Oakland County GOP Continues Final Push on Election Day

From the outside, the Oakland County Republican Party Headquarters in Bloomfield Hills looks like just about any other Woodward Avenue office building with challenged parking on a busy day.

The abundance of eye-catching candidate yard signs on the leaf-covered lawn facing the road's south side are a giveaway of the mission, and inside, teams of volunteers have been working for weeks to make today a success. And they aren't stopping.

Much like last week when a frenzy of high-profile campaign visits including former GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and Michigan senatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra, the headquarters — now better known as a Romney-Ryan victory center — is bustling with activity.

Volunteers crowded around tables with multiple phone lines and lists upon lists of names to remind about today's historic vote. While today

"There's a lot of enthusiasm out there and it's very important to capitalize on that to make sure people get out there and vote," said Corrine Khederian, who has coordinated regular volunteer phone bank initiatives since the summer.

"We hardly have enough phones here for people that want to help."

Party Chairman Jim Thienel said volunteers are scheduled to continue making calls to voters in the central, mountain, and west time zones even after polls close in Michigan tonight.

Making an Impact?

Despite the deluge of statewide and national robocalls reaching residents in Bloomfield, local volunteers said they've had good success reaching out to likely voters. Particularly in the past month.

"It's been a very positive experience and it's great to see so much interest," said volunteer Sharon Walker, of Bloomfield Township. "People are more in tune with what's happening and are on board with with living our lives without the further intrusion of government."

Walker and other volunteers said they have long supported Republican Party candidates and causes, but increased their participation this year, particularly due to the interest, and sometimes controversy, over women's issues.

"I think the 'war on women' is a joke," said volunteer Cheryl Rafdal of Rochester Hills. "More and more women I've talked to seem to be interested in moving America forward. They want jobs, they want a better energy policy. Not these distractions."

Though it won't be known if their efforts will translate into a Romney victory until later tonight and perhaps Wednesday, the state party is already proudly boasting about the strong presence their members have had throughout the campaign.

“The Victory program has made 3 times as many phone calls year to date than were made in 2008 and we have knocked on 21 times as many doors in 2012 as were knocked in total in 2008," said Kim Jorns, executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. "To put this into perspective from eight years ago when President Bush lost Michigan by just over 3 points, President Bush really underperformed in western Wayne and Oakland Counties. Last week alone the Victory program in Michigan knocked on nearly 90,000 doors in western Wayne and Oakland County and made 65,000 phone calls.”