Obama's shock troops training in N.C.

ryanteaguebeckwith — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:27:35 -0400

Barack Obama's field organizers are getting an education.

About 180 Obama Organizing Fellows went to a three-day training session last weekend at a fraternal organization hall in Durham. The volunteers, mostly students and recent graduates, had been chosen from thousands after writing essays.

At the session, they were trained on how to make sure a voter-registration form is properly filled out, how to organize voter registration drives and how to find volunteers, among other things. One of the trickier topics: How to talk to Hillary Clinton supporters.

Lakeisha McCoy, a hostess at the Sheraton Atlantic Beach who recently moved to Morehead City from New York City, said she applied because her family is politically active and she is still "naive enough to do that sort of thing."

Like other fellows, she works part-time at the hotel, so she has the 30 hours a week required to meet with local politicians, organize house meetings and set up local Obama support groups. She said her job is to help Carteret County, which is "still pretty polarized" from the election.

"That's the Obama strategy: Try to mend the fences with Clinton supporters and get the voters out," she said.