Hoosiers campaign for Kerry on Buckeye turf

The Indiana Travelers for Kerry is a group affiliated with Monroe County Citizens for Kerry that travels canvassing for the Democratic presidential nominee ... in Ohio.\nCanvassing in Ohio is more important than in Indiana because Ohio's status as a swing state might make more of a difference in determining the next president, said Indiana Travelers for Kerry coordinator and Student Advocate Office Director Sally Jones.\n"I basically am in touch with volunteer coordinators for three to four different communities in Ohio," Jones said. \nThe Indiana Travelers for Kerry visit these communities, where they work on phone banks, canvass neighborhoods and make sure people get out to vote. Jones said Indiana residents cannot work inside the polls in Ohio, but they can work outside providing information about candidates to voters. They can also work out of headquarters to get voters information about where to vote, Jones said.\nCanvassing, Jones said, is basically going door-to-door to identify support, get information about whether residents are registered to vote, poll for support and identify what issues people are concerned about. \nJones, who has canvassed in Ohio three times since the end of September, is going back Oct. 30 through Election Day. She said she'll do whatever it takes to get Kerry elected.\n"I'll do anything they tell me to do," she said. "You may be making sandwiches or picking up pizzas. I hope to free up Ohio volunteers so they can go visit neighborhoods to get them to vote."\nJones added that health care and the War in Iraq are two major issues that concern many people to whom she talks. She said many people express a desire for the government to take care of its people by providing quality health care and world-class education to children.\nThere is a mailing list of about 60 volunteers who have traveled to Ohio in groups both large and small almost every weekend since September, Jones said. In fact, Jones said one Kerry traveler has moved to Mason, Ohio, until Election Day. \nJones said that, during the first week of October, a group of 15 IU law students traveled to Springfield, Ohio, to canvass. Law student Liane Groth said in an e-mail she decided it was important to get IU students together to travel to Ohio (the closest swing state), so she contacted other Kerry supporters in the law school along with the IU College Democrats and got a group together.\n"Canvassing for candidates is a once-in-every-four-years experience," she said. "It is really the heart of the campaign grassroots effort. It's the only time I can think of that you have the guts to drop yourself off in a neighborhood you've never seen, in a town you've never heard of and start knocking on people's doors."\n"In this election, every vote (in every state) counts," Groth said. "George Bush's campaign has done quite a job tearing Sen. Kerry's credibility apart. As a result, many voters are completely disillusioned with the whole process."\nJunior and Cincinnati resident Lauren Miller said it is really important for people to go out and vote because Ohio is such swing state, its 20 electoral votes could really determine the election.\n"Cincinnati is definitively Republican, but everything else is up in the air," she said.\nJones said she was especially impressed by a neighborhood where junior high school-aged children, who were outside riding their bikes, were just as interested in talking to the canvassers as the adults were. She added that the residents had diverse concerns, including the feeling of being deceived by the president.\nGroth said her favorite house was owned by a woman who didn't want to let cold air in by opening her door to the canvassers, so she talked to them through her screen door. \n"A half-hour later, we were inside her house drinking Pepsis," Groth said. "She gave us 'high-fives for Kerry' when we left."\nBoth Jones and Groth have been volunteering with political campaigns since before they could vote. They both said they enjoy the contact with other Americans.\n"One of the reasons that I volunteer to help with political campaigns is that it puts me in touch with what Americans are thinking and feeling about their government," Jones said in an e-mail. "Sometimes the apathy or short-sightedness is discouraging, but overall I find that what people share with me is thoughtful and heartfelt." \n-- Contact copy chief Stephanie Susman at ssusman@indiana.edu.