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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, October 12, 2008 Expect parties to pester voters By Jerry Cornfield, Herald Columnist They know better than most that every vote counts. That is why Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi are investing more money and enlisting more volunteers to get their backers to vote than either did in 2004. Add in the stepped-up efforts of the political parties and presidential campaigns and starting this Thursday, when ballots are mailed, you have the makings of the grandest get-out-the-vote drive this state has ever seen. By Friday, when some of the state's 3.5 million registered voters will return their marked ballots, every day until Nov. 4 becomes Election Day. Gregoire's campaign is lining up 1,500 volunteers statewide, and its squad in Snohomish County will be led by two full-time field staff. Four years ago, when they lost the county, they had no paid organizers. Rossi's camp didn't disclose numbers but said it will have a larger presence too in the county and around the state. One reason for the build-up is the memory of the 133-vote margin of their '04 battle. Another is that voting at the polls is gone throughout the state. Campaigns are trying to track each ballot through the mail and back to election offices. That takes bodies. The work starts this weekend. You may get a phone call or visit at home from someone asking if you got your ballot. Expect repeat calls or door knocks until you turn it in. Another reason for the massive effort is so many people didn't vote in the August primary and will need reminding about the general election. Snohomish County had a 42 percent turnout; it should be at least twice as much in November. Some eligible voters, such as those aged 65 and older, won't need prodding. Three out of four voted in the primary and will do it again. On the other hand, the campaigns will need to deliver a swift kick to county voters aged 18 to 34. Only about one in five, 17,280 out of roughly 84,000, participated. Gregoire and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are counting on that bloc to power them to victory. They may be the first ones to get contacted. Jim Donner, a sharp-tongued Republican Party mainstay, is an accomplished agitator in Snohomish County. On Friday he celebrated one of his proudest successes -- getting his name on a bridge. The span on Ash Way is two lanes wide, two dozen wooden planks long and crosses Swamp Creek. A few years back, Donner, in one of his frequent visits to harangue county council members, joked to Democratic Councilman Dave Gossett that he wanted a bridge named for himself. Donner kept asking. In December the council's Democratic majority decided to shut him up. They picked a bridge they knew they were going to tear down. They thought it would be replaced by now. Problems arose and it's up until 2009. Count on Donner to try to convince them to leave his name on the new one. Political reporter Jerry Cornfield's blog, The Petri Dish, is at www.heraldnet.com. Contact him at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

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