Hello SNFO Members

[Lisa Beyer]

Hello,

My name is Lisa Beyer, and I have lived in Vegas since March of 2002, with the exception for 10 months of 2006 when I lived in Chicago. I am in the southwest area, precinct 6475.

I grew up in New Orleans where I lived off and on for the majority of my life. I have a bachelors degree in business management and a masters degree in business administration. I was employed with Harrah's Entertainment from March 1995 to February 2007 when my position was one of hundreds eliminated through a corporate reduction in force. The career with Harrah's is what brought me to Las Vegas, and I really enjoy living here.

My interests include water skiing, snow skiing, scuba diving, wine tasting, and travel. I have been fortunate to travel to more than 20 countries, and I enjoy learning about other people and their cultures.

In terms of my prior political involvement, I shudder to think back to my early voting years when I simply voted the way people close to me voted without really knowing the candidates or the issues. In the last 8+ years, I have been so disappointed with the track the country was progressing on, I took the initiative to become more educated and active on the issues we face as a nation, thereby becoming a much better voter.

In the 2004 presidential election, I went to rallies and attended house parties for the Democratic candidate, but I was not involved in volunteering for the campaign. For the 2008 presidential election, I am far more passionate about the election than any other time in my life, primarily because I am so excited about Barack Obama as a candidate.

I had not heard of Barack until the fall of 2006. The first time I recall seeing Barack was on TV on December 28, 2006 when the Oprah Winfrey show replayed the episode titled Barack Obama on the Tough Questions that had originally aired on October 18. I was very impressed when Barack shared his vision for the future and his message of hope to disillusioned Americans. Wow! What rock had I been living under not to have heard of this sincere, compassionate, intelligent, honest, and well-spoken senator?

On February 22, 2007, Oprah appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Speaking on Ellen DeGeneres' chat show, Winfrey admits, "I'm feeling Barack." She continues, "I don't just love him. I respect him. I think he's a fresh new voice in politics. I think what he can do for this country would be amazing."

(Note: I am not one of those Oprah viewers who believe that she is "perfect" or who follows her every move. In this instance, I am simply grateful that both Oprah's and Ellen's shows introduced me to Barack so I could go on to educate myself about his background and experience.)

In March 2007, I became involved at MyBarackObama.com (MYBO), and I signed up for my first event to attend a Barack Obama information party at AJ's house since he lives in the community right next to mine. Hearing Barack speak at the Iowa town hall meeting, I was impressed with his stance on the wide range of issues that are impacting our country these days. The list of issues that cause me to support Barack is so long, I won't try to list them all here in this post, but suffice it to say that his talk on March 31 affirmed my belief that he is THE candidate who I can whole-heartedly endorse and support to be the next leader for our country.

In April, I was amazed with Barack once again when he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman on the 9th. Dave tried to get Barack to mud sling at other Democratic candidates, and I was impressed with how Barack stayed above the fray by answering the questions in a positive way indicating that he would not engage in a negative smear campaign that is the norm in US politics these days.

I became more involved with the campaign in April when I attended the Las Vegas HQ Organizational Meeting on the 14th and the Las Vegas HQ Office Grand Opening featuring National Campaign Director David Plouffe on the 19th. On the 16th, I participated in the first national Women for Obama conference call with Michelle Obama. I also joined several MYBO groups, including:

• *1,000,000 Americans for Obama*
• Las Vegas/Southern Nevada for Obama
• Nevada Women for Obama
• Nevadans 4 Obama
• Southern Nevada for Obama
• Women for Obama

I was out of town in May, but as soon as I returned, I became active again by attending the Las Vegas event on June 1 when Barack spoke at Silverado High School. On the 13th, I went to the Nevada Women for Obama kick-off with Michelle Obama at the Cambridge Community Center, and I was at Vegas HQ on the 24th for the Women for Obama conference call with Michelle Obama and Campaign Manager David Plouffe. If you haven't had the opportunity to see Barack or Michelle in person, I highly recommend taking advantage of future opportunities to join conference calls or attend local events when they return to the Las Vegas area.

In July, I attended my first SNVO event at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino for 'Lunch and a Movie' to see the new Michael Moore movie SiCKO. After the movie, I saw a post on BarackObama.com about whether or not Barack accepts funding from the health care lobby. Questions were back and forth, but no one took time to research the web for the answers. Wanting the answers myself, I searched the web and found several informative sites that answered the questions in great detail. In the spirit of sharing information, I posted a response with links to the information, and I realized that the SNVO members who saw SiCKO may also be interested in the information (see that post here: Sicko: Lobby Money to Legislators). Thus began my foray as a very active poster in the Barack in the Media forum. I am passionate about educating myself and sharing that information with SNVO members so that our site offers a "1-stop shop" to visit for the latest news and media coverage on Barack and the campaign. I encourage SNVO members to get active in the forum by submitting thoughts and questions on the articles posted and by posting new links to other articles.

AJ has done a lot of great work on the site! Have you checked out the new calendar yet? There are so many ways to get involved here, and many opportunities will be available in the near future to be active by volunteering to participate in events with the ultimate goal of high turn out at the January 19 caucus in each and every precinct in favor of Barack.

If we haven't met yet, I look forward to meeting you at future SNVO events. In the interim, I encourage SNVO members to link as my new friends at MYBO and My Space. My display name on MYBO is Lisa Beyer and the address for My Space page is http://www.myspace.com/megaptera1969

I am excited and passionate about being an active SNVO member and working with the group to Barack The Vote and sweep the Las Vegas caucus in favor of Barack on January 19, 2008!
_________________
Lisa Beyer
Media Chair, Media & Blogging Committee

"World Change Starts with Educated Children. We're all about results! Together, we are changing the world through the lifelong gift of education." -John Wood, Room to Read, www.roomtoread.org