Like all the other candidates, Senator Obama is well aware of the first quarter fundraising deadline at midnight tonight.  A few weeks ago, the campaign announced a March 31st event that would be webcast live from Iowa, and encouraged people to sign up on www.barackobama.com to host house parties where people could gather to watch the live webcast.  Since no-one else seems to have diaried on this topic, I will report my experiences for those who are interested, and invite others to share theirs in the comments.

When Senator Obama announced his candidacy a mere two and half weeks ago (seems a lot longer) I logged on to www.barackobama.com and set up a profile.  I’m new to social networking sites, but I  figured out most of the tools and their intended uses.  The volunteer page of the site spells it out clearly:  "This campaign can only succeed if you take its future into your own hands.  We’ve started to provide many of the tools for you to do just that."  In other words, start organizing!  I joined several groups on the site, including "Kalamazoo for Obama," "Roman Catholics for Obama," and "Cats for Obama."  I made some "friends" and decided to "Create an Event."  My event was an organizing meeting at my home for people in the area to get acquainted and start talking about how to help Barack get the nomination.  That meeting was tonight.  Read about it below the fold.

If anyone deserves to be heckled, it is our Current Occupant.  Since he usually only appears before military crowds and other hand-picked audiences of true believers, he stays pretty well insulated from the rage that his policies have created.  It's so gratifying to see someone able to break through.