DNC Chair woman speaks in Oakland Saturday

Chairwoman for the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman Schultz stopped in Pittsburgh…Chairwoman for the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman Schultz stopped in Pittsburgh on Saturday to rally local volunteers and remind Obama supporters that the clock is ticking.

“We have 52 days,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Fifty-two days to make sure that Pennsylvania’s voters know what’s at stake … And for young people, there has really never been more at stake.”

A crowd of about 60 volunteers and staffers, mostly college students from Pitt, CMU and Point Park University, sat on easy chairs and couches at the Obama campaign office on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Atwood Street. In the middle of a sparsely decorated loft, the congresswoman spoke about campaign issues geared toward college students. On Sunday, she would appear with Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, at an event at the Obama for America field office on Smallman Street.

“The other side has made clear what their most important resource is … money,” she said. “What’s ours?”

“People,” the crowd answered back.

Wasserman Schultz arrived in Oakland at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday from another campaign stop in Ohio.

The congresswoman spoke briefly, focusing mainly on college affordability and the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare.

“We embrace that term because Obama cares,” she said to laughter from the audience.

She also attacked Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan on the Ryan budget and their proposition to turn Medicare into a voucher system.

“I had a front-row seat for that budget as a member of the budget committee,” she said. “They would take us back to policies that nearly crashed our economy, got us into the worst economic crisis … since the Great Depression.”

Chris Wilson, a senior and political science major at Pitt, has been volunteering on behalf of the campaign with Pitt College Democrats throughout the year.

Wilson said his experience phone banking and canvassing with the Obama campaign has given him a view of the electorate beyond just the student population.

Wilson described how he has witnessed the effects of recent voter ID laws.

“There was this old lady, and she was in a wheelchair and not very mobile,” he explained.

According to Wilson, the elderly woman was so frustrated with the new restrictions that she had decided not to vote. Wilson worked with her and even got in touch with her son to help her sort through her frustrations.

“She said she would just cast an absentee ballot,” Wilson said.

The campaign headquarters in Oakland opened during the summer. Without furniture or air conditioning, volunteers and staff began working toward getting President Barack Obama re-elected.

Now, a large painting of Obama in the style of Shepard Fairey’s “Hope” portrait covers one side of the loft wall, and a painting of a tree decorated with various names covers the other. Opposite, large windows look out onto Atwood Street and Forbes Avenue.

Western Pennsylvania Regional Press Secretary Matt Mittenthal said he wanted to make the choice clear for students.

“It’s important for students to know the president has had their backs these past four years by making college more affordable and keeping student loan rates low,” he said.

Wasserman Schultz said she is optimistic about the campaign statewide.

“We are excited about trends here in Pennsylvania, but we are not taking anything for granted,” she said.