Anyone have any info?

On November 8, 2007, I had the opportunity to have a conversation, albeit by telephone, with Barack Obama. How? Well the usual way that you obtain access—by paying for it--we made a campaign contribution. My husband, Rashid, and I contributed some money along with one of my co-workers (who has political aspirations), his wife and their other friends and family. The total money collected allowed us to participate in a conference call with the Senator. The purpose of my participation in the call was two-fold—to determine if Obama had any concrete policies for improving the situation that the US is currently in, and to hopefully make some sort of lasting impact on him (via his campaign folks) in the event there is some career opportunity available that I could shoot for.

In preparation for the call, I emailed friends and family and asked them what they wanted to find out from Obama. I received responses regarding how to improve the educational system and support for the military. Rashid (as a small business owner) and I were interested in what Obama’s plans/policies were in the area of small business promotion (as a means of wealth creation and unemployment reduction).

So, during my 3 minutes of fame, I told him who I was, that I was also representing the interests of my husband’s small business (Astrient Labs) when I asked him the question (stated above).

In essence, Obama said the following:
Good question. He would overhaul the Small Business Administration (SBA) because it is not working. He would increase access to capital for small businesses. He would require the SBA to provide technical assistance to entrepreneurs that is practical. He would also update the SBA because it has lost its sense of mission and mandate. Lastly, he responded that solicitations for government contracts are currently too large for small businesses to effectively compete, so, he would break down these contracts into smaller contracts.

My thoughts:
Although the first part of his response didn’t really provide any insight into what he’d actually do because his statements were broad and general, his last statement about breaking down the large gov’t contracts was important. I thought that his last statement was thoughtful and sounded like a good idea. Well, although Obama probably won’t actually remember me or my question, I’ll keep fantasizing that he will—who knows, maybe he’ll offer me a job someday…I did leave my resume for him at his Senate office in DC last year



edited by kjhunter1 1/27/08 5:58 PM


edited by kjhunter1 2/27/08 7:39 AM

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