Local Obama Supporters Prepare for Inauguration Trip
By Pasadena Independent
Published: Thursday, March 26th, 2009
(L-R) Julia Bailey, Robin Boone, Lonnee Hamilton, Laura Lee-Chin, Patrick O'Connor, Ralph Walker, Bryan Bowen and Bob Bowen.
On Tuesday night, a group of some of President-Elect Barack Obama’s first Pasadena-area supporters gathered at Zephyr Coffee and Art on Colorado Blvd. Two members of the group, Robin Boone and Ralph Walker are gearing up for their upcoming trip to Washington D.C for the inauguration.
The group, who has been meeting here at Zephyr since early 2007 when Obama first announced his candidacy, shared stories of how they had come together and tales of the long campaign trail that followed.
“What we’re seeing here at Zephyr – this is what has been going on all over the country. Washington has this way of wanting to run campaigns from the top down. But this campaign tapped into the grassroots momentum that we saw with Howard Dean’s campaign in 2004,” said Bryan Bowen of Pasadena.
The groups informal leader, the campaign button-clad Pasadena resident Mike Barako carried with him an original copy of a Los Angeles Times article, printed in 2007 after a reporter visited one of the group’s early meetings. The article, which featured a large photograph of Barako sitting in the very same seat a year and a half prior, was critical of the internet-born group’s ability to rally members and votes for the then relatively unknown candidate. The sense of satisfaction felt by the group, successful against all odds and opinion, was palpable as Walker, who also host’s KGEM’s Beyond the Headlines, presented them with commemorative copies of the article.
Related Posts:
- Local TV Network Offers Production Deal to Conan O’Brien
In response to the recent time slot shuffle and re-shuffle...
Comments
