You never know where you're going to find a grassroots Barack Obama event. A few weeks ago, most students setting up grills and coolers on the tailgates of their trucks outside a big Boise State football game probably weren't expecting an Obama canvass to come through.
"You have to understand," says Ryan (center, below), an Idahoan senior at BSU and Obama volunteer, "these things are a lot of Republicans. But we set up a tent anyways, laid out all our Obama gear, stickered everybody up -- and before you know it, a ton of people are coming up to us telling us how much they love Obama."
Idaho has not had a Democrat set up a campaign office since Ted Kennedy in 1980 -- before Ryan was born. The state is considered one of the "reddest" in the country, and often overlooked by Democratic Presidential candidates...but on November 1st, the Barack Obama campaign opened it's first Boise headquarters, and they've been buzzing with activity ever since.
"Obama is the candidate who could make us feel proud again," says Ryan, who volunteers virtually every day at the office. "I figured I better get involved, especially because we're a Feb 5th voting state. Which means: this time Idaho -- Democrats in Idaho -- might actually matter."
And Ryan is not alone -- as he reports, the student body at BSU is overwhelmingly pro-Obama. "We're the only political group that has any kind of anything going on. For most of us it's our first caucus, which is exciting -- and at least around here, it's going to be a landslide for Obama."
So it's no surprise that Ryan, TJ (right) and Joey (left) found a huge amount of support when they went out tailgating for Obama. They signed up a ton of new volunteers, sold a lot of Obama T-shirts, stickered up all the kids playing catch -- and in return got more free bratwurst than they could have hoped for.
To volunteer or check out more goings on in Idaho and all the other Feb 5th states, click here.
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