For Bob Botfeld, this year’s election has become messy in more ways than one.
“When we moved into this place, the debris was yea high,” Botfeld said, holding his hand at chest level. “But it has been terrific. We’re coming along fast.”
With the election right around the corner, Botfeld, a Democratic District Leader, and local political groups the Three Parks Independent Democrats and the Broadway Democrats have joined together to transform the former Bear Farm, a produce shop turned derelict storefront on Broadway and 105th Street, into a local Democratic campaign headquarters for this November’s election.
“We’ve had a faster buildup than ever,” Botfeld said. “It usually takes a while to gear up our support, but the turnout this year has been fast.”
Botfeld was very impressed with the range of volunteers who had shown up in the past few days to fix up the property. “We had people from the Bronx and Brooklyn come out. The Brooklyn folks worked on the floor, the Bronx people on the ceiling. Some sort of north-south divide, maybe,” Botfeld chuckled. “The super from next door came over to show us how to spackle and plaster.”
Much of the work, according to Botfeld, was clearing the detritus that the grocery had left behind. “We had crews of people on their hands and knees, scrubbing the old grease off the floor,” he said. “And the back wall was an old metal refrigerator case. We had to break it up with sledgehammers.”
According to Botfled, Upper West Side political clubs have banded together for every election since 1984 to rent a storefront as a campaign headquarters. Although Barack Obama’s bid is the centerpiece of this November’s elections, the clubs—who have taken on the collective persona “Westsiders for Victory”—will also lend support to local politicians up for re-election, such as Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell (D-Morningside Heights) and New York State Senator Bill Perkins (D-Harlem).
“When Clinton first ran we had [a storefront] next to the driving school down the street, and we took out the corner store for John Kerry last time,” said Cynthia Doty, another District Leader. “We want a big turnout, we want to take advantage of the mood. There’s so much enthusiasm [about this election].”
Volunteers have already set up tables on the sidewalk outside the building, handing out pamphlets and buttons, and helping new voters fill out voter registration forms. Doty said the number of first-time voters was remarkable. “What’s different now, compared to previous years, is the number of people who have never voted before but now want to register,” she said.
When the inside of the store is complete, phones and computers will be set up. “Our plan is to use it [the space] for phone banking, as well as to help organize trips to swing areas,” Doty said. Volunteers will head out to Bucks County, Pa. in a few days, and more trips are planned. “We did some research on who was organizing things and who wanted our help,” she said.
The clubs purchased their signs and buttons privately, but will link up with the national campaign once the phone bank is installed, as calling lists and phone scripts are generated from Obama’s own headquarters.
“This campaign has so many groups doing grass-roots stuff, so it’s easy for us to fit into their campaign strategy,” Doty said. “But New York is pretty solidly Democratic. If we were a more important state, then we’d probably be getting much more supervision.”
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