Obama Volunteers Gear Up in Urbandale and Johnston; President in Iowa Today

Are you a closet Democrat in a Republican suburb? You may find some friends at Panera Bread.

has become the unofficial headquarters for the Obama campaign in Urbandale and Johnston.

On Monday nights, a handful of volunteers gather at the Urbandale Panera to call voters registered as Democratic or Independent to encourage them to re-elect Barack Obama.

Then they do the same thing on Thursday nights at the Panera in Johnston.

The volunteers are black and white, young and old, veterans of political campaigns and newcomers to the process. And lately, their numbers are growing.

Grassroots Volunteering

They are following the blueprint of what Iowa Obama volunteers did in 2008 — working in their own cities and neighborhoods to build a grassroots network of local volunteers, said Liz Purchia, press secretary for Obama for America in Iowa.

She said the 2008 grassroots network framework remained to build upon, which gives Obama an advantage here over Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican nominee, who spent little time here during the Iowa Caucus campaign.

Both campaigns say Iowa is one of the important swing states that could go to either candidate in the November election.

Obama in Iowa Today

The president will be Iowa Thursday, with stops planned in Newton and Des Moines to talk about job creation. The Des Moines stop is open to the public; the president will speakd at 7 p.m. at the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

In Urbandale, registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats 10,332 to 7,471, according to the Polk County election office. There are just about as many Independents than Democrats. Urbandale voted for Obama by 56 percent in 2008 and also re-elected Democratic Congressmen Tom Harkin and Leonard Boswell by comfortable margins.

On Monday night, retiree Rick Smith works along high school senior Ethan Frederick at Panera Bread in Urbandale, cell phones in hand and a computer list of potential voters in front of them.

Sitting next to Smith is Elizabeth Smith, 28, a substitute teacher who recently moved to Urbandale.

Why They Volunteer

"I talk a lot about how much I care about politics, but I haven't really done anything about it. So I thought I ought to do something about it," she said.

For a little more than a month, she's been canvassing door-to-door in her neighborhood, entering data on spreadsheets, and making telephone calls to potential voters.

At first, she was initially nervous about going door-to-door to talk to people about re-electing Barack Obama. It didn't help that her her mother (who doesn't live in Iowa) worried that she might be calling on a mass murderer living quietly in Urbandale.

Retiree Rick Smith teased her to be more concerned about mean dogs than murderers, but she said she hasn't had a problem with either.

"Going door-to-door is actually better than making phone calls. I've never had a door slammed on me," she said. "I am this really sweet little ingenue. They're not going to slam doors on me."

Darlene Coomes of Johnston, started volunteering for Obama in 2008 and then picked it up again last fall.

She is a Republican-turned-Democrat. "I don't believe the Republican Party is what it used to be. It doesn't have goals that I feel are in line with what I believe any more," said Coomes.

When she was a Republican, "I never felt at that time that its priority was profits for the wealthy, and not for the people or the planet.  Maybe it's just the way I've evolved as a person."

Pat Walters, of Johnston, works for an insurance company during the day, but puts 20-30 hours a week in volunteering for the Obama campaign. His first political campaign was for George McGovern when he was running for president in 1972.

"I think Barack Obama is a very special individual, very thoughtful. I think he is a very brilliant man and I will do everything I can to get him re-elected," said Walters.