The Obama campaign has opened field offices all over Northeast Ohio, including Elyria, Mentor, and Shaker Square. Last night, they unveiled their latest: an east side Cleveland office in a Glenville shopping center
CHAPPIN: Welcome to our grand opening.
In charge here is Kwesi Chappin. Even though Cleveland is heavily democratic, he told the supporters gathered in the new office to not take the city for granted in this election.
CHAPPIN: Especially this east side of Cleveland. That’s not what we’re doing here. That’s why we put this office here in Ward 8 and Ward 9 of Glenville. Because we know we have to win this and win it big.
Councilwoman Sabra Pierce Scott agrees. This office is in her ward and she says she often meets residents who agree with Obama’s policies but don’t believe he’ll get elected.
SCOTT: We still have nonbelievers and there’s reasons why people still believe—it’s not so much that he wouldn’t serve as a great president, but that there are barriers that would stop him from being president.
Then there’s the question about what effect recent bad news for local democrats will have on voting in the area. With Cuyahoga’s democratic chair Jimmy Dimora facing an FBI investigation, some have speculated that local misdeeds could dampen enthusiasm for other democrats on the ballot. Dimora was noticeably absent from the opening, but Peter Lawson Jones, his fellow county commissioner, was there. He’s hoping the Obama campaign can overcome the recent bad publicity coming out of Cuyahoga.
JONES: No matter how you cut it, it certainly isn’t good news. On the other hand, the Obama campaign is so strong in terms of how it has been structured internally. In terms of the number of people who have been brought from out of town here. So it’s not just the effort from the local democratic party, but it’s also the effort of the Obama team that has been put in place here.
The McCain campaign has fewer offices in Northeast Ohio, and none in the city of Cleveland. The campaign has offices in Parma and Brecksville and is organizing house parties around the area this month.