Obama campaign office opens in Ann Arbor
Pavitra Abraham(right) and other volunteers make phone calls to Obama supporters in the new campaign office in Ann Arbor.
Jeff Sainlar | AnnArbor.com
The presidential campaign has been under way for some time, but now — one year before Election Day 2012 — one candidate is gearing up to make Ann Arbor a home base for campaigning in Michigan.
Volunteers from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign moved into their new office at 455 E. Eisenhower Parkway at South State this week, campaign officials said.
The move into the office in the Concord Center — near Olive Garden — will be celebrated by a public open house on Sunday from 1-6 p.m.
The office is one of two new ones the campaign is opening in Michigan this month. The other is in Warren. Offices already open include ones in Detroit, Pontiac, Flint, Lansing and Kalamazoo. Officials said one in Grand Rapids is planned.
The campaign is going to have a grassroots focus, officials say. However, this Ann Arbor location will act as a hub for volunteers even as campaign strategy calls for emphasis on neighborhood teams.
A recent poll showed Obama's approval rating climbed to 47 percent this month from "a dismal" 41 percent.
Meanwhile, leading Republican presidential candidates include Herman Cain, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
Comments
Bryan
Wed, Jan 25, 2012 : 6:54 p.m.
This is absolutely AWESOME and I look forward to working for the campaign. OUR PRESIDENT: 1) Ordered the successful hit on Osama bin laden 2) Reduced unemployment rate from over 10% to 8.5% despite GOP budget cuts that resulted in hundreds of thousands of layoffs of government workers including teachers, Fire Fighters, and Police officers 3) Created 1.6 million jobs with no GOP help. 4) Created 22 months of job and economic growth in the PRIVATE SECTOR despite GOP obstructionism 5) Ended war in Iraq 6) Repealed DADT 7) Has not increased taxes in 3 years and doesn't plan to raise taxes on 98% of Americans for the rest of his terms 8)Exposed racism in the GOP 9) Still carries 80% of the black vote 10) Has had the same wife for 15 years with no extra marital affairs 11) Saved the auto industry and 1.5 million jobs though most Republicans wanted them laid off for their political gain 12) Assisted in ousting Khaddafi 13) Only active President to receive Nobel Peace prize while in office. 14) STILL fighting for middle class families. 15) Allowed healthcare for millions of Americans previously not covered. Despite what the GOP would have you believe the President and some brave Democratic Congressmen have been doing these things and more. Obama and BRAVE Democrats in 2012! We need a President AND Congress who are willing to stand against the GOP agenda.
aareader
Sun, Nov 6, 2011 : 12:22 a.m.
The only problem with Obama is that he thought Republicans were reasonable and would compromise to help this country get moving again.
aareader
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 5:04 p.m.
As usual, the Republicans come up with pithy comments about Obama. Are Republicans only elected to oust a Democratic president. Soooo far the votes on religion, abortion and how to keep Americans from voting have not created any jobs. Obama in 2008 and Obama in 2012.
Dan
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 3:25 p.m.
Hopefully the people at the office tell the people on this comment board about Obama's actual record: <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/the-untold-story-of-the-actual-obama-record.html" rel='nofollow'>http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/10/the-untold-story-of-the-actual-obama-record.html</a>
joe.blow
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:16 p.m.
How about this for a story aa.com . The Obama administration is refusing to cooperate with a congressional subpoena. Why aren't you reporting on that? Obama will campaign behind bars if he keeps this up from the impeachment. What a crook.
Basic Bob
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 12:39 p.m.
This doesn't change the voting pattern any. All the Ann Arbor (D)publicans would have voted for him anyway. But the campaign office gives the volunteers a place to hang out and plan their local strategy - talk like a Democrat, act like a Republican.
mhirzel
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 11:39 a.m.
Eye opening! I didn't know there was anyone who wanted that turncoat re-elected!
Sparty
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:28 a.m.
Flip-flopping Romney can debate himself given all his changing positions, Cain can debawith against his wife and the three women he sexually harassed, poor Gingrich just has his current wife but can debate the Tiffany people about his late bill - his late wife died of cancer while he was having the affair with this one, poor Dingbat Bachmann can debate that $2.00 price of gas that she insists she will obtain upon her inauguration, and then there's Santorum who is such a closet case that he fears that he might turn gay if there's another in the same country. Yep, this is the moral, family oriented republican party of 2011-2012.
RTFM
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 8:12 p.m.
Campaign office is also known as ACORN
David Cahill
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 8:09 p.m.
It's great to have this office open so early! Typically, the Democratic office doesn't open until the late summer prior to the election. This address is more convenient than the space we had on Research Park Drive in 2008. Will the Republicans be opening an office in a phone booth? 8-)
Bogie
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:55 p.m.
