"FLORENCE — Barack Obama made history when he accepted the nomination from his party to run for president last month, becoming the first minority to get the ultimate nod from one of the major parties. Today he’ll make history again, albeit in a slightly smaller way: He’s opening what may be the first-ever campaign headquarters for a presidential candidate in the City of Rhododendrons.
That’s slightly unofficial — someone could have opened an office here in the past without making much of a splash — but if you ask around town, people say they can’t remember a candidate ever setting up shop here.
“I don’t ever remember one,” said Bud Miles, who’s lived here all of his 74 years. “But I wish it was (Sen. John) McCain rather than Obama. I’m a die-hard Republican.”
Nor did Zane Ziemer, who’s lived in Florence for 70-plus years, remember another example of a campaign office in Florence. Nor Wilber Ternyik, who has lived in Florence since 1949..."
"..Even before today’s grand opening, the headquarters has already attracted dozens of would-be volunteers and curious voters, including Rozika Poirrer, who immigrated from Bosnia 30 years ago but has yet to cast a vote here — until now.
“I see Obama as a smart young man who came from the people and is part of the people,” Poirrer said..."
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