In case you haven't figured it out already, on this site, you can put your face on an Obama campaign poster.
Why did we make this? The short answer is: This is the first political campaign in our lifetime where even self-professed "a-politicals" feel either compelled by anger or inspired by hope to not only "participate" in the political process, but take a real stand. With this site, we hope to create a tangible, visual artifact of the people behind the check-writing and volunteering and put faces to those who are "bringing change to Washington."
In my junior year government class, I read about how lawyers and judges and farmers and craftsmen rushed to local pubs and meeting halls to read the latest Federalist paper.
It was hard to believe. Was it simply the novelty of democracy that made arcane discourse on states' rights downright titillating? 200 years later, are Americans taking the privilege of living "free" for granted?
In my lifetime, the narrative has always been, "Americans are apathetic, disillusioned, if not downright disgusted with politics (and especially politicians)." Earnest excitement over someone running for office was pure naivete, or worse a symptom of narrow-minded adherence to party dogma.
The refrain went something like, "Government is irrelevant to daily reality. Any given individual's vote doesn't matter. At the end of the day, our so-called democracy is comprised of special interests, big business and whoever screams loudest. Let them battle it out."
Caught in a self-fulfilling prophecy, cynicism about American democracy was threatening to undermine democracy itself.
It's hard to imagine "The Federalist Papers" drumming up so much excitement today. Or is it?
More than 2 million individuals have donated to the Obama campaign. Then there are the self-organizing Obama house parties, the persistent scarcity of Obama signs and pins, and the busloads of volunteers pouring into the increasing list of battleground states.
This is more than mild interest.
This is a veritable renaissance of civic life.
Millions of Americans aren't simply participating in the political process. They're taking a real stand. Jumping into the political fray.
No matter what happens on November 4th, the mere fact of the Obama campaign gives hope that American democracy is very much alive, if in need of reform and renewal.
This site was created by Katie Capps-Parlante and Mimi Yin, with help and bagels from Nick Parlante. We are not affiliated with the Obama-Biden campaign.
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