Obama makes push in Appalachian counties of Ohio

In 2004, Bush carried the two counties where Obama was campaigning Thursday.

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (AP) — Students and union workers were among the southern Ohio residents who jammed onto a university campus green Thursday evening to see Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Obama planned to campaign in two Appalachian swing counties in his close race with Republican John McCain for Ohio, with a stop also planned this morning in Chillicothe.

“The eyes of Ohio and the nation are on us,” state Rep. Todd Book, D-Portsmouth, told the crowd at Shawnee State University, adding that the counties of Appalachia could decide the election.

School officials expected from 5,000 to nearly 10,000 people to turn out for the rally.

The worsening U.S. economy appears to be helping Obama’s chances in a region that’s been struggling for years.

“I think everybody needs help right now,” said Dennis Ramey, 59, a retired postal worker from nearby Wheelersburg. “I think he will do better than many Democrats have done here.”

Charis Malone-Davis, 25, a black housewife in the predominantly white region, said she thinks people could be more willing to vote for Obama because of the economy.

“There is a race issue,” she said. “I think what he’s going to do is going to help everyone in the United States. If it takes a black man to do it, let it happen.”

Among students who bypassed the rally was Gannon Nickell, a freshman who’s a campus Republican leader. He said he liked seeing the enthusiasm generated by Obama’s visit, but added: “It’s like you see the light when he’s out there, but you can get sunburned by that light.”

Nickell said he hopes that Mc-Cain running mate Sarah Palin, who Republicans say is popular in this region, will campaign here.

“It’ll be two times bigger, I’m sure of it,” he said.

President Bush carried the two Appalachian counties where Obama was campaigning (Scioto and Ross) by nearly 5,000 votes combined in 2004, eight years after Democrat Bill Clinton won them by a total of nearly 6,000 votes.

Gov. Ted Strickland, a native of Scioto County, campaigned with Obama, who was trounced there by U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the March primary.

Book, like Strickland a Hillary Clinton supporter who now backs Obama, said Obama’s visit should earn the presidential candidate a boost in a region where people like personal politicking.

“In the Appalachian culture, the people want to see you, they want to be able to shake your hand, they want to make a connection with you,” Book said.

Recent polling indicates Obama has pulled ahead of McCain in a crucial state for Republican presidential hopefuls. With the nation in an economic crisis, Obama is doing better among the types of voters that dominate the struggling Appalachian region, where several areas have unemployment near or topping double-digit rates.

Palin was in southwest Ohio on Thursday for a rally in Wilmington, a city facing the loss of 8,000 jobs.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week found that white voters in Ohio making less than $50,000 favored Obama 54 percent-44 percent. The telephone survey was conducted Oct. 3-5 among 772 likely voters.

had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Overall, the poll gave Obama a 51-45 lead in the state.