From the Christian Science Monitor:
Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, former Bush foreign policy advisor Rita Hauser, and former US Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island announced their support of Obama and the formation of "Republicans for Obama." ... Why jump the party line? Chafee, in the morning conference call announcing the group, said McCain just wasn't the same old McCain anymore: "I served with McCain and we were the only two Republicans to vote against the Bush tax cuts," said Chafee, referring to a Senate vote in 2001. "He says now he would make them permanent. It's a different John McCain." ... [Leach] switched parties earlier this year to vote for Obama in his state's presidential primary. "Until I voted for Sen. Obama, I had never voted for a Democrat so I think my Republican credentials are sincere," Chaffee said. As for Leach, the former Congressman said it was time for a change. "Barack Obama's platform is a call for change," said Leach. "But the change that he so gracefully articulating is more renewal than departure."
From the Wall Street Journal:
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr. will speak Tuesday night at the convention, the Democratic National Convention Committee announced today. ... "Barack Obama believes you can't have a strong economy when you have a weak middle class, and speakers like Senator Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will share how Obama's policies have been directly shaped by the people he has met as he traveled the country," the DNCC said in a statement. ... The DNCC also announced today that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will speak Tuesday night-another Democrat believed to have been on Obama's list. Also speaking Tuesday: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, and former Denver Mayor Federico Peña, who also held the Transportation and Energy secretary posts in the Clinton administration.
From the Hendersonville Times-News:
Henderson County resident Rich Brinegar is championing Sen. Barack Obama. Named a "Crew Chief" for the Democrat's presidential campaign, Brinegar is responsible for two precincts in the county and plans to knock on hundreds of doors before the election. "I'm going to work my little tail off," Brinegar said. The campaign has identified North Carolina as one of 18 battleground states in the race against Republican Sen. John McCain. It has pumped $2 million into North Carolina in media advertising and has 75 paid staffers. The campaign plans to push millions more into the state before the election, Obama state campaign director Marc Farinella said in a conference call Wednesday. "It's not that big a stretch for Barack Obama to win North Carolina this year," he said. "This is a battleground, and we're going to win it." While Obama won the North Carolina Democratic primary over Sen. Hillary Clinton by a significant margin, Obama faces challenges in Western North Carolina. Henderson County is a Republican stronghold and Obama only won Buncombe and Watauga counties during the primary. Farinella admitted that "we have lots of ground to make up" in areas like Western North Carolina. Brinegar worked for Obama during the primary and received positive feedback. The residents of Western North Carolina have been receptive to Obama's message, he said. "I think the 11th Congressional District is winnable by Sen. Obama," Brinegar said. ... North Carolina has seen an increase in Democratic registration and a large number of people moving to the state. Farinella said 600,000 people have moved to North Carolina since the 2004 election and a large number of those new residents have registered Democrat or unaffiliated.
From the Associated Press:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Never mind the last days of the presidential campaign. The busiest days for Barack Obama's campaign in this perennial swing state are likely to be a month before Election Day. Ohio has created a window in the election calendar that would allow residents instant gratification - register one minute, vote the next. It's also given the campaigns of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain a chance to bank thousands of first-time voters during that Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 window. The move will benefit Obama, who enjoys a 2-to-1 lead over McCain among 18- to 34-year-olds, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released last month. If Obama's campaign were able to tap into college campuses with one-stop voting, it would add thousands of votes to his tally in a state where, in 2004, John Kerry lost to President Bush by only about 118,000 votes, putting Bush over the top in the electoral count. Of the more than 470,000 students enrolled in Ohio's public colleges and universities in 2006, the most recent figures available, nine out of 10 were Ohio residents, the state Board of Regents said. To register to vote in Ohio, a person must be a resident of the state for at least 30 days immediately before an election. ... Obama's campaign is eager to take advantage of it this year. "This is one of many ways we'll be encouraging our supporters to skip the lines on Election Day and make sure their vote is cast early," said Isaac Baker, an Obama spokesman.
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