Couple Zero In on Ohio Voters

Irving and Beatrice Zeiger, proudly liberal 86-year-olds who support Sen. John F. Kerry for president, would give anything to vote in the battleground state of Ohio.

But stuck here in non-swing California, they’re doing their best to sway voters in Irving’s hometown of Cleveland. A month ago, they began writing to everyone in Cleveland whose last name begins with Z.

It may be a tenuous connection, but Irving Zeiger figured that Z-people are part of a special club. They occupy the last seat in the row in school, are the last person in line and are the last name on a roll-call.

Never in his lifetime, Irving Zeiger wrote, has he been so worried about the direction of the country: “I am worried that the Iraq war was a terrible tragic blunder.”

So far about a dozen people have responded. Some wrote back or called to chat. Others were less receptive to the advice of a California liberal.

Tom Zabor sent the letter back with a terse retort: “I [too] am worried about a tragic blunder -- when the Supreme Court legalized the killing of unborn children in 1973.”

Gary Zwick was more receptive: “Thank you for your nice letter regarding the November 2nd election,” he wrote. “I suppose if you had known that we have four voters in our house, none of whom would ever consider voting for George Bush, we could have saved you the stamp.”

Zeiger’s letter is deeply personal, recounting his youth delivering the Cleveland Plain Dealer, his first bicycle and selling shoes at the downtown May Co. store. He tells of graduating from the University of Michigan in 1941 and his service in the Pacific in World War II.

In California, he wrote, he fell in love 60 years ago, and is still in love today. While he fashioned the letter, Beatrice addressed the envelopes -- all 1,000 of them.

They have written to one Zaaeed and four Zappolas, on through the Zeitlers, 19 Zinns and 26 Zuckers.

“It’s lucky there was some good baseball on, that really helped us,” he said.

Ohio’s 4.8 million voters narrowly favored Bush four years ago, and once again, they appear to be closely divided. They have been polled, surveyed, courted and exhorted. Now, it’s anyone’s guess whether their choice will shift based on one couple’s campaign to zero in on the Zs.

Michael and Lori Zabak of Cleveland will stay with Bush. They tossed their letters (they received three).

“I do think I am going to vote for Bush,” said Lori Zabak, 33. “I think probably 75% of what’s happening came about during somebody else’s presidency.”

She was both impressed and dismayed that someone would undertake sending out so many letters to strangers. “I do think he’s trying to do something good, and it must take a lot of time, money and effort,” Lori Zabak said. “There’s a lot of compassion in the letter.”

Nonetheless, her 12-year-old daughter, who attends Catholic school, “would kill her” if she voted for Kerry.

And if Bush wins? Beatrice Zeiger stops just short of saying she’ll die. She swivels to look out the glass doors of their house in the Hollywood Hills and notes, “Well, there isn’t a cliff nearby.”

The Zeigers honed their letter-writing skills during decades of liberal activism, including work for former Mayor Tom Bradley when he ran for City Council and Pat Brown when he ran for governor. In their mid-70s they moved to Washington for three months to work as legislative aides to Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio).

“We’re proud to be liberals,” Beatrice says. “We defy people to denigrate us because we’re liberals,” Irving adds.

Frank Zagar, 92, was one of those who wrote back to the Zeigers. “I’m afraid of the draft,” said Zagar, who used to head a company that made spindles and tooling. “I have a lot of grandsons who are meat for fodder and even though Bush says there’s not going to be any draft, there is. I guarantee it. So I’m for Kerry.”

Mostly, however, Zagar is just tired of being asked for his vote.

“Honestly, all I could think was I don’t want any more letters,” he said. “So I figured if I wrote back he wouldn’t keep pressing me about it. I agree with him 100%, but I did it just to get him off my back.”