DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — It's easy to understand why Barack Obama's presidential campaign wants to get out the vote in Dayton, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati and the rest of Ohio's Democrat-rich big cities.

But why Miami County, where even K's Hamburger Shop in Troy, the county seat, leans strongly Republican?

Marcia Ryan, K's owner, wanted President Bush to stop by for a burger after a huge 2004 rally but her restaurant and other businesses were closed for security reasons.

"It broke my heart," said Ryan, who used to work for GOP state legislators.

Obama, the Illinois Democrat, hasn't been to Troy but his campaign has put three staffers to work at a downtown office. A "grand opening" on Saturday, Aug. 16, drew more than 100 people.

It's one of 43 offices Obama has opened or plans to open around the state and one of several in Republican strongholds such as Troy and Middletown in Butler County.

Obama's campaign is flush with cash but backers like Gov. Ted Strickland, a convert from the church of Hillary Clinton, insist the outposts in Ohio's red counties are not just for show.

Strickland said he met with Obama campaign staffers after Obama clinched the nomination and gave them a simple message:

"There are two ways to run statewide in Ohio. You can use the John Kerry strategy or you can use the Strickland-Brown strategy."

Kerry lost the state to President Bush in 2004, despite rolling up vote totals in the urban areas where he spent much of his time and money.

Meanwhile, Strickland won the governor's race and Sherrod Brown the U.S. Senate race in 2006 with their strategy, said Strickland.

It calls for campaigning and setting up grassroots operations in every county, even in those a Democrat almost certainly won't win, said Strickland.

Kerry didn't come close to winning Miami County in 2004 when he got just 34 percent of the vote.

Obama probably won't win some of these GOP strongholds either, Strickland said.

But a Democrat's share of the vote can go can go from 29 percent to 38 percent or 38 to 44 percent, said Strickland.

Obama's campaign has embraced the plan, which is much like the one he used successfully in the Iowa caucuses.

It's not automatic that it will work here for Obama.

Republicans are doing their best to cast Obama as an out-of-touch elitist who'd rather spend August golfing in Hawaii than breathing dust on the campaign trail or even eatin' a hamburger at K's.

He got off to a lousy start in Ohio's March primary, winning just five of Ohio's 88 counties, including Montgomery County, and taking a trouncing from Clinton. Clinton won Miami County with about 57 percent of the vote to about 41 percent for Obama.

Kelly Gillis, Miami County Democratic chairman, supported Obama in the primary and says he can improve on Kerry's 2004 showing.

"I think he comes across good. I think he has a lot of good ideas. I think he's more for the middle class," said Gillis.

Gillis occasionally stops by K's and said he might consider bringing along Obama if he's in town, although he's not sure what the Republican owner would think.

"Marcia probably wouldn't want to see him, but I would," said Gillis.