And the winners are...

Barack Obama's campaign announced today the 10 winners of its contest for a backstage pass to the Democratic National Convention and -- shocking! -- most of them come from battleground states and hit the key demographics.

The winners include a nominally Republican college student from Ohio, a retired YMCA director from Pennsylvania who is also a Sunday school teacher, a retired schoolteacher who lives in a GOP-friendly retirement community in Florida, a disabled veteran from Virginia, an Iraq war veteran from Colorado, and even a veteran from North Carolina who served in Vietnam with Republican John McCain, but now backs Obama because of McCain's support for the Iraq war.

The 10 supporters, plus one guest each, will get free airfare and hotel and will attend two days of the convention, including a private session with Obama just before he accepts the nomination at Invesco Field in Denver on Aug. 28.

“Senator Obama is focused on opening up the convention, his acceptance speech and the democratic process to more people than ever before. Supporters are responsible for building this movement and for bringing this campaign so far -- and Barack looks forward to sharing this moment with them,” campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement.