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Obama, Romney Campaigns Advance Ground Games
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The ground operation likely will make the difference in what is expected to be a close presidential election, former Gov. Ted Strickland said.
One of the national co-chairmen of President Obama’s reelection campaign, Strickland headlined a local stop of the “Romney Economics: Wrong for the Middle Class” bus tour here Monday as the campaign for Obama’s opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, visited the Mahoning Valley to drum up local support.
In fact, the Romney campaign’s own bus, en route to Niles that morning for the first of two local stops Monday, made a cameo appearance toward the end of the Democrats’ event, occasionally honking its horn to drown out its rivals. Taking place as the Republican National Convention was getting its start about a thousand miles away, the two campaigns’ appearances underscored the competitive nature of this year’s presidential race.
One example of that competitiveness could be seen last week, when the Obama campaign marked the opening of its Canfield field office. The office is its third in Mahoning County and sixth in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
“We think this is going to be a very close election and we also think that both sides are going to spend a lot of money on TV ads and they may cancel each other out, quite frankly” Strickland explained. “People can only absorb so much by watching a 30-second TV ad. So we think the difference in this race, which will be a close race, will probably be the field operation, the grassroots effort to reach out and enlist support and to get folks at the local level to go vote. ”
Against the backdrop of the bus and about two dozen Obama supporters, Strickland joined David Betras, chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party; Glenn Johnson, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at Lordstown; and Elaine Price, another Obama national co-chairwoman, to deliver the campaign’s message.
“We don’t want the Republicans to get all the attention this week,” Strickland said.
Much of what was said was familiar to Valley voters, including the emphasis on President Obama’s role in providing support for General Motors as it restructured three years ago. That argument gained new traction for Obama supporters locally last week after GM announced that the Lordstown Complex will build the next generation of the Chevrolet Cruze, essentially ensuring production at the plant through the end of the decade.
“All of Ohio is important but for the president to win it is especially important for this region to support him strongly and it should,” Strickland said. “We know that Mitt Romney has yet to embrace the rescue of the American auto industry. [Romney running mate] Paul Ryan as recently as last week indicated it was a failure. I cannot see how anyone in this Valley would not get out and enthusiastically support President Barack Obama.”
Betras pointed out that the $220 million GM has committed to the Lordstown and Parma plants would mean work for the building trades, who would then spend money in the economy. “That’s how you build an economy -- from the middle out,” he said. He also praised the Obama administration’s recent announcement of funds to establish a Youngstown-based center focusing on additive manufacturing.
More than 12% of the Mahoning Valley’s jobs are in manufacturing, “which makes President Obama’s investment here all that more critical,” the UAW's Johnson said. The announcement of the new Cruze assures that workers in the Valley “will continue to build American cars for the foreseeable future,” he added.
“President Obama placed a bet on American workers, and today we are here to say we are all in for President Obama,” Johnson remarked.
The Democrats continued to tie Romney to the budget put forth by Paul Ryan in the U.S. House of Representatives, which Strickland said would give an additional $250,000 in tax cuts to millionaires while raising taxes on middle class families by $2,000 per year, turn Medicare into a voucher system and privatize Social Security.
The Romney bus, parked outside the campaign’s Niles Victory Center in the Great East Plaza in Niles late Monday morning, served as a mobile phone bank for local backers of the Romney-Ryan ticket. About a dozen Romney supporters boarded the bus and made calls on cell phones to drum up support for the Republican ticket as about two dozen more mulled around in the parking lot outside the bus.
“It’s a crucial time for America. We need to get Mitt Romney elected,” said David Gray, a small business owner from Warren who was making calls on behalf of the campaign. “We know what President Obama has to offer, we know what he’s about, we know his vision for America and we believe that Mitt Romney offers a better plan,” he said.
Northeast Ohio has primarily voted for Democrats, Gray acknowledged. “You look around, especially Warren, Ohio, and what has that gotten us?” he questioned. “I think we can do better.”
Romney supporters outside the bus, which was headed that evening to the campaign’s Youngstown Victory Center in Boardman, voiced various reasons for supporting the GOP ticket.
“He’s successful,” offered Edgar Gawne of Mecca. Romney knows how to run and business and will know how to run the country, he added. Obama doesn’t know how to make a budget, he criticized.
Holding her young granddaughter, Lorraine Balog of Warren said Romney and Ryan “have the values that I believe in.” Romney “has more of the economic values” while Ryan probably share s more of her biblical values.
“Our campaign is dedicated to running a very aggressive 88-county campaign in Ohio” and boosting grassroots enthusiasm between now and Election Day, said Romney spokesman Chris Maloney during a phone interview. In addition to serving as a phone bank center, the campaign bus is a distribution point for bumper sticker, yard signs and other campaign materials, he said.
While much of the focus is on the GOP nominating convention in Tampa, only about 500 Ohioans total are at the event, including 350 delegates and alternate delegates. “Tampa certainly is critically important but nothing takes the place of an aggressive ground game,” he said.
Maloney noted cited surveys and anecdotal evidence pointing to a “sizable enthusiasm gap” favoring Republicans this election cycle. The GOP base is energized and stands united behind Romney.
“Our campaign may not have as many offices on the ground but we’re certainly matching him volunteer for volunteer, phone call for phone call, door knock for door knock,” Maloney said.
Countering the Democratic arguments regarding Obama’s support for the auto rescue, Maloney pointed to the plight of Delphi retirees who saw their pensions slashed and the dealerships that were shuttered. “The reality is it didn’t work for everybody,” he said. He also argued that the president’s policies have had an adverse economic impact and delayed the recovery.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.