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Party Time!

When the polls closed, the celebrations began.

KIMBERLY LIFTON, PHIL JACOBS AND. LESLEY PEARL

Volunteers work the telephones at the JCCouncil's "Get Out To Vote" effort.

JCCouncil Gets
Out The Vote

KIMBERLY LIFTON STAFF WRITER

TH E DETRO I T J EWIS H NEWS

S

10

he may not be old
enough to vote, but 9-
year-old Sarah Frank
of Allen Park knows
what she wants.
On Sunday, the eve of the
1992 presidential election,
young Sarah joined about 40
Jewish community volun-
teers at the Max Fisher
Building in Bloomfield
Township to urge members
of the community to get out
and vote.
She and other volunteers
at the Jewish Community
Council's first get-out-to-
vote drive were instructed
only to ask likely voters to
go to the polls, so Sarah kept
her bias out of the conver-
sation. She wore a button
stating, "Bush Not."
Sarah was the youngest
volunteer for the phone pro-
ject, which successfully
reached 3,000 members of
the Detroit Jewish commu-
nity. She came to the phone
bank with her father, Fred
Frank, who coordinated the
event.
"Your vote counts,"
Jewish Community Council
volunteers told the likely
voters.
Volunteers came from all

over, all backgrounds, all
with one similar goal: to re-
mind everyone that Jews
can impact the electoral pro-
cess. Even former JCCouncil
Executive Director Al Kush-
ner and current director
David Gad-Harf came out on
the cold, rainy afternoon to
make a few calls.
Many who received calls
were pleasantly surprised.
No one was asked for a
pledge; just a vote. Just a
few said they were not going
to vote. Some of those called
asked whom Jews should
support (volunteers did not
provide this information)
and even a few political
types, like some judges and
precinct delegates, appeared
on the lists.
The get-out-to-vote drive
followed alarming statistics
that showed close to 1 mil-
lion eligible Jewish voters
were not registered.
Through efforts of the
Synagogue Council of Amer-
ica, nearly 200,000 Jews
throughout the country —
including some in metropoli-
tan Detroit — became reg-
istered on time to vote in
Tuesday's election. ❑

t 5 p.m., Marc White-
field knew the race
was over. So when
the networks began
confirming a Clinton-Gore
victory just before 9 p.m., he
wasn't surprised. Just elat-
ed.
Mr. Whitefield arrived in
East Lansing about 9 p.m.
on Tuesday to celebrate
with his friends and fellow
campaign workers, Faylene
and Larry Owen, who
chaired the state's Clinton
fund-raising campaign.
When he walked into the
party and saw Ms. Owen, he
just gave her a big hug.
"The day was like a count-
down — no a count up," said
Mr. Whitefield, an attorney.
"Now I'm excited to get
things going. I think there
will be innovative programs
to get things changing.
Today is the beginning of
what really makes a differ-
ence."
Clinton supporters were
everywhere — and in some
odd places throughout
metropolitan Detroit Tues-
day night. At a drive-
through McDonald's on the
east side of Detroit, em-
ployees made a fresh pot of
coffee and gave free apple
pies for a carload of adults
who said they voted for
Clinton-Gore.
A beggar asked a group of
partygoers for 50 cents, and
he told them it was OK if
they didn't help him be-
cause Clinton was going to
be president.
At the International
Center in Greektown, a
packed ballroom of state
Democrats sang the cam-
paign theme song, "Don't
Stop Thinking About
Tomorrow," and chanted,
"You are next" when Gov.
John Engler appeared on
the television screen.
Pam Lippitt was at the
party in Greektown. She
had extra reason to cele-
brate. She started the
evening at the Jewish
Federation Young Adult
Division's election night

party at the Metropolitan
Music Cafe in Farmington
Hills, and she headed down-
town for some additional ex-
citement.
Her longtime friend, Eric
Fingerhut, a Democrat in
Cleveland, won his first U.S.
congressional race. She met
Eric during her high school
days as an active member of
Central Region United
Synagogue Youth.
She remembers his first
big victory when he won the
office of Central Region
president during his senior
high school year.
"Eighteen years ago, we
sat on my Southfield porch
talking about this," she
said."I'm thrilled."
In Pontiac, at the
Ultimate Sports Bar, the
story of the night was an
elephant named Twiggy —
not Mr. Bush's defeat.
Surrounded by pool ta-
bles, air hockey and other
"games," a baby elephant
sported a red cape and an
L. Brooks Patterson head-
band. Kept within metal
gates, with one leg tied to
a post, Twiggy was as pop-
ular and visible as the man
most of these people came
to support — L. Brooks
Patterson.
Donning a yellow tie and
a confident smile, Mr.
Patterson mingled freely
while waiting for the official

results. No one appeared
concerned he might not win.
He did.
As early as 8:30 p.m.,
Republican supporters
latched on to their local fa-
vorites, conceding Mr. Bush
would not be around anoth-
er four years. They had rea-
son for celebration. The
GOP emerged victorious in
state races.
Republican Joe Knollen-
berg's 11th Congressional
District supporters gathered
by the hundreds at his vic-
tory celebration at the
Livonia Radisson. The scene
was not so festive at the
Glens of Bloomfield, where
Democratic rival Walter
Briggs heard he lost his sec-
ond bid for Congress.
Mr. Briggs held on until
the end, and he had not yet
conceded by the time Mr.
Clinton spoke nationally to
supporters about 12:40 a.m.
Even if he did not win, Mr.
Briggs said, he was quite
happy with the results of
the presidential race.
Rep. Sander Levin and
his brother, Sen. Carl Levin,
were floating around town
with their family and
friends. In Warren, at
Sander Levin's campaign
headquarters, Temple
Emanu-El President Bea
Sacks (who works for
Sander Levin) began tally-
ing up the electoral votes at

Rep. Sander Levin enjoys victory with his supporters.

