Alabama Republicans send 'battleground' buses to Ohio to help Romney win

Alabama on Wednesday sent buses filled with more than 100 Republican volunteers to Ohio in an effort to help GOP candidate Mitt Romney win the critical swing state on Nov. 6.

WHNT in Huntsville, Ala., reported Wednesday that the bus trip was organized by a group called "Battleground Patriots," which will conduct a broad outreach effort in a bid to turn Ohio toward Romney.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said during a Tuesday night sendoff rally that efforts are being made in several states to help bring resources from states like Alabama, which are expected to support Romney to battleground states like Ohio.

"Voter contact is absolutely imperative," she said, according to WHNT. "The way you do it is by making individual voter contact, and that's why you are seeing Republicans, Democrats, independents and other supporters of Governor Romney across the country going to these battleground states, saying 'We want to make certain Mitt Romney wins, and these are the reasons why.' "

Buses from Alabama set off on the same day that polls had Romney and President Obama tied at about 48 percent apiece. Several analyses of the election on Wednesday said Romney wins in Florida, Ohio and Virginia would mean he needs just one of four smaller swing states to win the nomination, but would have to sweep those swing states to win without Ohio.

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