Obama nets diverse Bay Area support

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 23, 2008 | by Lisa Vorderbrueggen

Ken Richard 50, advertising executive, Walnut Creek

Ken Richard will talk to anyone about Barack Obama.

He approaches store clerks and even people sweating on the treadmill at the gym.

"It's true," the gregarious Richard admitted. "Anyone who looks my way, I will strike up a conversation. I find it vitally important, at this time in our country, that people engage in the democratic process."

Despite his Obamania, Richard is not the stereotypical activist who carries a suitcase full of political convention memories.

He's never been to a national party convention nor imagined he would hold a floor ticket to one of the biggest moments in American political history.

On the other hand, he also never imagined he would marry in June his partner of 21 years, Steve Olsen, after a court ruling declared same-sex marriages legal.

The California Democratic Party recruits gays, lesbians and transgender people to serve as delegates, and Richard said he proudly represents the march toward equality for same-sex unions.

He and his spouse will attend a luncheon during the convention featuring Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., Congress' two openly gay and lesbian members.

Richard knows Obama supports civil unions and not gay marriage, but that's OK.

As a man who has witnessed in his lifetime a shift in public opinion in his state about same-sex unions, Richard does not demand perfection.

"Obama has demonstrated that he is an incrementalist," Richard said. "He wants to achieve some of his goals rather than end up with nothing."

Lea Austin 32, Early childhood education program manager at Mills College, Tracy

The tears came unexpectedly. Her voice choked with emotion.

Lea Austin was thinking about her father and how she had talked with him about politics almost every day since she can remember.

Abe Eaglin of Hayward died in October, before his daughter won the delegate election for Barack Obama.

"I can just hear my dad now. 'If you really believe that Barack Obama should be president, you have to get out there and do something about it,'" Austin said, laughing and brushing away the tears. "Now, I'm going to the convention, and it will be a way to pay tribute to my dad, too."

Austin has been campaigning for Obama for months in relatively conservative San Joaquin County. She has an ample supply of T- shirts, pins and stickers. "I'm bringing it all with me," she said.

She will also wear a small piece of campaign history, a button for 1984 vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro that she found among her late grandmother's things.

Like Obama, Austin is biracial.

In that moment Thursday night when Democrats choose the first nominee of color, Austin knows she will watch history unfold.

But she says she is voting for Obama's politics, not the color of his skin.

"I don't subscribe to the idea that we should support someone because of gender or race," Austin said. "I have supported Barack Obama from the very beginning because I believe he has a vision for this country and he believes the people should be partners in the democratic process."

Tony West 43, attorney, Oakland

Many expected Tony West, a prominent Democratic Party rainmaker, to put his fundraising skills to work for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

West, after all, had worked on President Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign and later as a prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department during the Clinton administration.

But Obama captured West's attention from the very beginning of the primary season, some 20 months ago.

"His message of hope and his personal story I found very compelling, and I also found it had a very strong connection to my own story," said West, a charismatic attorney now in private practice who has raised more than $500,000 for Obama's campaign.

Like Obama, West is an African-American who attended an Ivy League school and became president of his law review.

"There are all types of parallels (with Obama), but the common thread is this belief that you can do anything you set your mind to if you have the support of a loving family, an education base and a deep belief in your own potential," West said.

When Obama accepts the nomination as the Democratic Party's choice for president, West will stand among family.

West's spouse, Maya Harris West, is on the national party's Rules Committee and his sister-in-law, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, is an Obama delegate.

"This is a convergence of an incredibly talented individual with a unique moment in history and an opportunity to create fundamental change," West said. "Such moments are rare, and when they come along, you want to make sure you seize them."