Obama's very intelligent. Ann Arbor is probably the only place in the state, to find a "educated" (lol), leftist thinking; well financed (parent's east coast money) constituency. Bravo, Mr. President. Ann Arbor's economy is supported by government subsidies, so what better place could you pick?
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:45 p.m.
People who voted for Obama the first time to prove they aren't racist will have to vote against him this time to prove they're not idiots.
joe.blow
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:20 p.m.
aa.com will delete your comment. They don't like people from the right talking about race.
Tesla
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:05 p.m.
Vote for who. Mitt? Herman? Rick? You must be joking.
Stephen Landes
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:40 p.m.
Ann Arbor is the perfect location for an Obama office. Where else in Michigan are there enough socialists left to even staff such an office?
USRepublic
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:20 p.m.
Sheriff Joe is on the case! His campaign won't make it past June....
xmo
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:50 p.m.
Who said President Obama didn't know how to create jobs? Look at him open this office and and create a lot of high paying jobs! :) "this Ann Arbor location will act as a hub for volunteers" How much do Volunteers get paid?
Roy Munson
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:41 p.m.
Rent is cheaper in Liberty Park. Why not have it there? That seems like the perfect place to me. The fools there can add the cause to re-elect the Pied Piper to their random list of the other crazy ideas and "demands."
godsbreath64
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:48 p.m.
Crazier than unfunded wars based on precision lies and the generations of families and communities who have to deal with the scars and horror bestowed by those "crazy ideas"? Crazier han concluded constitutional mandates "all power is inherent in the people"?
Tesla
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:21 p.m.
Thats the best you can do Chuck? The President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama was on the radio today talking about jobs and foreign economic policy, and the best you can do is ask about his college grades? You sir are a just one perfect example of whats wrong with the Republican Party.
Tesla
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:03 p.m.
Oh no doubt and I wish he was better at building coalitions and support even amongst his own cabinet. No ones going out of their way to stand up for him accept Hillary, which tells me a lot, but there is only so much that he can do and the republican congressional leaders know this for a fact. Hell they don't even hide their agenda.
Loves2Cook
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:29 p.m.
Tesla - I agree with you in part. But the 'buck' stops with Obama. He's our leader and he should be doing a better job of it. Both 'sides' are so concerned about their partisan agendas that nothing is getting done. BOTH sides! Everyone seems so concerned about who is going to be our next president that their decisions, or lack thereof, are crippling our nation.
Tesla
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.
Mitch McConnell? John Boehner? Eric Cantor? A few Democrats but Every Republican voted against his jobs bill. The President can not do this alone, and when Mitch McConnell says the number one priority of the republican party and congress is to make sure Obama is a one term president, what do you expect and why do you lay all the blame at President Obamas feet?
Loves2Cook
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:35 p.m.
Yes, he TALKS about this stuff, and he's a great speaker, but what is he doing about it? He's had nearly 3 years to make some changes; to make something good happen. What is he waiting for?
Chase Ingersoll
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:14 p.m.
Any of the 50% who pay 97% of federal income taxes, want to Occupy the Obama Campaign Office, on behalf of the to 1 percent who are paying 35% of the federal income taxes?
joe.blow
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:19 p.m.
It's too early.... What?
Maxwell
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:17 p.m.
I feel so bad for all the poor downtrodden rich people -
Chase Ingersoll
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:10 p.m.
If Obama is so intellectually gifted, why not release his college transcripts, like every other presidential candidate, including John Kerry and George Bush? Until he does it is a un-rebutted presumption that it was a racial preference that not only got him into the school, but that also enabled him to graduate. The latest statistics are that those who gain entrance to schools based upon racial preferences are 6 times more likely to not graduate and are 6 times more likely to fail a Bar Exam. That was my experience with the Illinois Bar exam. My classmates from the Obama area of Chicago were literally sweating during the Bar Exam breaks and many of them never took the Bar, but went to work for a non-profit, took a government job or ran for public office. Those of us who got into Law School on legitimate academic merit, took only half the allotted time necessary to complete the Bar exam and though it to be a joke compared to the LSAT. The University of Illinois Law School is now embroiled in a scandal for reporting "enhanced grades and test scores of applicants/admitants" for the purpose of raising its ranking among law schools. What I observed in three years was that their left wing definition of "diversity" was the University's priority rather than any subjective standard of academic or social merit. The result of this was that rich connected minority applicants, like Jesse Jackson Jr, and his wife not only received preferential admission, but received NON-NEED BASED, full tuition and fee waivers as did every "minority student". This fact was admitted to me by the Dean of Students who explained that in order to be a top tier (25) law school, the U of Illinois had to meet the accepted standard of "diversity" and that in order to obtain that diversity, it was competing for a very limited number of "minority" applicants and that in order to gain their matriculation, Illinois had to offer them the waiver as w
Wolf's Bane
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 1:47 p.m.
