Obama campaign workers open first Cincinnati office for 2012 election

CINCINNATI - Campaign workers are setting up shop Tuesday for the official grand opening of the Hamilton County Obama campaign office .

Workers could be seen Tuesday morning entering the office located at 2718 Woodburn Avenue in East Walnut Hills.

There is an invitation only grand opening event Tuesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

"Tonight we're just going to be bringing some awareness. Having a few speakers in and getting everybody in the community open to some events that are coming up in the future," said campaign volunteer Brandon Craig.

President Barack Obama's campaign has already opened several offices in Ohio for the 2012 election, but this is the first to open in Cincinnati.

"We're building in the community. We're building teams in Hamilton County and also across the state. We're getting people engaged and just building that grassroots movement to get the president re-elected," said volunteer Alexandra Devitt.

UC political science professor Patrick Miller agrees the grassroots effort is what gets candidates elected.

"The opening of the campaign office is an indication that the campaign is really gearing up. It's an indication that Ohio, because everybody knows is going to be a close competitive state, and the president's re-election team is taking that very seriously. They're starting their presence here early," Miller said.

Miller predicts it will be a close race and volunteers like these will ultimately make the difference for the winning candidate.

"When you're in a tight race like that the ground game really matters a whole lot. You can spend a lot on advertising. You can make all these campaign appearances, but when you're in a close race, it's that on the ground campaign volunteers being out and going door to door mobilization that's really going to get you over the finish line and win you the state," Miller said.

Campaign workers say the office will be open seven days a week until the November 2012 election.