Two Articles About Hackettstown Kerry Meetup

[Kire]

Kerry fans convene, plan to get out vote

Friday, July 23, 2004
By KATHERINE BLOK
The Express-Times

HACKETTSTOWN -- About 50 grassroots campaigners, including some who have never worked on a campaign before, gathered Thursday to organize their get-out-the-vote activities for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

One of the first-time activists was Janet Crisafulli of White Township.

"This is the first time in my whole life I have ever come to anything like this," Crisafulli said. "We have to get (President Bush) out of office and that's the real truth. The job market is so bad, the economy is bad. My taxes just went up $1,200, and I live in a senior development."

Crisafulli, 64, said she is still working hard to pay her husband's medical bills.

"We're afraid," she said.

Crisafulli and the other campaigners participated in a Kerry Meetup, the organization of which was facilitated in part by the Web site Meetup.com, which gained popularity with supporters of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean during the primary election. Thursday was an official Kerry campaign Meetup day.

The campaigners discussed voter registration drives, campaigning door to door and volunteering to talk to voters at the upcoming county fairs in Warren and Sussex counties.

"In this region, we're just getting started. It's an uphill climb," said Erik Anderson of Hackettstown, the northwest New Jersey coordinator of New Jersey for Kerry.

Cary Brief of Knowlton Township, the Warren County coordinator, said that because he is disabled and can't work, he is spending all of his time campaigning for Kerry by writing letters, making phone calls and talking to small groups.

Brief said he will be helping voters get absentee ballots and get to polling places Nov. 2.

"My goal is to get people involved and to educate people. It's really important that people know the facts," Brief said. "Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Well, I lost my company and 21 people lost their jobs, so no, I'm not."

The campaigners got a pep talk from Democratic Congressional candidate Anne Wolfe, who talked about her campaign and her friendship with Kerry.

Wolfe said she was a 19-year-old in Massachusetts when she met with Kerry to help organize a march for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Kerry wanted to march from Concord to Lexington.

"I was so struck by the veterans and their patriotism, their strong sense that America comes first and Americans can do better," Wolfe said. "My sense of veterans has never wavered. They gave their all for us. We must give our all for them."

Wolfe criticized the Bush administration for not providing the proper equipment for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. When parents have to raise money to buy proper bullet-proof vests and other equipment, something is wrong, she said.

That statement hit home for Annalisa Fox of Mansfield Township, whose son joined the U.S. Army in 2000. Though he is stationed in Alabama now, he could be deployed, Fox said.

"The situation in Iraq just sickens me, that our soldiers are not getting what they need from this administration, that veterans aren't getting the care they need," Fox said. "I just keep asking myself, what for? We got into this war on false pretenses. That's why I've become very politically active this year."

Democrats are more united and organized than ever this year, Wolfe said.

"This is a total we party, this is a total we campaign. This isn't about John Kerry, John Edwards or Anne Wolfe, this is about all of us. It's very important for you to participate," Wolfe said. "You have to believe we are going to win this race."


Reporter Katherine Blok can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at [e-mail].

Copyright 2004 NJ.com. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/nj/index.ssf?/base/news-5/109057349010560.xml

[Kire]

1. Kerry followers discuss strategy

Kerry followers discuss strategy

Friday, July 23, 2004

By BRENDAN BERLS
New Jersey Herald Staff Writer

HACKETTSTOWN — Democratic congressional candidate Anne Wolfe addressed about 30 John Kerry supporters here Thursday night, rallying their enthusiasm to get out and work toward ousting both Scott Garrett and George W. Bush in the November election.

“It’s such a pleasure to see so many Democrats in Warren County,” she said, referring to the region’s history as a Republican stronghold, before beginning her talk.
She began by speaking of her memories of working with Kerry in the early 1970s and segued into criticisms of Garrett’s congressional record.

Wolfe, who now lives in Mahwah, met Kerry in Massachusetts in 1971, when the future politician was making a name for himself as a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War. She helped Kerry organize a protest march from Concord, Mass., to Lexington, and later volunteered for his first congressional campaign before leaving to work on George McGovern’s unsuccessful 1972 presidential campaign.

“I will never forget the strength of these veterans, their true patriotism,” she said of Kerry’s group. “We have a responsibility to our veterans.”

Wolfe used this topic to shift to Garrett, who she labeled a “photographic patriot” — meaning, she said, that the first-term congressman from Wantage poses for photo opportunities with veterans while voting in Congress to cut veterans’ medical benefits — one of the main issues she attacks him on.

Wolfe also termed Garrett and “extremist,” saying the congressman is much more far-right than he let on during his 2002 campaign.
“(Garrett) can no longer pose as this honorable guy who’s middle-of-the-road,” she said.

Not everyone at the meetup was a Democrat.

Angel Ramos, of Hardwick, a registered Republican, said he is nevertheless moderate, and said he attended mainly because he is troubled by Garrett, who he called “ultra conservative” compared with his moderate Fifth District predecessor, Marge Roukema.

Ramos said he is also leaning toward Kerry in the presidential election, though he said he would have preferred a more moderate Republican like Arizona Senator John McCain.

Others — like regional NJ for Kerry coordinator Eric Anderson, who hosted the meetup — were former Howard Dean supporters who turned their support to Kerry after Dean dropped out of the Democratic primary race.

“The greatest thing Howard Dean did was to revolutionize the way candidates raise money,” Wolfe said, referring to Dean’s successful Internet fundraising tactic which has since been adopted by the Kerry campaign.

Many of the attendees were willing to volunteer their time for the campaign, and began making plans to go door-to-door in their home towns to register voters for the election, despite the area still being primarily Republican.

“All my friends at college are Democrats, but all my friends here are Republicans. It’s weird,” said Rich Griffin, a 20-year-old from Independence Township who attends Rider University in Lawrenceville.
Wolfe closed her speech with a call to action to support both Kerry’s campaign and her own, neither of which is assured of victory in November.

“This is not going to be an easy win, but boy, is it going to be a glorious one, she said.

http://www.njherald.com/news/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1090594622,2663,

[physioex]

2. I know Hackettstown very well.....

Glad to see the efforts, use to live there... :hi: From the west coast.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. You a Hackettstown person too?

So am I. Lived there all my life, until 1998.

One word: Klee's. ;-)

[CO Liberal]

4. Welcome to DU, Kire

:hi:

In the future, only post four paragraphs of an article and provide the link. Even though you included the copyright notice, what you did is actually a violation of copyright law and DU rules.

Wayne
(CO Liberal - born in Montclair, NJ)

[Moderator]

5. Kire

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.

Thank you.

DU Moderator

[Kire]

6. sorry

I give you permission to edit it. If you are the moderator you can do that, right? I can't do it myself anymore, the editing period has expired.

I agree with you. I usually only post a few paragraphs when I post articles on my Yahoo! groups. I don't know why I didn't do it this time. I guess I was just too excited to see myself in the papers. Plus, besides being illegal, it's just annoying sometimes to sift through a huge article.

Again, my apologies.

Erik
Hackettstown

[Kire]

7. sorry, again

I can't edit now, either, but I wanted to change "I give you permission" to "can you please make this change for me"? Sorry for being impolite.

Erik
Hackettstown

[Moderator]

8. Moderators cannot edit posts. An administrator

will edit this for you. :-)

[Kire]

9. cool

thanks