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Article published Jan 27, 2004
Campaign volunteers giving winter boost to S.C.
tourism
Associated Press
CHARLESTON
-- With only a week until South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary,
campaign volunteers are arriving in the state seeking both votes and
beds."They're sending their Iowa field staff to either New Hampshire or South
Carolina," said Nu Wexler, executive director of the state Democratic Party.He
said a lot of people from Arkansas are in the state working for retired Gen.
Wesley Clark, while U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., has volunteers from
neighboring North Carolina.Three Harvard students will bunk this week at the
home of Diane Aghapour, the Charleston-area organizer for U.S. Sen. John Kerry
of Massachusetts."The goal is to put them up in the city so they can get access
to the office downtown and the college area," Aghapour said.Clark's campaign has
reserved 21 of the 25 available beds at the NotSo Hostel youth inn in
Charleston.At $15 a bed per night, it doesn't cost the campaign a lot and helps
the hostel staff pay its bills during a slow time of year.Clark volunteer Josh
Kershner, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y., said all he needs is a place to sleep after
spending a day knocking on doors."The fight is worth fighting," he said. "We're
young. We've got time to make money later."Officials say it's hard to tell just
how many campaign workers will come to the state. Former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean had an estimated 3,500 workers in Iowa.Although South Carolina's primary is
the first in the South, there are also primaries that day in Arizona, Delaware,
Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma.And it's possible some campaigns
might fold after the votes are counted today in New Hampshire.Fred and Marilyn
Sirasky drove from New York and stopped at Dean's headquarters in Charleston."We
drove down and walked in and said, 'Here we are,' " said Marilyn Sirasky,
65.They spent some time calling potential voters and then campaigned in rural
Colleton County. Fred Sirasky estimated the couple spent $1,000 during their
two-week stay in the state.The campaign will mean millions spent on campaign
advertising and could help tourism in the future as campaign workers arrive."A
lot of them have never been here before," said Tom Sponseller, president and
chief executive officer of the South Carolina Hospitality Association, an
industry trade group. "Our tourism-oriented state is so diverse they might see
something that might pique their interest and trigger a return trip."