The new Barack Obama campaign office on Indianapolis Boulevard in south Hammond is modest. It looks like an insurance office, and the plain lobby houses a television that looks older than at least one of Obama's campaign organizers.
To voters, the fanciness of the campaign offices may not matter as much as the number of them.
The Obama campaign has opened 19 offices across Indiana -- including four in the region -- and plans to add another 10 or more before the Nov. 4 general elections, according to State Communications Director Jonathan Swain.
The presumed Democratic presidential nominee also has made 43 stops in Indiana since January, including three during the last month, Swain said. Obama made a surprise lunchtime visit last week at the Schoop's restaurant in Portage.
Republican challenger John McCain, by comparison, has not opened a campaign office in the state and has visited twice this year, said Indiana Republican Party Communications Director Jay Kenworthy. The Indiana Republican Party is listed as McCain's state office on the campaign's Web site.
With polls showing Hoosiers leaning in favor of Republicans, Kenworthy said McCain is opting to rely on the state party's resources that includes an Indianapolis headquarters and at least a dozen county-based offices.
"There is no reason for McCain to spend the money to reinvent the wheel here in Indiana," Kenworthy said.
The reason Obama has visited the state more often than McCain is the Democrat was involved in a heated primary battle against Sen. Hillary Clinton, Kenworthy said.
"I think he'll be back," Kenworthy said of McCain.
The Obama camp is reading the polls differently and believes Hoosiers could give Democrats their first presidential victory in 44 years.
"This is a very competitive race here," Swain said.
The race is being fueled in large part by the pains Hoosiers are feeling as a result of the poor economy, he said.
Indiana's unemployment rate rose by a higher percentage between May and June than any other state and was at a five-year high at the end of that period, Swain said.
"People are feeling a lot of anxiety about that," he said.
The Obama campaign believes this amounts to fertile ground for its message of change and is hosting a near steady flow of grassroots campaign activities across the state, including coalition building among such diverse groups as Latinos, women, veterans, students and even Republicans seeking an alternative.
At a volunteer training session this week in Hammond, Obama field organizer Greg Gershuny told the local volunteers the Hammond-Highland-Munster effort will focus on door-to-door canvassing and registration, with volunteers forming neighborhood leadership teams.
"Places where the doors are knocked, we win," he said.
Jenni Witzel, who founded the Purdue University Calumet Democrats in late July, said she hasn't detected any McCain campaign presence at PUC.
"Nobody from the Republican Party comes up there, to be honest," she said.
Kenworthy said the efforts by the Obama campaign are getting so much attention because its a novelty for Democrats to work so hard and dedicate so many resources to Indiana.
"They have to start from scratch," he said.
Times staff writer Dan Hinkel contributed to this report.
BREAKOUTS
Portage Dems open new office
The public is invited to join the Porter County Democratic Party on Saturday in opening a new headquarters next to the Rosewood Family Restaurant in the Portage Mall.
The party plans to make space available for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, though it will not be an official Obama Campaign for Change office, according to State Communications Director Jonathan Swain.
The celebration will begin at 10 a.m. and will feature local elected officials.
Anyone wanting to volunteer on campaigns are encouraged to attend the event or visit the headquarters at a later date.
Indiana campaign Web sites
John McCain: indiana.johnmccain.com/Site.aspx
Barack Obama: my.barackobama.com/page/content/inhome
