Election 2004: The Blues are blue, but for local Reds, happy days ahead Election 2004: The Blues are blue, but for local Reds, happy days ahead (November 10, 2004)

** Locals ruminate on the meaning of the presidential election.

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

For local Republicans, President George W. Bush's victory was a triumph and a reminder that, while they may be out of step with the majority of San Mateo County voters, they are in sync with much of the rest of the country.

Supporters of Sen. John Kerry who worked hard to unseat President Bush are left with the nagging question, "Where do we go from here?"

San Mateo County voters supported Sen. Kerry by more than two to one, with 69.6 percent of the of the vote going to the Democratic challenger and only 29.4 percent going to the incumbent. Third-party candidates accounted for a paltry combined less-than-1 percent of the vote.

Happy Republicans

Menlo Park resident Elsie M. Floriani, the founder and executive editor of Gentry magazine, said she fears Americans have lost their moral compass. She thinks voters turned out for President Bush to try to restore a sense of decency to the nation, she said.

"I admire Bush's standards. He stands for more of what our country was founded on," Ms. Floriani said.

DiDi Fisher, a former Atherton City Council member, said she was thrilled with the Republican victory. She and her husband John, also a former Atherton council member, have long been involved in Republican politics, and Ms. Fisher ran the local Reagan for president office in 1980.

"It's wonderful," Ms. Fisher said.

The Fishers contributed to Republican campaign coffers, but did not actively volunteer in President Bush's re-election campaign, she said.

Ron Oehm, a Menlo Park management consultant, said he thinks the trust issue won the day for President Bush, and swayed new voters into the Republican camp.

"I trusted George Bush more than his opponent to deal with the significant issues of the day," he said.

Menlo Park businessman Duncan Matteson said he hopes the country can return to civility in politics.

"There were strong emotions on both sides. I think Democratic confrontational politics lost, big-time," said Mr. Matteson. "I would like to see our country move on and accomplish great things."

Bill Lane of Portola Valley, a prominent and moderate Republican who was President Reagan's ambassador to Australia, admits he struggled with this election. He declined to say how he voted.

Mr. Lane, who has just bought a hybrid car, is particularly worried about the environment and global warming. He wants less reliance on fossil fuels, more research on alternative energy, and more respect for science, he said.

"I've seen glaciers receding in Patagonia and Alaska," he said. "I'm convinced global warming is real."

Mr. Lane said he hoped the new administration will tackle such crucial issues with respect, civility and honesty. "It's important to come together, even though we disagree," he said. "Disagreement is not bad; it's fundamental to this country and to democracy."

Steve Poizner, Republican candidate for state Assembly, said he is concerned about the clear split in philosophy between red states and blue states.

"Perceptions are so different. It concerns me greatly that the country is divided on such core issues. Unification will be very difficult," Mr. Poizner said.

Kerry activists

Volunteers by the hundreds in San Mateo County made person-to-person contact with voters in Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Hawaii, Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas, Arizona, and Nevada, said Daniele Schechter Huerta, the San Mateo county coordinator for the Kerry Swing State outreach. Many traveled, phoned and wrote letters.

In the final four days of the campaign, said Ms. Schechter Huerta, these volunteers made more than 75,000 "Get Out the Vote Calls."

"It is heartening to know that so many wonderful people are dedicated to the cause of intelligent, honest leadership" she said. "I know that we will come together soon to continue working for the America we envision -- an America strong at home and respected throughout the world."

Jon Silver of Portola Valley, a key player in the local grass-roots Kerry-Edwards campaign, while obviously disappointed about the election's outcome, said the positive side is the "incredible" amount of citizen activism that came together.

"We want to build on it and redouble our efforts," he said.

"Many of us will find a way to work harder and more effectively (to) build anew a progressive coalition and move discussion to a different place," said Mr. Silver.

Goals include providing a decent education and economic security for all, and a more collaborative foreign policy leadership, he said.

"These times now call for harder struggle," said Mr. Silver, paraphrasing his favorite quote of Paul Robeson.

Others found it harder to be upbeat about the election's outcome.

"I'm just sad," said former Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey the morning after the election. "I hope the president becomes a big enough man to bring the country together again."

Mr. McCloskey, a part-time Portola Valley resident, spent the past month campaigning for Mr. Kerry in Iowa, New Hampshire and New Mexico, occasionally working alongside movie stars Paul Newman and Sean Penn.

His wife, Helen Hooper McCloskey, reregistered in New Mexico as a Democrat and worked two precincts for Mr. Kerry. She's a former member of the California Republican Central Committee.

Ira Ruskin, the Democratic candidate for state Assembly, and at press time, the apparent winner, talked about the impact of the Bush administration beyond the next four years.

"It alarms me. I'm very concerned about appointments to the Supreme Court," Mr. Ruskin said. "We could return to the dark days of women getting illegal abortions and not having the right to choose."

Danna Bortz Breen, who hosted Mr. Kerry at her Portola Valley home during the primary campaign, was busy with events, sending out postcards and making phone calls up until the polls closed on election day.

"Voting is not enough in terms of reclaiming our government," she said, adding that people need to participate on some level.

Her biggest problem with the Bush administration, she said, "is that no political party has the right to claim concepts like morality and ethics as their own. It's arrogant and wrong, and perpetuates duality in this world."

Almanac staff writers Jane Knoerle, Marion Softky, Marjorie Mader and David Boyce contributed to this report.

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