
June 12, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are about 10 hubs so far (wherever we have a house party counts as a hub, though the Brooklyn one will probably be the biggest). We may only be working with a short slice of someone's time, in which case they wouldn't necessarily join us from the site of one of the house parties -- though I agree it would be very cool if we could arrange that.
June 12, 2008 8:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
CaliforniaPaige - I will try to get my San Fran buddies to join TPM. One of them is an amazing wordsmith, he'd just rather train his fire on sports than politics. But I'll try to get him out there at your meet-up. Even so, my CA buddies will definitely vote OBAMA all the way (still working on the Philly buddy... I doubt I can flip him...). :)
June 12, 2008 10:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great, WHB34! I was starting to feel lonely with all the New Yorkers talking about hanging out together. Good to hear we've got some west coast love.
June 12, 2008 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Only prob was Kerrey's "madrassa-educated Muslim" comment while he was a Hil supporter and how much f-raising he's going to do now for Obama.
June 16, 2008 8:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, isn't Hillary supposed to be workin' her ass off for Obama now? I'd like to have her come over to an event - she's got a little 'slpaining to do.
June 12, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the reason for including Geraldine Ferraro is...?
June 12, 2008 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Her uncanny political instincts
June 12, 2008 9:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Comic relief?
June 13, 2008 9:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm in and looking forward to it. Nice work.
June 12, 2008 8:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Glad to hear it, bslev! Do you have any preference regarding whom (or what type of person) you would be most interested to hear from?
June 12, 2008 10:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, in response to Genghis' admonition (I just joined his friggin' club and he's already bossing me around), I don't think we need to struggle to get a big name. I think it would be more productive and still interesting to hear from someone from the campaign who can provide an overview of the types of things we can involve ourselves with--locally and throughout the country--right on through Election Day. We can use the evening to have a good time and to organize ourselves.
Are we supposed to invite others?
June 12, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
So my interpretation of that is that you're more interested in a forward-thinking, election strategy discussion than a bigger picture policy one -- is that correct?
As far as inviting others, did you mean to the TPM group, or to the house parties? Everyone is welcome at the TPM group; with the house parties, it depends on the host. Sounds like the Brooklyn party will have a pretty big capacity; I'm planning to make the SF affair as inclusive as possible, though if there's a high demand, I may need to hold it somewhere other than my apartment(!). But more people is better in terms of raising funds, which is the purpose of this shindig.
June 12, 2008 10:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent!
[rubs hands together cunningly]
All part of my master plan. Soon, I will control the entire cafe!!! No one can stop me now. Except that pesky "Present." But I will triumph in the end. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!
June 13, 2008 10:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey folks, I'm going to try to help Paige redirect the conversation. While I always appreciate snark, we're also looking for serious suggestions, and we don't have many in the thread other than the original list. Who would interesting to speak to about the election campaign? It's a brainstorming session, so be innovative.
Also, if anyone has connections to someone who would be interesting to speak with, please contact Paige or me at my.barackobama.com.
June 12, 2008 9:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jeffrey Berman
June 12, 2008 10:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now that's what I'm talking about. Good suggestion.
June 12, 2008 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think I have any ideas. I would be excited to hear from anyone high up in the campaign. Anyone really. Even Ferraro. Okay, probably not, but I was a big fan when I was 7.
I went to an event last night for obamanyc.com and I told them about our event planning. I was trying to spread the word and see if anybody had interesting contacts.
Do we know the capacity of each location and what the cost will be? Also, I was told that items donated for a fundraising event (such as food) need to be documented as in-kind donations. I can get more information about this if it isn't something that the hosts are familiar with.
June 12, 2008 11:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
AM -- excellent questions. We don't yet know locations & capacities yet. The plan is "house parties," so, in theory, there shouldn't be an additional cost. (Or if you means donation amount, then the plan is a sliding scale, with a suggested donation somewhere around $25.)
And we haven't thought about documenting food, etc, so if you'd be willing to gather that info and share it, please do.
My thinking is to put together a (hopefully) simple packet for the hosts aprox. 2 weeks before the event that would include the technical information (how to call in or Skype in) and anything else important.
June 12, 2008 11:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Way cool. It'd be nice to crash an SF party. Outer Richmond here.
