Bay Area Clinton Backers Head To Swing States To Defeat Trump
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – A growing group of Bay Area residents will travel to swing states this fall to help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump in the presidential election.
Deep Jawa, an engineer at Apple, said he was concerned about leaving 10-month-old Aja behind with his wife, Kimberly. But he asked her anyway.
"I was like, 'Honey, I want to talk to you about this idea. I kind of need to go work for Hillary Clinton campaign in a swing state.' And she was like, 'That's great,'" he told KPIX 5.
Jawa is among a growing group of Bay Area folks who have decided they will take vacation time in the fall to travel to a swing state and work to get out the vote for Hillary Clinton.
"It's kind of grass rootsy," said Alex Clemens of Lighthouse Public Affairs.
Clemens is active in local politics, but has never done this before for a national campaign. "This horrifying candidate is stirring a great deal of intensity amongst people, many of whom have never been involved in politics before," he said.
It started with Facebook. With the hashtag #SwingStatePledge, Clemens posted that he was going to a swing state to volunteer for a week.
"I checked back on Facebook a half hour later, dozens of responses. It really felt organic," Clemens recalled. "And people weren't just saying, 'We've got to stop this guy.' It wasn't just talk on Faceboook, it was, 'I'm in. tell me what to do.'"
So many people have said they're in, Clemens has organized a group meeting this Saturday to work out some swing state logistics. Where exactly to go, whose couch to sleep on.
"It's a matter of knocking on doors, providing transportation, the encouragement," said Neal Sims.
As for Jawa ... he now doesn't have to worry about leaving his wife and baby behind. They've decided they are going to join him.
"This will be my first time volunteering," Kimberly Conley said. "I have no idea what we would do or how we would get there. And if my boss is watching, please approve my vacation request. Because we have to go!"
Swing State Pledge will meet in Oakland on Saturday afternoon. The group told KPIX 5 that they are trying to get the attention of Clinton's campaign to provide some direction.