This is the office where I volunteer.
Clinton Seeks Edge in Bayonne’s ‘War of the Volunteers’
By Glenn Collins
BAYONNE, N.J. — There is a Winston Churchill poster on the wall of the Hillary Rodham Clinton storefront campaign hub here on Broadway that portrays the prime minister proclaiming, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
Staunch words, indeed, for the team that endured Senator Clinton’s primary rebuff in South Carolina on Saturday night, “but people weren’t down, here,” said Shane Derris, 22, the Hudson County coordinator in the office. “If anything, it means that Hillary’s people are coming out more, because we know it’s all about the delegates now.”
He paused to welcome a volunteer, then smiled. “This is the first time New Jersey has had a primary this early, and that makes it so meaningful.”
The new volunteer, Wanda Osinski, said she was 78, and had stopped by because “Hillary is a very smart lady, and I don’t like the media criticizing her so much,” she said, as she put her name on a volunteer form.
“My daughter is voting for Hillary, too,” she added, as she was led to a phone to begin calling Bayonne’s sizable cohort of Polish-speaking voters.
City Room is making the rounds of the presidential candidates’ campaign offices this week, and this was the first stop. The Clinton office, at 761 Broadway between Judicke’s Bakery and the Warsaw Deli, is “very accessible,” Mr. Derris said, “and the visibility helps us helps us get walk-ins. People like to have a place to come in and sit down.”
Statewide, the senator counts about 20 staffers and field organizers, and more than 4,000 regular volunteers, said Brendan Gilfillan, 25, the New Jersey campaign’s communications director. By the end of the week there will be a dozen offices and call centers, he said.
In Bayonne, the campaign is renting its two-room office from the Bayonne City Regular Democratic Organization. Mrs. Clinton attracts about 40 regular volunteers each day, who make more than 2,000 daily calls. Among the workers are Arabs, Asians, Hispanics, Indians, Italians “and a couple of Orthodox Jews who keep coming in to call people,” Mr. Derris said.
He added: “Hudson County is critical, there are so many votes here. If you’re born in this town, you’re a Democrat. It’s a working-class area. A lot of people in the county work in New York, and they know and appreciate what Hillary has done for them.”
That said, there are defectors — Jerramiah T. Healy, for one, the mayor of neighboring Jersey City, who has announced his support for Senator Barack Obama. “But since Governor Corzine, Senator Menendez and 29 Hudson County officials have endorsed Hillary, we don’t think that undermines our grass-roots strategy,” Mr. Gilfillan said.
In Hudson County, the personal touch has been a boon to volunteer participation. “I saw her last week at the North Bergen rally,” said John Cifarelli, 25, who has been organizing voter efforts for Mrs. Clinton in Jersey City. “It was really great — she personally gave me this pin.”
At the phone bank, Jennie Mugrace, 17, a volunteer who is a senior at Bayonne High School, said she was thrilled when Mrs. Clinton shook her hand. “That was an experience,” she said.
To channel such enthusiasm, Mr. Derris said, “We’re asking all our supporters to call all their friends.”
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/in-bayonne-clinton-seeks-edge-in-war-of-the-volunteers/