The First Post Inauguration Email

Friend --

When Barack Obama was declared our 44th President, you didn't just revel in that victory -- you started asking what's next for this movement.

How is this unprecedented group of volunteers, grassroots leaders, and dedicated supporters going to help make change a reality?

More than half a million people shared their thoughts and ideas about moving forward, and we listened carefully. Last week, President Obama announced the creation of Organizing for America -- a group that will work alongside the President to support the agenda you fought so hard for.

You can be part of its first steps.

Watch a short video message I recorded with Mitch Stewart, Executive Director of Organizing for America, and learn more about this new organization you helped build.

http://my.barackobama.com/neworganization

You've already invested in the future of this country -- whether you voted, donated money, helped organize your local community, or got involved in countless other ways.

But right now, your participation in the political process is more important than ever. We'll soon be asking you to give whatever time or talent you can to support the President. With your help, we can bring change to Washington and the entire nation.

I look forward to working with you in the months and years ahead.

Thank you,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Now they stop calling me "Jason" at the beginning of the emails. It kind of hurts.

A Call to Service

Finally an email that showcases the positive things that Obama's email database can achieve.

One week from today, on January 19th, Barack and I will join thousands of people all across the country for an extraordinary day of service.

I recorded a short video to tell you more about this important effort. Please take a minute to watch it and sign up to host or attend a service event near you.

Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds are committing to renew America together, one community at a time.

Whatever service activity you organize or take part in -- cleaning up a park, giving blood, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or mentoring an at-risk youth -- you can help start this important journey. But this is about more than just a single day of service, it's the beginning of an ongoing commitment to your community.

Monday, January 19th, is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. King taught us to live a life of service, and he led by example. He once said:

"If you want to be important -- wonderful. If you want to be recognized -- wonderful. If you want to be great -- wonderful. But, recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness."

Barack and I will be volunteering in Washington, D.C., our new home. I hope you'll join us by taking part in this national call to service in your community:

http://www.USAservice.org/calltoservice

It will take ordinary citizens working together with a common purpose to get this country back on track. This national day of service is an important first step in our continuing commitment.

Now is the time to remind all Americans what ordinary people can accomplish when we stand together.

Thank you,

Michelle


This is what they should be doing instead of asking for money after a long campaign and the economy in free fall: asking people to give of themselves. I'm all for this and will probably try to do something.

Comparing the Cost of Obama's Inauguration to Past Inaugurals

All of these emails about the Obama Inauguration have gotten me curious about the cost of the event to taxpayers and from donations to the Presidential Inaugural Committee. So I decided to do a very rudimentary Google search and see what I could find out. Here goes.

First of all there is this link, which tells about some of the costs of Bush's 2004 Inaugural and Tractor Pull:

The Presidential Inaugural Committee has said putting on the inaugural events will cost about $40 million, which is being raised from private donors -- more than half of them corporations that gave as much as $250,000 each -- as well as sales of tickets and merchandise.

In addition, the federal government and District of Columbia will bear the costs of providing security, expected to be around $20 million.

Some critics have questioned spending millions on inauguration festivities in a time of war and after the devastation of December's tsunami in South Asia. But organizers insist that the pageant is an appropriate celebration of American democracy.

"We're a nation at war, but we do believe it's important, through privately raised money, [that] we ought to go forward with the inaugural festivities," said Dan Bartlett, White House communications director.

Organizers have included a number of events to honor military personnel, including Thursday night's Commander in Chief Ball, which is expected to draw 2,000 troops.

"The president made it clear that he wanted to pay special tribute in a special way to those armed forces -- men and women -- who put their lives on the line every day, with particular emphasis on the war on terror," said Greg Jenkins, the inaugural committee's executive director

Some more digging showed me this about Clinton's 1996 Inaugural and Orgy (featuring Fleetwood Mac!)- it's a brief snippet of an article, but some of the pertinent numbers are there.

While organizers of President Clinton's second inaugural have touted next month's celebration as smaller and less expensive than the 1993 extravaganza, the cost borne by taxpayers will be the highest ever, according to White House records.

This taxpayer expense was not highlighted at a recent briefing by inaugural organizers, who focused instead on the strict standards imposed this time for collecting private donations for "cheaper" parties and other special events.

But according to budgets provided by the White House and Congress -- and not including the undisclosed inaugural budget of the Secret Service -- the public cost is at least $12.7 million.

