barack obama's campaign headquarters in athens
"i take my marching orders from the constitution" - ron paul's campaign efforts in athens cruising through athens you could easily think that there are only two presidential candidates: barack obama for the democrats and ron paul for the republicans.
ron paul's athens campaign office on morris avenue i'll start with ron paul since barack obama is already well covered. some germans might not be familiar with the senator from texas who doesn't get much media attention due to his underdog status. and athens as a college town and thus being a liberal pocket the advocacy of a republican seems to be surprising. but athens is also located in conservative appalachia (that's how locals call the rather poor south east ohio). plus, ron paul is not quite the typical republican. his agenda includes unusual approaches for social issues (leave abortion rights to the states) and radical ideas like abolishing the irs (the us internal revenue service = us tax collection office) and a pretty isolationist stance for foreign policy. here's a summary of his key issues:
paul supporters rally at the athens farmers market on saturdays
just around the corner from my apartment there is an entire road that has turned into ron paul territory: his signs are in almost every front yard. his presence in athens though does not match the national unwelcome of his candidacy. according to cnn.com he has a total of 16 delegates as of today (compared to the other republican candidates john mccain with 918 and mike huckabee with 217 delegates).
according to the local ron paul group's website they also hold events every sunday at athens' most famous and beloved coffee shop, donkey.
barack obama's campaign office on stimson avenue in the fomer new-to-you buildingthe obama campaign set up office with painted windows in athens about two weeks ago across the farmacy, an alternative hippiesque food market that sure helps to draw attention to obama's local headquarters. i have to admit that my chat with obama's supporters is much fresher in my mind than my encounter with paul's advocates in november and provided some glimpses into the bowls of a campaign.
inside barack obama's campaign headquarters in athensathens field coordinator for the obama campaign ted york says chairs, tables, and office supplies have been donated by local supporters but a list in the middle of the room indicates that some things are still needed.
york says the campaign is paying for rent, electricity, and hotels for the staffers but usually he tries to stay in a local supporter's house. he says today about 20 volunteers came in for the early shift and the same number is expected for the second shift on this friday. they get predesigned address lists with map for door-to-door campaigning. a couple of the volunteers with obama stickers on their jackets comes through the door and the middle-aged woman reports thats not a lot of people were home but they she had some good conversations. York doesn't know who exaclty compiled the walk lists but says that demography plays a role and that they target obama-supporters as well as people who are likely to vote for him.
ohio university sophomore liz is the head of the local students for obama group and says the biggest problem they face is to convince the students to vote especially if they are 18 or 19 and voting for the first time some don't know how to go about it. she says for a year she has been working for the campaigns with currently 100 volunteers. has she ever met obama? no, not personally, she says, only from a crowd at an event. obama has not visited south east ohio but appeared in the north, cleveland and youngstown. "it's so exciting to be on the campaign", she says. "obviously my mind is set totally on the campaign but i obviously have to go to classes". initially she didn't want to do campaign work but liz believes that obama is the first real candidate who can make a difference.
both campaign workers point out that people can already vote now for the primary. in ohio march 4th is rather an election deadline than the election day. "everyone can go to the board of elections and cast their vote from 8am to 4pm during the week now", york says. at home i go to the official obama page and click on ohio in the list of states and the first thing popping up is a sign "vote for barack today" plus a tool to " find your early voter location". it works for my address and gives me the correct location.
liz says it would help a great deal if the election location would be open until 7pm - when athens' happy hours draws students uptown.
york says the campaign is paying for rent, electricity, and hotels for the staffers but usually he tries to stay in a local supporter's house. he says today about 20 volunteers came in for the early shift and the same number is expected for the second shift on this friday. they get predesigned address lists with map for door-to-door campaigning. a couple of the volunteers with obama stickers on their jackets comes through the door and the middle-aged woman reports thats not a lot of people were home but they she had some good conversations. York doesn't know who exaclty compiled the walk lists but says that demography plays a role and that they target obama-supporters as well as people who are likely to vote for him.ohio university sophomore liz is the head of the local students for obama group and says the biggest problem they face is to convince the students to vote especially if they are 18 or 19 and voting for the first time some don't know how to go about it. she says for a year she has been working for the campaigns with currently 100 volunteers. has she ever met obama? no, not personally, she says, only from a crowd at an event. obama has not visited south east ohio but appeared in the north, cleveland and youngstown. "it's so exciting to be on the campaign", she says. "obviously my mind is set totally on the campaign but i obviously have to go to classes". initially she didn't want to do campaign work but liz believes that obama is the first real candidate who can make a difference.
both campaign workers point out that people can already vote now for the primary. in ohio march 4th is rather an election deadline than the election day. "everyone can go to the board of elections and cast their vote from 8am to 4pm during the week now", york says. at home i go to the official obama page and click on ohio in the list of states and the first thing popping up is a sign "vote for barack today" plus a tool to " find your early voter location". it works for my address and gives me the correct location.
liz says it would help a great deal if the election location would be open until 7pm - when athens' happy hours draws students uptown.
wall hanging inside barack obama's campaign headquarters in athens
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