Obama Campaign Blasts into Riverside, Opens Local Headquarters

One year ago, Cuauhtemoc "Temo" Figueroa, an Inland Empire native and former staffer for Congressman George Brown (D-32nd), was sitting down with a Black man with a funny name trying to decide if he would sign onto his campaign. Today Temo is the National Field Director for Barack Obama 2008, a campaign that is seeing tremendous support in both Iowa and New Hampshire, the two earliest primary states in the country.

Momentum is starting to build in California and the campaign has made a commitment that Senator Obama will make a visit to the Inland Empire. "The Obama For America campaign will open the Riverside headquarters on Sunday January 13, from 1 to 3 p.m. at 3555 Market Street," said Jose Medina, the Coordinator for the 44th Congressional District from the campaign trail. Medina will return from Iowa late Friday.

"This campaign is going to shock the world!" said Figueroa in a phone interview just before the Iowa Caucuses. "We feel incredibly positive. There is a lot of excitement and we are seeing record breaking crowds. This week there was a school gymnasium where 1000 people gathered in the middle of nowhere. Obama is going to change the world," he said.

"There is something about the character of Obama. He was a community organizer in Chicago going into people's homes for three years. In the snow, and in the sun he worked tirelessly. He listened to the people and knows what they want. I looked at this history, his experience, his message of change, the work he had done with the unions in Chicago and when Michelle Obama sat down with me it sealed the deal. They are phenomenal!" an enthusiastic Figueroa said.

This excitement is carrying over to the Inland Empire. "You should see this," said Medina who is working the final days of the Iowa Caucus.

"Everything is going well here, workers from California are knocking on doors and phoning," he continued.

Figueroa said that once the people see how well Obama does in Iowa and New Hampshire they will continue to build and South Carolina is around the corner. When people see him do so well there Nevada is next. "Grandparents are taking their grandkids to meet him! History is being made," he said.

"We are aggressively spending time and effort in communities all over California. California's electoral votes are the grand prize. We are going to fight like heck for the votes there. A pivitol part of winning California is winning in the Inland Empire," he said. They are the only campaign with a local door to door phone bank operation. Once Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina is closed the staff is going to pack up and move to California. Will the candidate be in the Inland Empire? "Obama will be in the Inland Empire, it will happen," said Figueroa.

If you want to be part of the campaign, sign up on the website BarackObama.com or call Jose Medina at (909) 645-3567.