Web Site Urges Jewish Voters To Schlep To Fla.
Taylor Magenheim, in white shirt, talks with his grandparents and their friends about why he supports Barack Obama. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption
Taylor Magenheim, in white shirt, talks with his grandparents and their friends about why he supports Barack Obama.
Greg Allen/NPRSouth Florida retirement communities hosted one of the political season's more unusual campaign events this past weekend. The Great Schlep, as it's called, enlisted young Jews in a campaign to influence an important voting bloc in one of the nation's most hard-fought battleground states.
Taylor Magenheim, a 24-year-old film studio assistant in Los Angeles, took the redeye Saturday to Palm Beach County, Fla., and soon found himself in the middle of a movie of his own.
When Taylor called his grandmother Sandy Magenheim and told her he wanted to come visit as part of the Great Schlep, her first question was what he would like to eat.
Like the majority of Jewish voters in south Florida, Sandy is a registered Democrat. Her husband, Sid Levine, is registered Republican. They hosted a gathering at their home in the Cascades, one of Palm Beach County's many "Active Adult" communities.