Sisters activists gear up for election

Organizer Linda Davis signs up volunteers for pro-Kerry activities at her monthly meeting. photo by Susan Springer With only two months until the presidential election, Sisters area residents are actively working to get their preferred candidate elected.

While George W. Bush and John Kerry supporters vehemently disagree about who should be president, they agree on the important activities to get their candidate in the White House.

Republicans and Democrats are aggressively registering new voters. Also, both sides say the second step is getting registered people to actually vote.

Deschutes County Republican Party Chairman Gene Whisnant says he's pleased with the grassroots efforts of local Republicans.

"We're hoping we can present more votes to President Bush than we did last time," Whisnant said.

Bush supporter Matt Cyrus says the economy and healthy forests are important local issues.

"I've flown over Three Sisters Wilderness and it's amazing to see how much is dying, and the private lands are bright green," said Cyrus.

As President of the Deschutes County Farm Bureau, Cyrus said, "It is critical to agriculture that we get some reforms to the Endangered Species Act."

Bush supporter Len Knott has attended several campaign events, including the recent Republican Round-Up at Hooker Creek Ranch.

He calls himself a "hobby farmer" and echoes Cyrus' concerns, saying the current administration's policies are "much friendlier" to agriculture.

He adds forest health is also important, saying Bush's "plan to both salvage already-burned timber and to prevent the intensity of future wild fires" makes sense.

Each month, Kerry supporters meet at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters. The gathering began last year as "Howard Dean Meet-ups," then turned into a pro-Kerry group.

About 30 people came to last Thursday's meeting.

Their agenda included traditional political tools such as letter writing, voter registration, phone banks, yard signs and bumper stickers.

They also discussed the recent power of the Internet to gather political support.

Some supporters send regular emails to friends with news favorable to Kerry and others talked of contributing to the well-known Political Action Committee MoveOn.org.

"We're trying to show that this is not just Bush country," said Kerry organizer Linda Davis, who has more than 60 email addresses on her support list.

Kerry meeting attendee Steve Bryan said, "I feel strongly about getting the nation back on the right track.

"The economy is a local worry especially when we're so dependent on tourism and people having enough money to come here and spend some," said Bryan.

He said last summer's fires showed how a loss of tourism can harm Sisters.

Bryan, who works for a software company, said the economy "isn't roaring back and the jobs being produced are not as good as the ones lost."

Another attendee of the Kerry meeting, Dee Wilson, splits her time between Arizona and the Sisters area.

Wilson says the environment is of particular concern here.

"The Bush administration is devastating to the environment. I hope people take a real look at what he's done," said Wilson.

Some Kerry meeting attendees said this was the first election that had inspired them to put bumper stickers on their cars and one Crossroads couple said they had never contributed more to a campaign, estimating they'd given $1,000 to help elect Kerry.

The group will continue voter registration efforts and meet again on September 23.

Bush supporters Barbara and Gene Prete moved to the Sisters area four years ago. Barbara said since her husband retired from the Army after 21 years, military issues are particularly important to them.

"We believe in a strong military," said Barbara Prete.

She added Bush "has a lot of Reagan in him."

Prete said a family member was badly injured in war, making Kerry's Purple Hearts seem unjustified when he only needed "a couple of Band-Aids."

Prete will be spending her time calling a list of registered Republicans and encouraging them to vote.

Local Bush supporters are celebrating the Republican National Convention with an event at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend September 2. They will watch a live broadcast of President Bush and hear local politicians speak. Because Oregon is a swing state, Bush and Kerry campaigned here last month, giving both parties a boost of energy.

With the race close and time short, both sides are focused on getting every vote.

Len Knott knows the race is close when he says it's "true that Bush lost Oregon four years ago by a margin of three votes per precinct throughout the state. If anything I can say or do can persuade a few voters in precincts in and around Sisters to vote for Bush, then I'll feel I accomplished our collective goal."