ACT "GOTV" Effort Ahead of Nov 4 Election

October 26, 2008  |  Sacramento Bee  |  Link to article

While other area teens spent Saturday – a brilliant fall day – playing video games, sports or hanging with friends, Aarron Bean and Charquice Sanders pounded the pavement for democracy.

The two Luther Burbank High School students' mission: Get out the vote.

They were far from alone. With the highly anticipated presidential election just 10 days away, evidence of the democratic process at work was hard to miss – from yard signs to bumper stickers to politicians walking precincts.

Democracy doesn't sleep in

The College Glen Neighborhood Association's candidates forum began bright and early at 8 a.m. Coffee and mini muffins greeted the early birds.

As Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo wrapped up her allotted 10 minutes speaking to 50 or so residents within the modest-size cafeteria of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, challenger Kevin Johnson stood outside the doorway. Nearby, youth soccer teams played on.

When the mayor's turn was up, Johnson, the NBA star-turned-educator and developer, took the microphone.

The two peacefully reprised familiar themes. Fargo talked about her accomplishments and explained how Sacramento came to be in the financial mess it's in. Johnson talked of his vision for the city and said Fargo hadn't done well enough.

A door-by-door experience

After an hour of training, Bean, 18 and Sanders, 16, were ready to hit the streets. The two Burbank basketball players were among 42 teens at the high school and dozens more across the region being dispatched to increase voter participation among minorities.

The effort is being headed up locally by Sacramento Area Congregations Together (ACT) and is funded by the James Irvine Foundation. The plan Saturday was to knock on 3,000 doors.

Dressed in brown ACT T-shirts over their athletic wear and armed with state- issued voter's guides and maps of targeted houses, the two hit the streets around their school at about 10 a.m.

The first few houses were disappointment after disappointment. Nobody answered the bell.

They hit pay dirt at the fifth house.

The teens offered their brief spiel, a quick introduction. Sanders explained he's too young to vote, but that he hoped the occupants would. They ended by offering the impartial voter's guide and directions to the appropriate polling location.

Most people who answered their doors greeted the message warmly. Some said they'd already voted by mail.

Area resident Bill Thomas was excited to see the get-out-the-vote effort. As he saw it, getting out the vote in that neighborhood was more votes for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"He's way close," Thomas said.

At least one resident didn't want to be bothered, closing the curtain after the doorbell rang.

No bother, the youths walked on and vowed to be back. The ACT plan is for the team of students to make return visits next weekend.

An underdog's mettle is tested

After attending the candidates forum Saturday morning, Paul Smith, a Republican hoping to wrest away a heavily Democratic congressional district, hit the streets.

No maps. No lists. Just a man in a gray, pinstriped suit on a mission. His improbable task is to unseat Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui, who succeeded her late husband in representing the 5th Congressional District. The district covers the Democratic-leaning city of Sacramento.

Smith led off his visits with a question that proved to be tough among the small sample group of residents on one of the grittier blocks of Arden Arcade.

"Do you know who your congressperson is?" he asked.

None of the residents could come up with an answer.

His trip down the block was a mixed bag. One man cursed all politicians; another couldn't speak English; another said he didn't have time to talk, and another said he was a felon and wouldn't be permitted to vote.

But Smith pressed, on handing out fliers, telling people to check out his Web site, and offering change.