Founded in late 2006 as part of the nationwide effort to encourage then-Senator Obama to run for the Presidency, our volunteer-run, grassroots group now includes thousands of members from across the nation. Together, we represent a cross-section of the millions of Republican and conservative independents who support President Obama's reelection in 2012.

Obama's performance led to much speculation as to his place in the party and the nation's future. After Obama had left the stage, media commentators, panels of historians and political scientists on the major television networks began explicating what many began calling the "Obama phenomenon" – in Illinois and elsewhere in the country. It was pointed out that many in Illinois openly discussed Obama's future as a possible presidential candidate, especially evident in his ability to capture white votes like no other racial minority candidate had ever done in downstate Illinois. Obama would win his own race for a United States Senate seat from Illinois in the fall of 2004, and some say that the resulting fame and publicity from his keynote address allowed Obama to win the Democratic nomination and the Presidency in 2008, just four years later.