Capital News: Obama presidential campaign picking up pace in Ohio

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by Marc Kovac, Capital Bureau chief

They're painting barns, mobilizing hundreds of people at precinct levels and increasing their television ad presence, all with hopes of swaying voters in a state identified among the main November battlegrounds.

Because Ohio, with its third-most electoral votes of any of the other so-called swing states, could be pivotal in securing a presidential victory for Barack Obama and his "Change Begins in Ohio" blueprint for a Buckeye landslide.

"We are in Ohio in a significant way with a full operational staff, with offices all across the state," Steve Hildebrand, national deputy campaign manager, told reporters recently during a conference call unveiling Obama's Ohio plans. "We've been running television ads now for I believe seven weeks ... We view Ohio as a very important part of our puzzle to get enough electoral votes to win the presidency for Barack."

Here's the breakdown, courtesy of the campaign: There are 18 states where Obama is relatively strong, representing about 168 electoral votes, Hildebrand said. There's another four (Washington, Oregon, Maine and Minnesota) where he's performing well, too, so add another 32 votes to the mix.

That equals 200 (though, with my recent track record, you might want to double check that result). The next president of the United States will need about 270 electoral votes to win.

To gain the additional ones needed to put him over the top, Obama is focusing on 18 "key battleground" states. They are: Alaska, Nevada, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Oh, and don't forget Ohio. Combined, they offer a total of 199 electoral votes. And Ohio, with 20 (about 10 percent of the take), is among the keys.

"There is no question that Ohio's electoral votes are critical to that victory," Hildebrand said. "It's always a major battleground state. It's really no different this year."

And, so, the Obama campaign has divided the state into more than 20 regions, has opened 40-plus offices across Ohio and is organizing more than 1,200 neighborhood teams to lead the charge at the precinct level, registering voters and getting people to the polls (whether early, via an absentee ballot, or on Election Day).

"This is truly a neighbor-to-neighbor, grassroots enterprise," said Aaron Pickrell, the campaign's state director.

Or, as Gov. Ted Strickland gushed, "I've been engaged in a lot of presidential campaigns during my life. I have never seen a presidential campaign in Ohio come anywhere close to where this campaign is organizationally and in terms of having actual man and woman power in the field."

The folks backing Republican John McCain would definitely differ in their viewpoint.

And the most recent Quinnipiac poll had the two in a virtual dead heat at 46 percent-44 percent in favor of Obama, though McCain's support was on the rise. McCain received more support among white voters (49 percent to 42 percent) and among those older than 55 (48 percent to 41 percent).

According to the Obama campaign, Al Gore lost Ohio in 2000 by 176,426 votes.

Four years later, John Kerry lost the state by 118,601.

And the number of new registered voters in Ohio through mid-June: 244,701.

With another 2 million or so to go.

Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.