Although media attention has been primarily on Tuesday's Republican primary, Upper Valley Democrats are already working to motivate voters to turn out in support of United States President Barack Obama in the upcoming general election in November. One of their first efforts toward meeting this goal was to encourage high voter turnout in Tuesday's Democratic primary, where Obama appeared on the ballot alongside 13 other candidates.
Even though Obama's primary victory was essentially secured, volunteers from both Dartmouth for Obama, a group separate from the College Democrats and entirely dedicated to Obama's re-election campaign, and Obama for America, a national organization committed to the same cause, worked to ensure that Democrats would support the incumbent president on Tuesday.
While Republicans are traveling across the country to win primary votes, New Hampshire Democrats are working to build up Obama's campaign organization on the ground, volunteer Logan Brog '15 said. Since the beginning of Fall term, Dartmouth for Obama has held meetings each Sunday to organize for the upcoming primary and general elections, according to Brog, who was recently profiled on the official Obama campaign website.
"Barack Obama has a strong campaign infrastructure in New Hampshire," Brog said. "Some of us do messaging, others train and recruit volunteers and the rest focus on planning events."
Dartmouth for Obama volunteers have knocked on doors, answered students questions about the Obama administration and phone banked the region, according to Brog.
Since voter registration laws may change in the near future due to a pending law in the New Hampshire legislature that would disenfranchise non-resident college students, Dartmouth for Obama volunteers tried to register as many voters as possible before the primaries, Brog said.
"New legislation could make it difficult if not impossible for Dartmouth students to establish residency in New Hampshire and vote here," he said. "We need our voters registered now."
To make sure voters participated in the primary and showed their support for Obama, volunteers stood outside the polling area located at Hanover High School for 12 hours on Tuesday, Deborah Nelson, Obama for America's volunteer coordinator, said.
Nelson, a teacher at Lebanon High School, arrived at the polling place to hold signs in support of Obama after the school day ended.
"The primary serves as practice for November," Nelson said. "It's also an opportunity to send a message to the Republican-dominated New Hampshire legislature and the Tea Party."
Nelson said Obama's success in the 2008 election came from his campaign's ability to make a national race feel local through one-on-one contact. This year's organization will be no different, she added.
"We'll still be doing phone banking, visibility everything we can on a local level," she said.
State Rep. Sharon Nordgren, D-Grafton, also stood outside the polling place to encourage voters.
"Many Democrats didn't know that there was even a primary, so we had to inform them," Nordgren said.
Turnout for the primary with over 1000 people voting by 1 p.m. seemed relatively high, even for Hanover's largely Democratic population, Nordgren said.
Dartmouth for Obama volunteers emphasize issues that directly affect students to engage college-aged voters, Brog said.
"For example, health care reform was good for students, since it allowed students to stay on their parents' health plan until they turn 26," Brog said.
As the general election nears, Nelson hopes that voters see a clear contrast between Obama and the Republican nominee, she said. Since the incumbent must defend his track record, "running for a second term is always different," Nelson said. She also said volunteers need to put Obama's successes into a historical perspective.
"I teach history," Nelson said. "Americans don't know their history. They need to pay attention. Obama has fought for equal pay between the sexes, withdrawn the troops from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden."