This year's festivities are promising to be bigger than any other's on record. How big? Well this blog entry from CNN.com goes into some detail about the money being asked for by Washington D.C. for security alone.

"Even though we're very practiced at inaugurations and large events, this is one that will rewrite the book on inaugurations," said the Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC, who has requested an additional $15 million from Congress to help the city cover costs. That would double the $15 million Congress has already allocated to pay for all national events and demonstrations in Washington during 2009.

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty agreed costs for increased security and crowd control would dwarf the original allocation. And for a city facing a budget shortfall and the same economic downturn affecting the rest of the country, now is not the time to rack up debt, Fenty told CNN.

"We are in talks with the federal government as we sit here today to let them know — I think they already know that that's not enough," he said, referring to the $15 million already allocated. "Now the question is if you want to make sure that you cross every 't' and dot every 'i', it does look like it's going to be significantly more than that."

Fenty predicted costs for the city would run close to $50 million, the same amount Congress provided to both Denver and St. Paul, Minnesota to host the Republican and Democratic conventions earlier this year.

From what I'm gathering about this Inauguration, the security costs for Clinton's '96 party, Bush's '04 shindig, and Obama's '09 love fest look like this:

• Clinton: $12.7 million
• Bush: $20 million
• Obama: $30 million (projected)

That's a lot of money. But the real money begins to pile up not in the cost of the security, but in the cost of the actual Inauguration and the festivities that accompany it, which are paid for (in part) by the Presidential Inauguration Committee. The numbers look like this:

• Clinton: It's not specified, but from the sound of that article it was a smaller party than the '92 Inaugural.
• Bush: $40 million
• Obama: unknown as of yet, but I imagine it will be bigger than Bush's in '04

I want to be fair about this next part, so I'm going to play it safe and assume for a second Obama's Inauguration costs the same $40 million that Bush's did in '04. That puts the total cost for this Inauguration at around $70 million, and that's being conservative.

$70 million dollars. That's a ton of money. Granted, I didn't account for inflation, and Bush and Obama's security costs are going to be significantly higher than Clinton's due to our Post 9/11 fear fest, but still $70 million dollars.

$70 million for a party that most Americans aren't going to be able to go to. Oprah and Bill Gates will be able to go. Michael Stipe and Bono will be there. Us poor people? We'll read about it in Star Magazine eating cake. Let us eat cake.

More later.

Now the muscle comes in

Because Barack is the ultimate good cop, we need a bad cop to come in and threaten us with a phone book and a plunger. That man is David Plouffe.

Jason --

I wanted to take a minute to reinforce Barack's message.

We wouldn't be preparing to celebrate this historic inauguration if it weren't for you. But the deadline to get your ticket to history is just a few hours away.

Time and again you have stepped up to support this movement in inspiring ways. Now you can help give this administration a strong start.

Ten supporters and their guests will be selected to come to Washington, D.C., and attend the welcome ceremony, the swearing in, the Inaugural Parade, and the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

Will you make a donation of $25 or more before midnight tonight? You could be a part of the inaugural events.

You believed in Barack's message of change and helped build the grassroots movement that made history.

No matter where you are on Inauguration Day, we'll all come together and remember why we put so much work into making this happen.

Thank you for everything,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

P.S. -- You can be part of this moment without making a donation. Participate by telling us in your own words what this inauguration means to you. Learn more now:

https://donate.pic2009.org/tickettohistory

This is getting obnoxious.

Now the biggest gun of them all is here.

Jason --

On January 20th, our journey to bring change will officially begin.

We're organizing the most open and accessible Inauguration in our nation's history. And we're doing it without contributions from Washington lobbyists or big corporations.

Just like we did on the campaign, we're relying entirely on supporters like you -- ordinary people giving whatever they can afford to make this an event for all Americans.

I know we've asked a lot of you. But changing the way business is done in Washington will take a commitment from all of us. Right now, you can help give this administration a strong start.

And if you make a donation of any amount before midnight tonight, you could be selected to come to Washington, D.C., and be part of the welcome ceremony, the swearing in, the Inaugural Parade, and the Inaugural Community Ball.

Will you make a donation of $25 or more and be part of the historic moment you made possible?

We have a long road ahead of us, and we're going to face some major challenges as soon as we start. But I know I can count on you every step of the way.

