Game of political upmanship

Still, Republicans were out in force in the town of Delaware, the county seat, on Saturday morning. At a restaurant called Buns, Rep. John A. Boehner, who represents a district near Cincinnati and is the House Republican leader, joined a breakfast for Rep. Pat Tiberi, who represents Delaware County. Boehner said he was unimpressed with the Obama ground game in Ohio.

"They've got people out there?" he asked. "So what? They don't have a candidate or a message that appeals to people in rural areas and exurbs."

But there was no sign that either congressman was stumping for McCain. Most supporters wore Tiberi T-shirts, and the two buses parked outside sported only Boehner and Tiberi signs.

Obama's campaign office was around the corner. About 30 canvassers already were out knocking on doors, including Jenifer Burks, a former Republican and part-time worker at Pizza Hut, who began working at an Obama phone bank eight months ago.

On Hearthstone Drive, she knocked on Monica Thompson's door. The young mother's entry hall was a jumble of kids' jackets and boots. The house got five calls from the Obama campaign on Halloween, she said, and someone left literature on her door the other day.

"I'm voting for Obama," Thompson said.

"How about your husband?" Burks asked.

She replied that her husband, Jeremy, was an independent voter who had not made up his mind. But she added that they had not heard from anyone in the McCain campaign -- not by phone, by mail or in person.

Burks smiled and made a note on her clipboard.

"If you're undecided," she promised, "we're going to talk to you till we know what you're doing."

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bob.drogin@latimes.com

robin.abcarian@latimes.com

Times staff writer Tom Hamburger contributed to this report.