NINE VOTES PER PRECINCT

The Grand Opening of Ohio's FIRST campaign headquarters for ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA for the CAMPAIGN TO RE-ELECT BARACK OBAMA was held November 15, 2011, in Chillicothe, Ohio. WHY, you may ask, was Chillicothe chosen instead of a large city?

Greg Schultz, Ohio Director of ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA, was the featured speaker at the Grand Opening and he explained that Chillicothe was chosen because it was the first capitol of Ohio and the Obama campaign wanted to stress the importance of southern Ohio in the election as it had in 2008. Greg pointed toward me and said that I'd just told him that on election night in 2008 that I screamed in my friend's ear: "Nine votes per precinct, nine votes per precinct!"

In 2004, although John Kerry carried the major cities, he lost the state because he did not carry southern Ohio. In 2008, the Obama campaign told its followers that if Kerry had had just nine votes per precint MORE in southern Ohio, he would have won Ohio and, of course, the election! Florida would not have mattered! The Obama campaign placed representatives in crucial areas of southern Ohio. Throughout the campaign, "NINE VOTES PER PRECINCT" was our mantra!