The Barack Obama campaign opened its Toledo field office Thursday night with a crowd of supporters vowing to work for the President's re-election.

The headquarters is the former Classic Antiques and Collectibles at 119 N. Ontario St., downtown.

An estimated 400 people, including many elected and politically active Democrats, came to celebrate the opening, the 12th of the Obama campaign in Ohio, according to a campaign official.

State Rep. Matt Szollosi (D., Oregon) whipped up the crowd by reminding them that Lucas County, along with Cuyahoga County, is a must-win for the Democratic President to carry Ohio, a must-win state in the national election.

"It's all going to come down to Ohio, again. Is the President going to own Lucas County in November?" he yelled, getting a roar in return.

Mr. Obama's campaign in 2008 was noted for its success in organizing teams that went into the neighborhoods and registered new voters and then got them out to vote.

Volunteers said they are working to make the same thing happen in 2012.

"The energy in this place is infectious. The campaign is catching fire. It's fun to be here, and we are all about a common goal," said Toledoan Lori Proctor, 54, who said her volunteer job is to recruit more volunteers. She said she wants to help preserve the health-care law that President Obama helped get passed in 2010 because of her experience having to pay for medical care after an accident and not having insurance.

Delores Latson, 62, a North Toledo neighborhood activist, said she's been unemployed for a while and wants to go back to work as a paraprofessional. "I'm here for my grandchildren, for the future of America, so they can have financial stability and an education," she said.

The headquarters space appears to be larger than that in the Warehouse District headquarters the Obama campaign used in 2008.

Other regional field offices are in Beavercreek, Youngstown, New Philadelphia, Athens, Cincinnati, Parma, Columbus, Middletown, Dayton, Chillicothe, and Shaker Heights.

Jessica Kershaw, spokesman for Obama for America-Ohio, said volunteers have contacted 700,000 Ohioans at their doors and by phone and have had more than 6,300 grass-roots planning sessions, house parties, voter registration drives, phone banks, and canvasses, giving the President a "head start" in Ohio.

Mr. Szollosi recalled President Obama's visit to Chrysler Group LLC's Toledo Assembly complex last June, when he said some United Auto Worker members had tears on their faces because President Obama had saved the industry through the 2009 auto bailouts to Chrysler and General Motors Co.

"That look of appreciation, gratitude, pride, cannot be replicated on the other side," Mr. Szollosi said. He added later that an internal power struggle going on in the state Republican Party is also causing dissension in the GOP.

Lucas County Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewiciz said the downtown headquarters has the same blue-collar feeling of the 2008 office that he said symbolized the character of the campaign and voter base.

He jabbed Mitt Romney for investing in the Cayman Islands and his reputation for changing his political stance depending on the election year and his wealth. "The only issue he never flipped on was the auto bailout. He was consistently against it," Mr. Kapsukiewicz said.

"If you are so wealthy that you can bet $10,000 like it's pocket change like Mitt Romney you shouldn't be in this room," he said. "His own campaign manager says he's like an Etch A Sketch machine because he doesn't believe in anything."

Lucas County Republican Chairman Jon Stainbrook said by phone he was unimpressed by the Democrats' show of energy. He acknowledged President Obama inspired youth and independents in 2008, but he said that magic has dissipated, as proven when Mr. Obama campaigned unsuccessfully for Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2010.

"It's going to be a very uphill battle for Barack Obama. You can only judge a president on his record -- $4 a gallon gas, a failed stimulus, and ObamaCare. These are things that don't get anybody excited."

Contact Tom Troy at tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058

First Published March 23, 2012, 5:21 a.m.