On a Denver college campus, former Husky Joe Goldberg was promoting presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry and signing up volunteers when someone decided his soul needed to be saved. The person approached him and insisted on preaching religion in his face, and Goldberg eventually had to leave the campus.
A thousand miles away, Northeastern alum Matthew Slutsky has operated inside the democratic “war room” in Washington, D.C., for the past six months, working to schedule promotional speeches by such high-profile politicians as former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Gen. Wesley Clark.
His twin brother, Peter, is in Portland, Ore., assigning neighborhoods to be visited and doors to be knocked on, organizing a grassroots campaign and putting on fund-raising events featuring such celebrities as Bon Jovi and Alyssa Milano.
All three are Northeastern graduates, and all have traveled across the country to promote who they believe is the better choice for president.
After seeing the Republican National Convention in New York City in August, Goldberg immediately knew he wanted to do something for the Kerry campaign.
“I was so disgusted by [the convention] that I had to get involved, so I quit my job,” the 2003 graduate said. “I started researching battleground states, and I have some friends here I knew I could stay with, so I moved to Colorado.”
Goldberg, hailing from Wayland, makes direct contact with the voters as well as manages volunteers underneath him. He spends his days promoting Kerry to low-income voters and ensuring they will go to the polls on Election Day.
After graduating in the fall of 2003 with degrees in political science, the Slutskys, natives of Philadelphia, began to travel around the country promoting the Democratic cause.
Peter visited about 10 states during the primaries, and then took the opportunity to travel west and work on field teams. He now functions as a regional field director and operates the largest region in the state.
Matthew started off in field work, but was given the chance to go to the nation’s capital and work in the higher ranks of the campaign. Depending on what Kerry’s message is for his speeches that day, Matthew works to spread it through the media using surrogates, or top politicians and celebrities who can reinforce the message through speeches or appearances.
With the presidential election only a week away, all three volunteers have said they are working at a furious pace.
“Things are wild, it’s been the craziest couple of months, and definitely the craziest couple of weeks of my life,” Peter said. “I’ve been working 18-hour days for about the last two years to make this happen.”
Goldberg said the success of Kerry’s bid for the presidency depends heavily on the grassroots aspects of his campaign.
“I always tell my volunteers we can give you a script to say when you knock on doors but it’s your personal stories that are the most important,” he said.
Both twins, who said they keep in frequent contact, spoke about the satisfaction of helping contribute to the campaign.
“I think an election is like a Little Stevie’s pizza, every slice means something special, just like every job you do is important,” Matthew said.
Despite the stress and occasional setbacks, including finding republican moles in headquarters and having volunteers be called “baby killers,” each of the three former Huskies expressed confidence in Kerry’s chances.
“I’m confident that people want change and people want a fresh start, and that’s what they’re going to get [in Kerry],” Peter said. “Whatever newscaster announces Kerry as the winner on election night, I will be watching and be very proud to know that I contributed.”
