Ryan's birthday

Yesterday was Ryan’s 35th birthday. In the morning he opened his present (a book about sake) and went to work. In the evening we met at Temple University to attend a lecture and after came home to enjoy cheesecake and zinfandel with friends. The lecture we attended was titled “How Obama won the election” and was given by corporate executive Skipp Orr who worked on the campaign as part of the foreign policy team. He is the former president of Boeing Japan and now the chairman of the Panasonic Foundation and was a major fundraiser in the campaign. His lecture was divided into two main talking points. First, showing the electoral results by state for key elections in the last century that demonstrates the unique element in American politics that power swings. This is not the case in Japan. Second, based on his opinion, he detailed the top ten factors that positively impacted the results of the Obama campaign. While all points were insightful, one of the most interesting pertained to Obama’s win in Iowa. Before Iowa, the African American community had not yet solidified support for Obama. Iowa is a state with a mostly white population. Winning Iowa proved legitimacy to the African American voters that he is able to reach across race lines. After Iowa, the support from the African American community increased. He also talked about the widespread fundraising efforts and how around the world Americans were energized. In fact, he ran a call center from Kamakura Japan. A true grass roots effort that accomplished unprecedented fundraising success. He concluded by explaining that this historical event has inspired a movement of change. As an example, within the past month the Green party, one of Germany's main political parties, has elected the son of Turkish immigrants to its top political post, the first time any party in Germany has chosen a leader with an immigrant background.