PROVO — Utah may be among the reddest of red states, but that hasn't stopped both Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama from opening campaign offices here.
Wednesday, Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan stopped in Utah to officially open a call center for the McCain campaign in Provo that's been operating for several weeks.
Obama's campaign, which had an office in an industrial area of Salt Lake City during the primary, opened a new office downtown in August staffed by a full-time, paid director for the state.
For Utahns, the offices offer an opportunity to participate in the presidential campaign, even if that means just putting up a yard sign. More and more Utahns are proclaiming their pick for the White House on their front lawns.
"We couldn't keep up," said Misty Fowler of Utah for Obama.
She said the campaign office on South Temple received a shipment of 2,000 signs a week ago, but those were gone in three days.
Obama signs should still be available at county and state Democratic Party headquarters as well as through the candidate's Web site, barackobama.com. There is a suggested donation of about $8 per sign.
"Considering how many people want them, I think the campaign might go broke if they were giving them away," Fowler said of the signs, which now feature the name of Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. "They're not exactly cheap to make."
McCain signs, including those with his recently named choice for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are available through the campaign's Provo office as well as at local and state GOP headquarters and the candidate's Web site, johnmccain.com.
The state Republican Party headquarters, located just a few blocks down the street from Obama's campaign office, is giving out about 20 McCain signs a day for a suggested contribution of $2, executive director Ivan DuBois said.
Much of the focus of the two presidential campaign offices in Utah, though, is on voters outside of the state.
Both campaigns are taking advantage of Utah's proximity to several key swing states, using volunteers to contact voters in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada by phone and, in some cases, in person.
"Utah is a reliably red state and you've exported that around the country with volunteers in the last few elections," Duncan said. "Utah volunteers are in demand around the nation. We established this call center as a thank you for those people who can't go spend two weeks in another state."
Wedged in a tiny, aging strip mall one block south of the Brigham Young University campus, the doorway to the stairs up to the second-floor call center was directly below a bright sign that states, "We Buy Textbooks."
The walls were decorated with handwritten signs that declared "BYU 4 McCain," "Utah is McCain Country" and "Women (Heart) the Maverick and the Barracuda." Thirty-two phones sat on desks in two tightly packed rooms.
"This is a great location," said Tim Bridgewater, McCain's western states regional coordinator. "We're right by two universities with a lot of students, Utah County Republicans are the bread and butter of the Republican Party, and there is a strong voluntarism ethic here."
Provoan Emily Cutler, 20, a junior in political science, went to Michigan two years ago to work in an unsuccessful effort to stem the Democratic takeover of Congress. She said she plans to volunteer a few hours every week.
"In a Republican state, in a red county, it's so nice to feel like I can make a difference in Colorado or New Mexico without leaving," Cutler said.
Duncan nodded vigorously when Utah County Republican Party Chair Marian Monnahan welcomed him during the press conference "to the reddest county in the reddest state."
About 50 volunteers and party leaders were on hand to hear Duncan describe Obama and Biden as "serial exaggerators" and accuse Biden of plagiarism. "This is the most liberal ticket, the starkest contrast, in a presidential race in my lifetime."
He called McCain and Palin straight talkers, Westerners and warriors.
Duncan said the GOP had the candidates, money and issues to win the White House. The remaining key, he said, is a grassroots organization.
"We need people willing to get on the phone and ask other people to vote."
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