As bowling balls thundered down the lane to ruin perfectly spaced white pins Friday evening, local volunteers met to discuss Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
Both Obama and Sen. John McCain are setting up grassroots organizations across Florida to organize the efforts of local volunteers.
Local Obama advocates met with staff from the national campaign for the first time Friday at Alley Gatorz bowling alley to discuss strategies for the Gainesville area.
The event was intended to train new volunteers and to welcome the Obama fellowship to town, said Danny Beaulieu, chapter coordinator for UF Students for Barack Obama.
The fellowship program has volunteers spend six weeks out of the summer helping the Obama campaign prepare for the general election, said Pat McCollough, coordinator of Gainesville 4 Obama.
"The goal is to get a whole new generation of organizers trained and ready to go for the general election," Beaulieu said.
He plans to hold a series of events open to the public, including a barbeque on July 5.
Meanwhile, national organizers for the McCain campaign are setting up "Victory offices" across the state.
"They will be centers for McCain volunteers to come together and reach out to their neighbors and fellow Floridians at a person-to-person level," said Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for the McCain campaign.
In addition to the grassroots approach of the Victory offices, McCain intends to continue attending town hall meetings in the state, Sadosky said.
He said the town-hall format gives McCain an opportunity to talk directly with citizens and answer their questions.
"Instead of boiling it down to one or two little talking points, he can talk through an issue," Sadosky said.
He added that Obama has agreed to participate in some of the town hall meetings, but he has not yet specified which ones he will be attending.
"We want to give voters as much of an opportunity as possible to hear from the candidates and discuss the issues at length," Sadosky said.
