Across the nation, over 4200 Change is Coming house meetings were organized for supporters of Barack Obama  to reflect on this monumental journey and plan on how they can bring change to both Washington and their own communities.

I attended a meeting organized by Jane Rowe, here in Virginia Beach on December 14th, 2008. Her meeting was one of at least two that were scheduled in Virginia Beach, and there were 10 supporters in attendance. Admittedly, I was surprised that there weren’t more meetings, and larger meetings. Virginia Beach, as the largest city in Virginia, should have had greater participation. Perhaps, as the call for these meetings to be held was entirely web based, many weren’t aware that they were taking place.

Topics of conversation during the meeting bounced from the economy, to energy prices, to the wars we are currently fighting, to possible service projects to be done within Virginia Beach, and then back through the cycle again. There was no shortage of strong opinions, predictions, and debate in this small group. However, one thing was very clear: we wanted change, we voted for change, and we are optimistic about the possibility for change.

There was a point during the meeting where each in attendance introduced themselves, what they did for a living, and the issues important to them. One gentleman was laid off last year and is now self-employed. He is concerned about the costs of his health insurance, as he is paying more for the coverage and getting a lot less than the plan we had when he was employed by his former company. Another is a CPA who is concerned about how our economy is being managed, and how the decisions of the government are interrelated and that any real change is going to require being all the pieces together. There was a woman who is retired, and on a fixed income and had lost money when the market down-turned. Another woman is finding it difficult to get a permanent job, and just accepted employment as a seasonal tax preparer. She’s also going through a divorce, but can’t sell her house due to the difficult housing market.  There was a couple who were concerned about the the lack of benefits being given to veterans, he being a veteran himself. A retired social worker stressed her belief that health care was a right that all should have access to. As we went around everyone shared their different perspective on the issues important to them, and how they thought things could be better.

While everyone felt that a President Obama is going to be a major improvement over President Bush, there was a level of cautious optimism. Many felt that the depth of the issues our nation faces currently will take more than four years to work through, and expressed that a second term would likely be needed before we saw any real progress. This of course, is not an argument that will be easily made with voters on the fence in 2012, who may see Obama are not having accomplished anything during his first term if this turns out to be the case.

Part of the purpose of the house meeting was to gather feedback from attendees and suggestions for the Obama transition and future administration. The Obama-Biden transition project had e-mailed an online survey to supporters, which gathered information on the political experience of supporters, issues important to them, their opinions about the Obama campaign, and offered supporters to express openly their comments and concerns to the transition team. Only 3 of the 10 in attendance at the meeting had completed the survey.

While such meetings as these Change is Coming house meetings are good in that it keeps supporters in touch with each other and could provide some positive outcomes of communities where these meetings are held, the focus of the meeting I attended seemed to focus too much on complex issues on the national and international level, rather than on the issues and campaigns locally. Only 1 out of the 10 in attendance had been involved in a campaign prior to Obama’s campaign for the presidency. This certainly is evidence of the ability of Obama to inspire people to contribute and volunteer. However, I had hoped that the momentum created by Obama’s campaign and victory would spill over to elections closer to home. From the discussion that occurred at this meeting, I now understand that this isn’t a given.

Overall, the house meeting was an opportunity for a small group to reconnect with a campaign they were passionate about. This may be the only thing that was accomplished; but, even in doing that, it was worth it.

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