Chase Ingersoll, my goodness! Why are you dancing around the subject? Just come out say what EVERY Republican really wants to say?
Sparty
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:16 a.m.
President of the Harvard Law Review. Release college transcripts from decades ago is relevant how? Would you like his nap times from kindergarten as well?
godsbreath64
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 8:16 p.m.
We' be embarrassed for you Chase until you can catch up.
MyOpinion
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:04 p.m.
Lousy location. Not close to his base of support in Ann Arbor, but I guess the rent is cheap.
G. Orwell
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:40 p.m.
Probably staying away from the crowd because they do not want to be mocked by republicans, independents, libertarians and democrats.
Top Cat
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:56 p.m.
This would be the perfect location for Obama's "Occupiers" from Liberty Street to camp for the winter.
jinxplayer
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:53 p.m.
I wanted hope and change, but all I got a republican in a democrats clothing.
Wolf's Bane
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 8:55 p.m.
Bush turning Liberal? You mean going loco?!
joe.blow
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 2:18 p.m.
Ohhhh no you don't. We had to take Bush turning liberal yet we got the blame for him. Obama is all yours. You voted for him, you take the credit.
Wolf's Bane
Sat, Nov 5, 2011 : 1:46 p.m.
A country this big doesn't turn around on a dime. Give him time to finish the job.
Wolf's Bane
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:47 p.m.
Yes! Congratulations!!!
Jhonny
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:41 p.m.
Why would anyone vote for him again? Spent 4 trillion dollars to create jobs. But unemployement is still above 9%. Is asking congress for more money to "create" jobs. When will he learn. The government does not create jobs. The government create the condition that makes investing in a company favorable.
bedrog
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 7:49 p.m.
Charlie Brown.. re name calling:. accurately calling a fool a fool ( Bachmann/perry) or a head -in the -sand er ( Cain and paul re their utter distain for critical foreign policy complexities ) is hardly on a par with the utterly untrue names that you folks have called Obama ( from Hitlerian to non-citizen to socialist ...and they are just the politer ones). The economy sucks ( initiated by disastrous pre obama policies that you seem to want to bring back); but his handling of foreign policy is far more effective and pragmatic ( dead osama/dead awlaki/pakistan and iran on notice etc) than the blinders on approaches of some of his rivals who preen in being geographically clueless. Can't the GOP do better?? I'd consider voting for a Giuliani, for example...and maybe a Huntsman... although neither would survive the dumb-ocracy that is the Republican's under teaparty domination.
Charlie Brown's Ghost
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 6:48 p.m.
bedrog clearly displays the only campaign strategy the left has - name-calling - now that they've messed everything up so bad that they have nothing to run on.
dirg77
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:51 p.m.
Intellectual curiosity? What has Obama displayed any curiosity about? What has he done that George W. Bush didn't do? Stimulus and bailouts? Bush did it first. Involving the U.S. military in a foreign intervention under dubious pretenses with no declaration of war and no apparent national interest, in order to remove a petty dictator with no ability to threaten the U.S.? Obviously, Bush did it first. Even expanding government involvement in health care - Bush did it first with the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. Patriot Act? Renewed by Obama without question. Administration officials lying to Congress and covering up potentially criminal abuses of power? Bush/Cheney lackies were on it years before Eric Holder. As far as I know, Bush never took it upon himself to assasinate a U.S. citizen without due process, so maybe Obama has him there. And no, I am no fan of Bush or Republicans either. But liberals who are still clinging to Obama as their chosen one are being fooled even worse than conservatives were fooled by Bush.
Buzz
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:44 p.m.
Because they vote the same people in to City Council postions over and over
godsbreath64
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 5:43 p.m.
"Why would anyone vote for him again?" Besides The Party of War Crimes, High Crimes and aversion to public welfare mandated in the US Constitutions?
bedrog
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 : 4:51 p.m.
why vote for Obama again ?? ummm...i dunno. Maybe the fact that he at least has some intellectual curiosity ( unlike herman cain who is on record as not giving a damn about who foreign leaders are, or Ron paul who doesn't care at all about foreign policy) and a 3 digit i.q ( unlike Perry and Bachmann who are utter clowns,). Romney ,although a notch above the others, has demeaned himself by pandering to the oafish teapartiers. Obama has not been a messiah, but he's still head and shoulders above the rest as to decency, thoughtfulness and capacity to learn from his missteps.