Like any college town, Fort Collins boasts activism on both sides of the political hemispheres. Anyone around for the past semester at CSU, or within a wide radius, knows that the obviously liberal campus newspaper now has an opposition paper offering balance to all Rams. I attended a university in a small, quiet conservative town, but still nothing can turn up the heat in an election year like the educated future of our nation. On an unseasonably warm afternoon, I visited the much-publicized Obama headquarters on Oak Street to see if the university students were really shirking their studying for good old-fashioned campaigning.

To my surprise, the office was buzzing with young Progressives, but also a fair number of non-traditional folks (AKA older than political science majors). Set up in a law office in the residential area west of Old Town, the Fort Collins Obama Headquarters resembles a true grassroots effort. All the usual—t-shirts, bumper stickers, pins, yard signs are offered, but also dozens of people are engaged in checking off names as they make call after call alerting voters to the upcoming event featuring the Senator in Denver this Wednesday. Campaigners told me a second unofficial local office recently opened to support the Obama effort.

I received an invitation on my door the other night from a neighbor hosting an Obama house party. (Interesting that no other canvassers/invites have come my way in such a heated primary/caucus time). The message of hope will bring neighbors together over coffee and desserts.

Other than this well-oiled Obama campaign machine, I have yet to hear or read of any other local headquarters; however, some lawns papered with Ron Paul signs might qualify. With caucuses set for February 5th, there’s still some time to hear more about the Fort Collins political efforts. A truly diverse town, it is sure to bring varied support for the presidential candidates still in the race.