Election 2004: Locals help mobilize vote for president Election 2004: Locals help mobilize vote for president (October 27, 2004)

With a week to go before the presidential election November 2, local political activists have been busy organizing money-raising and get-out-the-vote efforts here and in "battleground states," such as Ohio, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Marjorie Wagstaffe of Menlo Park reports "a feeling of renewed energy" in support of President George Bush's re-election, after she participated in a Republican voter-recruiting effort in downtown Menlo Park during the street art festival Sunday, October 17.

The registration drive was "very successful," says Ms. Wagstaffe, an associate member of the San Mateo County Republican Central Committee.

Ms. Wagstaffe, who also participated in voter registration drives at the Sharon Heights Safeway, says she's noted "a shifting" from Democrats to Republicans in recent days -- even in this highly Democratic area.

Florida

Servero Ornstein, who lives on Skyline, and his wife Laura have volunteered to do poll monitoring in Florida through an organization called Election Protection.

"They still need more people, especially in Florida, Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico," said the retired computer scientist who played a key role at Xerox PARC when it was a nursery for personal computing and the Internet.

"If any of you are sitting around wondering how you can help and want to travel a bit, consider volunteering," said Mr. Ornstein. For information, go to http://ElectionProtection.org.

The organization says it especially needs volunteers who are lawyers, law students, clergy or Spanish-speaking.

McCloskeys

Republicans Pete and Helen McCloskey of Portola Valley are campaigning for Sen. John Kerry.

Ms. McCloskey has re-registered as a Democrat and is covering two precincts in Madrid, New Mexico, for MoveOn, a group that backs Mr. Kerry, according to her mother, Trish Hooper of Portola Valley.

Mr. McCloskey, who served in Congress from 1967 to 1982, is campaigning with "Republicans for Kerry" movie star Paul Newman in New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
Phone banks

Local phone banks and other efforts are aimed at mobilizing voters in such critical states as Ohio, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin.

A group of Menlo Park school parents, community members and friends -- known as "No Regrets" -- are inviting people who support Sen. John Kerry to join them. For information, e-mail Daniele Schechter Huerta at daniele1mail-kerry@yahoo.com, or visit www.smc4kerry.org.
Jon Silver

Jon Silver of Portola Valley is urging people to come to his home at 355 Portola Road on Friday, October 29, from 3 to 6 p.m. to help with phone banks. People are asked to RSVP, because there's limited space, by calling Mr. Silver at 851-7519 or contacting Daniele Schechter Huerta at daniele1mail-kerry@yahoo.com.

Mr. Silver asks participants to bring a national calling card or cell phone and clipboard.

"I've never ever seen the depth of citizen activism than I've seen in the involvement to elect Kerry-Edwards and oust Cheney-Bush," said Mr. Silver, a key player in the area's Republicans for Kerry.

Local environmentalist Peter Drekmeier suggests that people encourage Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to stay home and not go to Ohio to stump for President Bush. People can do that, he said, by calling (916) 445-2841, or e-mailing going to www.govmail.ca.gov.

INFORMATION

People can get more information about volunteering by entering the candidates names in a search engine, such as Google.

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