By Chris Levister

UCLA student Amanda Morris, 23, braved two and a half hours of traffic to get here.

Pomona Mayor Norma J. Torres showed up with her family. Daniel Flores brought his nine year old son Reuben. San Bernardino City Council hopeful Carolyn Tillman was on hand for the excitement.

On a scorching Tuesday afternoon a rainbow of Barack Obama supporters gathered at a grand-opening reception in the offices of Californians for Obama. It didn't matter that Mr. Obama wasn't in attendance or for that matter any of his staff. Save a few brochures,

donation envelopes and other campaign rhetoric stacked on a welcoming table, the offices were bare bones.

"It's all about Obama. Look around it's the excitement. That's why were here," said Emmett Cash III, chairman and coordinator for Californians for Obama - a grass roots organization of supporters not directly tied to the Illinois senator's official campaign.

"If the grassroots group Californians for Schwarzenegger can elect the governor of California just think what we can do for Obama," said Cash.

Perhaps more than any other campaign the Obama campaign is getting a free pass to independent volunteer groups like Californians for Obama that have popped up to help

put the senator in the White House.

These groups have turned out big crowds at rallies and helped Obama catapult his campaign war chest a numbing $32 million in just three months mostly from small donations to his Internet site. The question is whether this enthusiasm among small dedicated groups can translate into votes come primary day and beyond.

"We want to take all this energy, national momentum and online support to a new level," says Cash. "It's been said, ‘so goes California, so goes the nation'."

What brings the organization to San Bernardino?  "Great potential," says Cash

Local business owner Collin James Lowe agrees. The potential for turning out the votes here is greatly underestimated."

"Traditionally presidential candidates and their campaigns hit the big cities, L.A. Oakland, San Francisco, but if you look around we're sitting in the middle of the fastest growing region in the nation. San Bernardino is no longer the stepchild of Los Angeles. It's the new frontier for votes," said Cash.

Votes, Democratic candidate Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton of New York hopes to cash in on as plans are underway to open a satellite office in the Inland Empire. Independent grassroots supporters for Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's are eying the region. Mitt Romney's campaign is also considering an office in the area according to spokeswoman Sarah Pompel.

Obama supporters hope the San Bernardino office will serve as a rallying point, an opportunity to reach out to Inland Empire supporters. In October the group plans to conduct a statewide training for volunteers and campaign personnel at the San Bernardino office.