via Los Angeles and New Orleans.
(Photos © J. Maus)
Local news outlets are reporting that Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, is headed to Portland.
No specific details about his visit have been announced but he’s expected to be in Portland later this week.
Sen. Obama delivered a rousing speech to a packed Memorial Coliseum during his last visit to Portland back in March.
Obama is expected to do very well in Oregon — and especially Portland since he’s the only candidate so far who has mentioned bicycles in an official policy statement (a fact that was first uncovered right here in Portland).
Which brings me to the spoke cards…
The other day I got a call from Yosi Sergant, a publicist from Los Angeles (and founder of an Obama volunteer group). Yosi wondered if I’d be interested in helping him distribute some Obama spoke cards. I said yes, and a few days later 2,000 of them were sitting on my doorstep.
The image is based on a stencil created by Margaret Coble, an artist who was forced out of New Orleans after Katrina and is now living in Kentucky (learn more about Margaret and her work at ArtByMags.com).
If you’d like a spoke card, go to ObamaSpoke.com. They’re $1 and Yosi says all proceeds go toward making more cards.
If you’re in Portland, I’ll be having some friends help distribute the cards at events around town. If you’d like to receive them in bulk to put at your place of business, drop Yosi a line at yosi [at] emgpr [dot] com.
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UPDATE: You can pick up a few spoke cards at the following Portland locations:
— Black Sheep Bakery (833 SE Main St., weekdays early AM – 3:00)
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What is it we are supposed to believe in?
Bikes for Barack!
I want me some spoke card! Spoke tension be damned!
if believe is too tough a concept… then maybe… understand.
understand that Obama is THE ONLY candidate with a strong BIKE policy.
From his website:
As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.\”
otherwise, believe in the power of we. believe in the power of change… of hope… of progress…
and while you are at it…
well, felix, i\’m wanting to believe in a guy who refused to pander on the \”gas tax holiday\” thing at a time when he really could have used 2 points more support from rural indiana blue collar drivers.
Believe that our long national nigthmare is almost over…
So you guys still believe the president is elected and has any idea wtf is really going on. Right.
the spoke card is a metaphor for how long the nomination process will go on for Obama: round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows.
believe is the new fragrance by britney spears.
\”So you guys still believe the president is elected and has any idea wtf is really going on. Right.\”
Please explain what you mean by this.
Believe in proper grammar.
I get it… They cost MONEY
Believe that America can do better.
oh i\’m so on that spoke card! sweeeet!
There is also a sticker for your car window with a Warhol esq. image of Obama and the word \”Hope\”.
The marketing campaign is all about beliving in a movement, but where is that movment going? Why doesn\’t the card say \”hope for health care\” or \”hope not to get a flat tire\”? The campaign is designed to create a feeling of change from the Bush\’s and Clinton\’s without having to articulate what that change is.
Personally, I prefer a little meat in my politics, so I know what leader stands for. I like a person with some history I can look at to see what have they stood up for and how they did it. Obama feels fresh and new because he is a state senator from illinois with 3 years on the national scene. Should we vote for Kate Brown for President too. At least she was majority leader and crafted alot of public policy.
This type of marketing defines the sheep from the thinkers. Be a thinker and put a card on your bike that really says something.
Mine Says:
\”I share the Road\”
\”Bike not Bombs\”
\”I love salmon and I vote\”
\”I \’heart\’ Portland\”
What do yours say?
It\’s pretty clear what Hillary stands for– a Shell Oil lobbyist is her point man for her gas tax holiday. Wow, we never saw that coming, did we?
Actually, yes we did. On the heels of botching her health care reform– Oh what a fighter she was when it counted– she became the second-largest recipient of dollars from the health insurance lobby. But I\’m sure we can all rest comfortably knowing that the health insurance lobby has funded her so handsomely because they believe that THIS time, she will break their stranglehold on universal access to health care.
Well, if you might have a few doubts about the veracity of her claims to be the champion of the common person, and you\’re not sure what Obama stands for, you can always take a look at his website, where he tells you where he stands on the issues…
Mine says \”Rainy days and automatic weapons get me down\”
Hmmm, my bike stickers say:
\”Race Cyclocross\”
\”If you were biking, you\’d be happy by now\”
\”BTA\”
And a few other stickers that I do not recall.