I wonder if SF Nancy would be up for stopping by. Or maybe even Cindy Sheehan ;-)
Campaign strategy sounds like a winner.
Damn! I regret having blown the opportunity to see Josh talk at Stanford a few weeks ago. Gettin' lazy with old age!
June 12, 2008 11:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I did mean donation about. $25 sounds good to me. I have been to several small events at bars that were $15 and it is so great to be able to contribute and participate without having to think too much about the money. Of course, there are other ways to raise money at events (raffles, auctions).
A woman at the event I was at last night (it was more of a planning meeting than an event) told me that there is a limit to $1000 per person for in-kind donations. Therefore, I don't think any of us are in danger of exceeding our limit, but we do need to play by the rules. What she said is that services provided (such as juggling. That was her example, not mine!) or in our case food preparation, pouring drinks, playing music would not count as any kind of a donation. But anything you actually purchase and use up at the event is considered in-kind donations and counts. Please someone correct me if I am not getting any of this right. I will look into it more and I am told there are forms online somewhere.
June 12, 2008 11:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Looks like the Obama campaign is having a house party event June 24th with Michelle and David Poluffe to speak via conference call. It's a women for Obama. Do you think we should try and coordinate with that one? We wouldn't be able to get better speakers than that.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/wfohouseparties/
June 12, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thought last night someone said something about house parties on the 28th. But maybe they meant 24th. There is so much going on. We can't compete for people like Michelle and Plouffe but we should be able to find someone interesting. If not, we can just have parties. People like parties.
June 12, 2008 11:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
This one looks good because of the speakers. A short while ago, around the time of changing the date, there was talk of trying to coordinate with a campaign event. I really doubt that anyone from the campaign would be able to appear without clearing it first. The one on the 24th however is on a Tuesday, which isn't the best day to have a party.
June 12, 2008 11:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
But might they be able to get it cleared even if it is for our event and not an official campaign event? I like the idea of us doing our own thing. Coordinating with the campaign or other groups sounds complicated. I do think we should use the campaign and other groups as resources (ideas, publicity, speaker connections) but do our own thing.
June 13, 2008 12:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Bademeus, thanks for the link. June 24th is a Tuesday, but the link says "Sunday, June 24th." I guess that they're still working on general election ramp-up challenges.
In any case, that date may be too close for planning our parties, and Women for Obama may not be the right party for those of who aren't women, but I expect there to be more parties that we could link up with if they seem appropriate.
I did receive an email about the June 28th Unite for Change meeting that AM mentions, but that's not a fundraiser, and there will no speaker.
June 13, 2008 1:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I guess this is what tI heard about on the 28th:
"Unite for Change On June 28th, join supporters across the nation and host a house meeting to bring your community together to unite for change."
How do you do block quotes?
Anyway, I see that these are planning meetings as opposed to parties. They are just also at people's houses.
June 13, 2008 12:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
check out benhocking's guide for how to do blockquotes, etc here:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/06/a-guide-for-users-of-tpm.php
June 13, 2008 3:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Check it out:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/actionguide
When you get to the link, click on "fundraise." I haven't read it all the way through yet.
June 13, 2008 12:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
See, if there were an edit function I could delete the last two posts and just put them all together. Instead I am just talking to myself here. From the action guide fundraising info I don't see anything about in-kind donations. Possibly the woman who told me about it was only referring to larger events or simply did not know what she was talking about. However, there is a lot of other good stuff there.
June 13, 2008 12:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
There were attempts to coordinate a campaign person to speak but the campaign people encouraged us (or the people who discussed this with them - was it Paige?) to join in with one of theirs. The problem with that is there isn't much notice. And apparently the dates aren't necessarily the best days.
June 13, 2008 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
We'll reengage with campaign now that they've started planning the national parties, but I think it makes sense to pursue alternatives simultaneously, especially given the late notice and poor timing of this party.
June 13, 2008 1:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is there a party host in Chicago? I think it would be interesting to have someone conference in that worked with Obama as an organizer.
June 13, 2008 1:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not yet. Chicago, where are you? (The people, not the city. I know where the city is.)
June 13, 2008 2:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm in Seattle, from Chicago though.
June 13, 2008 3:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks all, for the comments! Took a little while to get the water boiling, but I think we generated some great ideas.
June 13, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
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