Maidstone Weald Labour Party

Two local Labour prospective Parliamentary candidates who were in America helping Barack Obama’s campaign have arrived back in the UK, hailing his ‘inspirational’ election victory.
Chris Clark, Labour’s Parliamentary Spokesman for Ashford, and Dr Rav Seeruthun, Labour’s Parliamentary Spokesman for Maidstone and the Weald, arrived in the US two weeks before the election and were based in the key swing state of Florida.

Chris and Rav took part in the Florida Democratic Party’s efforts to ‘get out the vote’, knocking on doors and speaking with voters in the Tampa area.

The parliamentary candidates were guests of the Hillsborough Democratic Party and Susan Smith (centre of the picture attached). 

They also met with one of the many lawyers working for the Democrats in Florida. They were astounded about how complicated the ballot was, in total it was over four sides of A4 paper. The received a really positive response from the American public. They were really interested in how an Obama win will have a positive effect on the world. Their main challenge was not to get caught up in long conversations and to get on with the job of winning votes!

Chris said:

‘This has been an amazing experience. I’ve worked on lots of election campaigns in the UK but this was something else, an inspirational, defining moment, and it’s been an honour and a privilege to be involved. Knocking on doors in Florida, I sensed real excitement, a feeling that people are desperate for change. And being at the reception in Tampa on Tuesday night with hundreds of volunteers, who’ve all worked so hard, was special.’

‘The hopes of people around the world are invested in Barack Obama following this historic victory. From day one, he will have to take important and difficult decisions on the economy, on energy, on the environment and on foreign affairs. If there’s anyone who can meet that challenge and deliver the change we need, it’s Barack Obama.’

Rav said:

‘This is an event led by my generation doing something incredibly positive and I feel really proud of that. It’s been an absolute privilege to be part of history helping Barack Obama become the first black President of the United States. We have been doing everything we could to help this happen: we have knocked on doors in 90 degree heat, telephoned hundreds of voters and stood outside polling stations in the two hour queues for early voting encouraging people to support change.

We were lucky enough to see Obama and Bill Clinton speak together in Orlando. It was amazing to see the make up of the crowd, all ages, all races, all chanting ‘yes we can’. Obama is an inspirational figure and the right man for the America and the world. I remember doing speeches about Martin Luther King at school, and never thought that in my lifetime this would happen.

When we were out door knocking it was difficult to see that number of houses that had been foreclosed because of the credit crunch. Obama now has to prove himself and his first one hundred days will be key to this, he now has to ask what’s next?’

During the trip, Chris and Rav recorded their experiences on the campaign trail in an online weblog – it's online now at chrisandravinamerica.blogspot.com.

# posted by Labour : Sunday, November 09, 2008