Thank you for everything you've done and happy New Year,

Barack

P.S. -- You could be there for this historic moment even if you cannot make a donation. You can show your support by sharing what this Inauguration means to you. Learn more here:

https://donate.pic2009.org/tickettohistory

I still don't understand how giving the Obama Inaugural my money will help get the Administration "of to a strong start". Will someone smarter than I am explain that to me? I thought trouncing McCain and providing the strongest mandate for a President since 1996 was enough, but now apparently getting Gallagher to smash fruit all over Washington insiders in rented tuxes is what needs to happen. Maybe Gallagher aims at Republicans and Democrats who don't want to play ball.

Now they've brought out wifey!

Jason --

Last week, the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced that we're bringing 10 supporters to Washington, DC for several days of Inaugural celebrations.

With the deadline coming up on Thursday, I'm pleased to announce the selection of the first grassroots supporter who will be attending the Inauguration.

Cynthia Russell from Newberry, Florida, and her guest will attend the welcome ceremony, Barack's swearing-in, the Inaugural Parade, and our Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

Cynthia is a builder and has been feeling the impact of the recent economic crunch. She wrote:

"I'm a single woman who has been building homes for over 18 years. I've supported myself and have been able to help out my mother from time to time. Now I find myself wondering how much longer I can hold on and be able to pay my bills and keep the doors open for business. Barack gives me hope. Hope that 2009 will truly bring change to Americans who find themselves in this mess with me."

We need to select 9 more supporters like Cynthia, and I would love for you to be one of them.

Can you make a donation of $25 or more before midnight on Thursday, January 8th?

Supporters like you made this historic moment possible.

You gave your passion and hard work to this movement, and you brought millions of new people into the political process. Thanks to you, this campaign was open to more people than any in history, and we're counting on you to do the same for the Inauguration.

You could be there to celebrate your amazing accomplishments and give a strong start to the change you fought so hard for.

Please make a donation of $25 or more and help us celebrate everything you did to make this day possible:

https://donate.pic2009.org/tickettohistory

Nothing could be better than having you there to be a part of this historic event.

Thank you for everything you've done to bring us to this moment,

Michelle

P.S. -- The opportunity to be part of this historic event is open to everyone, regardless of whether you make a donation. Participate now by telling us what this Inauguration means to you.

Now they've brought out the heavy hitters. The campaign is one thing, David Plouffe is another, but Michelle? I love her.

Another Plea for Cash!

Jason --

Thanks to you, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden will take their oaths of office in just 17 days.

You helped shape history, and now you can be a part of it.

Ten supporters and their guests will be selected to come to Washington, D.C. for several days of inaugural events. You could be chosen to fly to Washington, attend the welcome ceremony, the Inaugural parade, the swearing-in, and an official Inaugural ball.

Will you donate $25 or more now? You could be part of the historic events you made possible.

This inauguration will be open to hundreds of thousands of people. To do that, it takes unprecedented resources.

In the past, inaugurations have been funded by lobbyists and corporations making six-figure contributions. Like our campaign, this inauguration is going to be different. But that means, once again, Barack and Joe need to ask you for your help.

Supporters like you made this possible, and with your help Barack and Joe will run their administration without the influence of big money from Washington lobbyists or special interests. Funding the Inauguration this way is another example of the change you helped bring to Washington.

It's up to you, at this crucial moment, to make the Inauguration a success and give change a strong start.

Will you make a donation of $25 or more now for the opportunity to join Barack and Joe at the beginning of this historic journey to change our country?

https://donate.pic2009.org/tickettohistory

Thank you for your extraordinary efforts throughout the campaign.

Happy New Year,

Obama for America

P.S. -- You can participate without donating. We recognize this day is as important as it is historic, and we want to hear in your words what this inauguration means to you.

Now the big party is crucial.

It's up to you, at this crucial moment, to make the Inauguration a success and give change a strong start.

They've got to show the Republicans that Democrats throw the best parties. If they don't, then they have already lost the ideological war in Washington.

I know this is essentially a raffle, but something about this just makes me mad. I voted for Obama, I worked for the campaign, I made long impassioned blog posts about him, but this whole thing just reeks, and I don't know why. His people keep sending emails asking people that are broke for money to essentially host a tea party. People have told me that this tea party is part of his job, and I say it isn't. His job is to lead by example. A lot of rhetoric out there is for Americans to tighten their belts, well what about doing a subdued inauguration?