Why are we Hungry for Obama?

We recognize that the commitments required to participate in the Hungry for Obama movement — making a meaningful contribution to the Obama campaign and hosting a dinner — are not trivial. But let's be very clear: we're not looking for trivial commitments. This election is simply too important for us to continue to sit on our hands and hope for the best. This election is too important for us to contribute a few dollars to the campaign and hope that every other Obama supporter out there is doing the same. It's too important for us to go about our daily lives and maybe spend a few hours phonebanking on Obama's behalf if we happen to have some free time on the weekend before the election. That's not enough.

Much as we'd like to, we can't convince anyone to vote for Obama. However, we can raise a huge amount of money for the campaign and trust that they'll find ways to spend it productively.

When Obama wins in November, we want to feel like we were part of the movement. Can you imagine the feeling of watching McCain claim victory and knowing that you stood idly by — not because you didn't care, but because you didn't sincerely believe that anything you could do would make a difference?

If the movement that your dinner spawns gains traction, you will make a difference:

• If you attend a dinner, you'll contribute $100 (or less if you can't afford $100) to Obama's campaign.
• Now suppose that you host 6 guests at your own dinner the following week and they give an average of $75 each. That's $450 more.
• And then the 2 couples and 2 individuals that you invited honor their commitments to you and host 4 separate dinners with an average of 6 guests each, and those guests give an average of $75 each. That's $1,800 more.
• And then the 24 guests from those 4 dinners collectively host 16 dinners with an average of 6 guests. That's $7,200 more!
• You host a dinner, your guests host dinners, and their guests host dinners — three rounds of dinners — and the pyramid of dinners that you created has now generated almost $10,000 for Obama. And it keeps going... all the way until Election Day on November 4th.

And we haven't even mentioned the friend on the other side of the country whom you called up and convinced to host her own dinner because you're so excited about the power of this concept. She's starting a pyramid of contributions, too.

You see what happens? All you have to do is attend a dinner (optional), make one meaningful contribution to the Obama campaign, and host your own dinner.

If you carry out these tasks to the best of your ability — especially by inviting a diverse group of smart, reliable, enthusiastic people to your dinner and convincing them how powerful this movement is so they're inspired to honor the commitments they made to you — you'll be responsible for thousands of dollars of contributions to Obama's campaign. Thousands of dollars that the campaign probably never would have seen if it weren't for your efforts.

Audacious? Yes. But this presidential race is too close and our passion is too strong to settle for small ideas and simple gestures. The Electoral College count is likely to come down to a few percentage points in a few crucial swing states. We can make a difference.

Please join the Hungry for Obama movement! If a friend is already hosting, attend her dinner. If you want to skip the attending step and just host your own dinner, schedule a dinner — and then get busy inviting your friends and family.