Dear Friend,

Watch Barack's speech at the Harkin Steak Fry. Support our efforts in Iowa and other early states: Donate.Barackobama.com/WinIowa

Iowa will be critically important in this race. But there are some unique aspects of the Iowa caucus that you need to know about.

Here in the first state where the Democratic candidates will compete, people don't "vote" for their candidate in the way that you might think.

In order to win, we have to turn people out to a caucus -- a process that lasts over an hour and requires supporters to publicly advocate for their candidate and persuade others to join them.

That means in Iowa, it's all about organization. We have to organize all 99 counties and train over 1,700 precinct captains to lead these caucuses. We have to recruit more Obama supporters to attend their caucus and build the ground game to turn them out on caucus day.

It's a massive undertaking, and with just over 100 days left before the Iowa caucuses, I'm asking for your help.

Why does Iowa matter to you? Because the momentum from a win in Iowa could create a domino effect in the rest of the states that follow. In the last two presidential elections, the candidate who won the Iowa caucuses went on to win the Democratic nomination.

Now is a crucial time to show your support.

A donation of $12 will provide ten yard signs for Iowa lawns. $27 will send fifty Iowans a piece of mail telling them Barack's story. $53 can sponsor a college student at a Students for Barack Obama weekend training. And $114 buys enough t-shirts for canvassers to wear while knocking on every door in Evansdale, Iowa.

Please make a donation now to help us win Iowa:

https://donate.barackobama.com/winiowa

Let me show you what kind of operation we're building here.

Yesterday thousands of Obama volunteers flooded the annual Harkin Steak Fry, an institution in Democratic politics here in Iowa.

The Steak Fry is the first opportunity of the fall campaign season for the campaigns to showcase the organizations and networks they've built in the state so far.

See for yourself what kind of momentum we're building:

Donate.BarackObama.com/WinIowa

Something special is happening here in Iowa, and your help is required if we're going to build an operation to turn it into a win.

I explained to a reporter the other day that when Barack is finished speaking at campaign events here, people say they feel "at peace."

In a country where politics has become endless conflict and cynicism infects nearly everything, that's not a phrase you're used to hearing.

In my career in politics, I've never seen anything like this before. But every day Barack reaffirms my certainty that he is the candidate who can bring this country together and lead us towards real change.

But I'm not going to decide who wins Iowa. The people of Iowa will -- and what happens here will have a substantial impact on the contests in all of the states that follow.

We have to hire the organizers, print the materials, put on the events, and do the voter contact to get people on Barack's side -- and get them to the caucus.

Please make a donation to support the effort to win here:

https://donate.barackobama.com/winiowa

You'll be hearing more from me over the next 100 days or so heading into Iowa, and I hope we can count on you for your help.

Thank you,

Paul

Paul Tewes
Iowa State Director
Obama for America

P.S. -- If you're willing and able to spend a week or more in Iowa volunteering for Barack between now and January 14th, please let us know.

The minimum is a week, but we will provide training and put you to work. It will be a challenging and thrilling experience that you'll never forget. Whether it's in October or January or anywhere in between, let us know if you can spend a week or more on the ground with us here:

http://my.barackobama.com/earlystatevol