I\’m all over getting a Barack spoke card, or better yet, just roll with a yard sign.
Since when has bikeportland become an obama campaign website? I find the subjectivity of this whole article to go against the whole notion of being a Journalist-an objective reporter, that is. Too bad, I was just beginning to actually think I might have found an unbiased news source in the cycling community.
Beleive americans can be talked to like adults
\”Since when has bikeportland become an obama campaign website? \”
it\’s not.
I like Obama. He has mentioned bikes and seems like a stand up guy.
If Ms. Clinton had made spoke cards I would have included them in the story too.
sorry to offend putter. hope you stick around and keep reading.
Thanks Spencer.
Thinkers as you call them, wouldn\’t stoop to join some fraternity based on a silly laminated card tucked into their bicycle wheels. The weak look for symbols to give them comfort, but to answer your quesiton-\”Save the Humans\” or \”Mary wasn\’t a Virgin\” would be high on my list.
…it is putter or punter?
Some people get upset when their candidate isn\’t the one with the spoke cards.. I don\’t. Don\’t mind the critics Jonathan.. This is another story with a bike focus. This isn\’t about Obama… Where else would you hear about bike-oriented campaign propaganda? I enjoy reading about anything and everything \”bike\”, including this.
My bike stickers say \”I Share the Road\” and \”This Pipe Bomb is a Bike.\” And I\’m with felix here, I can\’t get behind somebody who supports building more nuclear plants.
If anyone would prefer some Obama stickers instead of spoke cards, I have some for sale:
http://bike.bedope.com/
I\’ll be the first to admit that spoke cards have a far superior design though.
When I went to Clinton\’s Rally in PN (and yes, I have been to Obama\’s here in Portland), she said that her short term solutions to help out the middle class with making payments included that gas tax thing.
She said her long term solution included making biking and walking into alternate modes that got greater funding than infrastructure improvements for vehicle travel.
She has a documented plan for establishing smart investments on the roadways, not only because we have a lighter impact on maintenance and construction costs, but because it\’s also a health, etc., benefit.
Obama\’s website says he\’s going to evaluate it. Clinton HAS evaluated it. Obama says he\’d like to learn about climate change with Gore. Clinton has done it.
But I know I\’m not going to change any minds here; I understand Portland is Obama territory.
Doctors get it; teachers get it; soldiers and generals get it; even Floridians get it (which is astounding); why can\’t hip college students and my fellow bicyclists get it?
Ghandi 2008!
It could happen. Really, really, really, really.
really.
\”There is also a sticker for your car window with a Warhol esq. image of Obama and the word \”Hope\”.\”
This is by Shepard Fairey. draw your own conclusions on messages coming from Obey. I happen to aligh with his political views, and support his advertising campaigns as well.
This is a story about free spoke cards. if Maus had a story about free naked lady spoke cards, i\’d pick one up… def bike related post.
on Obama, think what you want, but he\’s the democratic nominee. so if you align yourself with democrats, you should support him over McCain, and try real hard to get a candidate that you feel supports your views next time around.
I hope next election we can keep more than two identical candidates around, for more than the first few weeks.
Biden?
Dodd?
Kucinich?
Edwards?
Nope we get two corporate controlled bobble heads. Both creations of the media and elite political machines.
The Republicans are hosed for a few election cycles. So they will just call themselves Democrats, and we will all think we have won one for the gipper.
yay.
Be sure and vote, that way the illusion can continue. Support our fascist empire and be sure to spay and neuter your pets.
\”Doctors get it; teachers get it; soldiers and generals get it; even Floridians get it (which is astounding); why can\’t hip college students and my fellow bicyclists get it?\”
Because doctors, teachers, soldiers, generals, and Floridians all know what is best for us. Clearly we shouldn\’t evaluate the candidates and vote for whichever one we think would make the best president. Besides, I\’ve never met a doctor, teacher, soldier, general, or Floridian worth their weight in bike tubes. Ha!
So who\’s it gonna be? The old guard or the guy pretending to be the new guard?
I just spotted this on the art of obama website – and I live in P-town and I ride a bike. You people rock!
Put me down for two… at least.