Howard Dean: 'Loved the Teamsters ground game!'

Our Ohio brothers waiting for President Obama in Hilliard, Ohio this morning.

President Obama is speaking at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard, Ohio, this morning, and our brothers and sisters are there to greet him. So is General President Jim Hoffa. Our in-box, in fact, is flooded with photos of Teamsters hitting the campaign trail in a ground game that won praise from former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

Local 639 members in Virginia.

We have photos of Maryland and District of Columbia Teamsters visiting UPS hubs and YRC barns in hotly contested Virginia. Wisconsin Teamsters hitting work sites in that battleground state. New Hampshire Teamsters handbilling at a First Student yard in Nashua (and photos of President Obama dropping by Local 633 in Manchester). Hoffa and General-Secretary Treasurer Ken Hall talking to Teamsters at the Marzetti's Salad Dressing plant and UPS work sites yesterday.

Pittsburgh Teamsters were rewarded for their hard work last weekend with 14 free tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert. Local 249 President Joseph Rossi asked building maintenance director, Teamster Mark Hilgarner, to install a 4-foot-by-8-foot campaign sign in front of the Teamster Temple -- immediately upon delivery.  It was installed within one hour.

Last week Pittsburgh Teamsters phonebanked at the Obama Greensburg campaign office alongside the former Vermont governor. Brother Tim Dunn, IBT field representative, forwarded Dean's comment:

GST Ken Hall talking about the election with Mike Nichols,
a 27-year Teamster, in Columbus yesterday.

Loved the Teamsters ground game!

Dunn also shared this about a Pittsburgh sister who phonebanked:

Teamster Jan Foley and her husband Roger are committed Democratic crusaders who are in an elite group of voter registration activists. Their voter registration crusade generates thousands of new Obama voters.

Action Truck.

We have photos of Colorado Teamsters heading out to hear President Obama speak in Denver. Nevada Teamsters visiting work sites and attending membership meetings to learn about the election. And photos of Local 117's Teamsters Action Truck. It's a tractor-trailer transformed into a high-tech mobile phonebank and election command center. Teamsters used the truck throughout the state of Washington to campaign on behalf of candidates who support working family issues.

Hundreds of Teamster boots are on the ground in Michigan, Ohio, California and Minnesota. They're working for crucial ballot questions, President Obama and worker-friendly candidates.

President Hoffa visited Local 299 in Detroit last weekend to rally members for President Obama and Proposal 2, which protects collective bargaining rights.

State coordinators Mike Ciaccio and Jeff Crabtree with
 Paul Digrazia and Eduardo Farrara
at a UPS barn in South Milwaukee.

He and Hall are barnstorming Ohio, leading rallies in Cincinnati, Toledo and Cleveland and visiting dozens of work sites. Hundreds of Ohio Teamsters are campaigning for the president, for a fair redistricting ballot question and for Sen. Sherrod Brown's re-election.

Cleveland rally.

California Teamsters registered 23,000 voters and are now getting them to the polls to vote against Prop 32.  The measure grants billionaires the right to influence elections but not unions.  And in Minnesota, Local 638 Teamsters are reaching thousands of people in their fight against a constitutional amendment that would eliminate free, fair and accessible elections.

North Carolina Teamsters have been deeply involved in the campaign for President Obama's re-election since before the Democratic National Convention was held in Charlotte.

The Massachusetts race for U.S. Senate is especially important, and Bay State Teamsters have gone all out for Elizabeth Warren. Our Hoosier brothers and sisters are intent on taking the state back for workers after an anti-worker law passed last year. They're campaigning hard for President Obama, gubernatorial candidate John Gregg and Senate candidate Joe Donnelly.

We're still waiting for photos from some of our brothers and sisters in other states. (We know you've been busy.) And though we don't have photos of Florida Teamsters, we have this picture of their handiwork: