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Obama team
hires Ethiopian-American congressional woman staffer
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 ADDIS
ABABA(August 1,2008) -The presidential campaign of
Senator Barack Obama has hired Selam Mulugeta, an Ethiopian American
who formerly served as a Congressional Staffer and Special Assistant
to Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), founder and Chair of the Congressional
Ethiopia and Ethiopian American Caucus, a magazine reported on Wednesday.
"I will be a Field Organizer in the Northern Virginia region",
Tadias Magazine quoted Selam. She joined the Obama for America campaign
in Virginia.
"This means that I would be doing community organizing at the
grassroots level to increase the number of registered voters, and
most importantly, to increase voter turn-out in November."
According to the report, members of the Democratic support group Ethiopians
for Obama (E40), which is active in Virgina, often say that the November
election may be decided by a few thousand votes, and the robust Ethiopian
American presence in the state may end up being a deciding factor.
Selam agrees, it said.
"In states like Virginia, Ethiopians are in a unique position
to swing the vote. If all of us who are eligible to vote do so, then
we could potentially win the state. The responsibility is tremendous,
but doable. We can accomplish this by investing more
time in the campaign and fully extending the reach of our influence",
she said.
"I am a member of the steering committee for E40. I have always
supported the organization, even from its days as a loose discussion
group formed in someone's living room. I am so proud of the work that
has already been done, and even while I was on the Hill I was quite
adamant about engaging its leaders. My role in E4O will be to empower
Ethiopians to realize that they can support the Obama campaign by
volunteering."
Asked about the high level of excitement within the African immigrant
community particularly about the prospect of electing the first African
American President, selam says the candidate's background is attractive
to Africans in general.
"African immigrants can identify with Barack Obama because he
himself is a second generation African American. More than that, he
identifies with his own African heritage in a way that we all can
be proud of", she said. "He was able to achieve a level
of success that our parents or first generations dream of for their
children."
She pointed out that Obama, because of his African background, will
be in a strong position to advocate for better governance in the African
continent.
"We also believe that his shared appreciation for Africa makes
him the ideal President" the report quoted Selam as saying. "He
will not be afraid to engage and confront the challenges of achieving
political stability and economic independence throughout the African
continent, while preserving the dignity of its people. It is all the
more reason that Diaspora Africans in this country should remain visibly
involved in the campaign."
The gregarious and young former Congressional staffer landed her gig
on Capitol Hill fresh out of college and says she was attracted to
the job by her former boss's dedication to advocate on behalf of his
Ethiopian American constituents in San Jose, California, the report
added. |
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