By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
With the deadline to vote in Oregon just a few hours away, activity at the Obama campaign office at Northeast Killingsworth Street and 15th Avenue is feverish. They’re acting like they’re fighting for a battleground state.
About 15 volunteers are on land lines and cell phones, calling names still unchecked on a voters list. “We can come by and pick it up for it you at your house,” a woman working the phone bank says into her handset. “Yes, we’ll give you a receipt for it. It’s safe. We’ll make sure it gets where it needs to be.”
Meanwhile, some 25 volunteers are still out, knocking on doors, urging holdouts to vote, said volunteer Lulit Mesfin. “They’ll be out until 7,” Mesfin says.
About 200 people shuffle around the tiny building. The place erupts in applause as another voters drops his ballot into the slot atop a wood box reading, “VOTE.”
Outside, Gary Clay Sr. of St. John’s shouts through a bullhorn at passing cars. “Obama!” “Obama!” “Tell a friend! Telle them to get their ballot in!”
Asked how long he has been calling out from his chair on the sidewalk. “A few days,” he says with a smile and horse voice.
“I’ve been in and out of the hospital with a heart condition,” Clay says. “Whenever I got out, this is where I’d come. It’s good for my heart, doing this”
He shouts into the megaphone again: “Change is a-comin’” Garbage men hanging from a passing big rig shout and honk.
(Joseph Rose; josephrose@news.oregonian.com)
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