SANTA CRUZ > Local chapter of President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign kicks off with a bake sale
In the days of unlimited, anonymous corporate cash funding the political campaigns of both major parties, what could be more folksy, community-based and transparent than a bake sale? Such is the reasoning of Harvey Dosik, a key organizer of the local chapter of Obama For America 2012, the president’s official re-election campaign organization.
While nodding to the conventional wisdom that California is considered a solidly blue state in the upcoming presidential election, and will probably not see the flood of television advertising that will saturate “battle ground” states, Dosik says there is still much for local volunteers to do to help President Barack Obama get reelected, starting with baking or buying some cookies at the “Bake For Barack” tables that will be set up across the county on Saturday, June 30.
“Tabling is a way to create relationships, to talk one-on-one with people, and we’ve been tabling all over the county for many weeks,” Dosik says. Dosik is expecting nothing less than widespread “spontaneous participation” across the county with the Bake for Barack event. “I’m expecting at least a dozen or so tables in strategic locations around town on June 30,” Dosik says, ”with several others hopefully just jumping in and spreading the word of the campaign.”
Dosik explains that California is surrounded by “swing/battleground states” in which he expects Santa Cruz volunteers in the Obama For America 2012 campaign will engage in some serious, person-to-person phone banking to encourage voter turnout among Democrats and Independents in critical states as November draws near. When that time comes, Dosik and others are planning on actually walking some critical precincts in Nevada. The “war chest” of funding expected from the bake sale will support these and other grassroots efforts as the re-election campaign progresses.
One of the bake sale’s enthusiastic participants is Carole English.
“Every Republican vote is a decision to remove my human rights, jeopardize my health, takeover decisions about my woman’s body and threaten Social Security benefits,” says English. ”This is all obvious in my opinion. Obama has my vote and I’m willing to help raise the money needed to get him re-elected.”
English will be selling homemade, gluten-free brownies in front of Logos Books on Pacific Ave from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday. “Come buy some yummies,” English says, “and help us re-elect a really good President-—Barack Obama.”
Citing the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited corporate donations to “super pacs” as particularly onerous in this election, Dosik points to the recent defeat of Proposition 29, the tobacco tax initiative, as a clear example of the power of “outside, corporate money buying political outcomes with TV ads.”
Dosik explains that when the statewide measure was first announced, polls showed about 67 percent of voters supported the proposed tax on tobacco, but the “anti-tax” TV ad campaign with accusations that the tax revenue could be spent out-of-state seem to win the day for its defeat. “If corporate sponsors can defeat such a common sense measure like Prop. 29,” Dosik says, “think what they can do in their efforts to buy the presidency.”
Dosik is passionate about what he feels is at stake in the upcoming presidential election. “After all is said and done,” Dosik says, “after all the millionaires and billionaires have spent their money discrediting the president, come November, there will be two names on the ballot. For me, I think this is the last stand for democracy in America. This is the election that will decide whether corporate America or the people will decide the direction of the country.”
