President Barack Obama's re-election campaign opened its first New Hampshire office in Portsmouth, N.H., on Saturday to increase local awareness and activism in the months preceding the state primary and the November 2012 election, according to Peter Kavanaugh, New Hampshire general election director for the Obama campaign. The office will act as a "nerve center" for grassroots campaigning efforts throughout New Hampshire, Kavanaugh said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"This is our first regional office and it represents the continued expansion of our organization," he said. "The office is the focal point for everything we'll do on a local level."
Approximately 125 volunteers, supporters and elected officials attended the office's opening ceremony, where Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., gave a speech in support of Obama's re-election and answered questions from the audience.
The office, which is located just outside of downtown Portsmouth, was chosen because the area is "easily accessible and pretty prominent," Kavanaugh said.
"Portsmouth was important to us because it's in a population center but it's not close to Concord, where our main campaign center is located," he said. "The office has a lot of parking and a lot of space, because we're going to need room to grow."
Kavanaugh said the office will have several full-time staffers as well as volunteers who will use the office for phone banking, canvassing and meetings for neighborhood volunteer teams.
The campaign also visited campus for a "One Year Out" canvassing event hosted at the Rockefeller Center on Sunday, the date exactly one year before the 2012 general election, Kavanaugh said. The event was one of many throughout New Hampshire to promote Obama's re-election and the election of several other state Democrats.
The campaign will look to New Hampshire's high number of college students for both volunteers and votes, according to Kavanaugh.
"Students and really all young voters form a critical part of what we do, and not just as voters," he said. "We had a lot of success in 2008 with involving both college and high school students in the campaign, and we're looking to continue that trend and include as many young voters across New Hampshire as possible."
In order to beat the eventual Republican challenger, Obama's campaign will have to build support across the constituency in New Hampshire and nationwide, according to government professor Russell Muirhead.
"The campaign needs to both rally the believers and persuade the independent types to vote for Obama," he said. "The first job is the most important for an office like this. They need to remind people who already support Obama why they support him and why they should give him their time, their money and their vote."
The date of the New Hampshire primary was recently bumped up from Feb. 14 to Jan. 10 so that the state could retain its first-in-the-nation primary status. Because Obama will run unopposed in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, "very few Democrats will turn out to vote," Muirhead said.
"This office has the job of trying to inspire some people to come out to vote, even though the race isn't going to get much attention and isn't going to influence Obama's chances," he said. "They'll want to make sure that the true believers get out there to vote but when there's no race, people aren't really motivated. This is going to be a Republican primary."
Regional offices are a "key part" of efforts for the 2012 general election, according to Kavanaugh.
"We're looking to open more regional offices as we gear up for the primary, with the next one scheduled to open in Manchester in the coming weeks," Kavanaugh said. "Our ultimate goal is focused on next November, but in the meantime we're involving all of our past supporters and bringing in new supporters in the process."
The response from New Hampshire residents to the arrival of Obama's re-election campaign has been "very, very positive," Kavanaugh said.
"People are very much energized, raring to go and really anxious to get back involved," he said. "People are excited to talk to their neighbors and in New Hampshire especially we've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the American Jobs Act. Hopefully we'll be able to channel that grassroots energy for the campaign."
Representatives from the Republican Party of New Hampshire did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
