Joe Imel/Daily NewsArberta Alexander, of Bowling Green, smiles as she listens to speakers Tuesday. Several hundred people rally at Fountain Square Park Tuesday in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Following the rally, suporters walk to his newly opened campaign office at 814 State Street. Obama was not in attendance.

Toting signs of support and yelling full-throated chants of “Yes we can,” supporters of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign gathered Tuesday in Fountain Square Park to hold a rally and celebrate the opening of the Bowling Green Obama campaign headquarters.

About 200 people, diverse in both age and race, came to the park for an opportunity to pick up some free bumper stickers and buttons supporting the Democratic senator from Illinois and to hear speeches supporting Obama.

Shailen Bhatt, regional field director for the campaign, said that the Bowling Green office would serve as a regional hub, helping to register new voters over the next week.

“There is a palpable excitement when I go around the community and people see me with my Obama button,” Bhatt said before the rally. “Random strangers have come up to me to talk about the campaign.”

The deadline to register to vote in the May 20 Democratic primary election is 4 p.m. Monday.

In the weeks leading up to the primary, campaign volunteers will canvass neighborhoods and make phone calls to identify Obama supporters and encourage them to vote in the primary.

The Bowling Green regional office at 814 State St. joins other offices in Kentucky already open in Lexington, Louisville and Paducah.

At the office after the rally, several dozen people signed up to volunteer for the campaign, and many more signed up to be on the campaign’s e-mail list.

The three speakers at the event gave different reasons for their support for Obama.

Emily Cooper, a junior at Western Kentucky University, said that while she agreed with most of Obama’s policies, she was drawn to his campaign through his expressed desire to change the culture of politics in Washington.

“Never before in my life had I found a politician I could identify with,” Cooper said.

Former Bowling Green Mayor Patsy Sloan did not mention Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama’s Democratic primary opponent, by name in her remarks, but did say that both candidates were the best equipped for the presidency and would make history if elected.

Her support for Obama emerged through seeing several young people, who in past years voted in smaller numbers, actively campaigning for him.

“It’s a question of the future versus the past and the future lies with Emily and all young people out there,” said Sloan, who served as mayor from 1988-91. “Their future depends on decisions that are taken today.”

Former state Sen. Nick Kafoglis said the next president would have the responsibility of restoring trust in the United States as a world power, saying the Bush administration has presided over a faltering economy and a “disaster” in the Iraq war.

Kafoglis then drew a contrast between Obama and Republican presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John McCain on the issue of the ongoing war, pointing out that Obama, while serving in the Illinois State Senate, opposed the Iraq war prior to its beginning.

“John McCain has said we need to stay in Iraq even if it takes another 100 years,” Kafoglis said. “If you need a good reason, that’s enough reason to vote a Democrat for president.”

Whether through buttons, signs or T-shirts, most of the crowd made their support for Obama known.

Denise Anderson of Bowling Green attended the rally with her husband and her dog, a schnauzer named Telly that wore a T-shirt with “Canines for Obama” written on it.

Anderson, who said she had never been so inspired by a presidential candidate before, identified Iraq and universal health care as important issues in this year’s election.

“That the richest country in the world is not providing health care for its citizens is appalling,” said Anderson, who lived abroad for 20 years.

Paul Sears, a clothing retailer from Horse Cave, said the economy was the most important issue to him this election.

“I think this candidate wants to help the less fortunate and the middle class,” Sears said.

The campaign headquarters will hold a voter registration drive beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday at WKU’s University Center.

At 4 p.m. that day, a WKU for Obama organizing event will be at Gordon Wilson Hall to register voters, recruit volunteers and raise awareness of the campaign.