One LI woman works for Clinton, another for Obama

Rick Brand

April 20, 2008

Dolores Sedacca was back on the road yesterday.

Her destination was Scranton, Pa., to knock on a weekend full of doors for Hillary Clinton.

For the former East Williston mayor, 60, now a Nassau ombudswoman, this is nothing new. She has already slogged though the snows of Iowa and New Hampshire with a broken foot, defended the former first lady's hometown New York turf, and even flown to Texas for what might have been Hillary's Alamo, until she won. Now, it's Pennsylvania and she has not given up hope.

"I still truly believe she's the best candidate the Democrats could have for president," Sedacca said. And her support is only strengthened by Clinton's strong resolve "to not back away ... we don't want her to back down."

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In Huntington, another woman, Susannah Mrazek, 28, is working just as hard for Barack Obama, but has not left the state.

Two nights last week she ran a Garden City phone bank for Obama with calls into Pennsylvania. She has another planned for tomorrow night in Westbury, where she will have 25 to 30 phones working.

Over the past few months, Mrazek has also shown hundreds of new local Obama volunteers how to hook in directly to the campaign's national headquarters in Illinois. That technology, which both campaigns are using, allows volunteers to make computer calls from home into Pennsylvania or a any other battleground state with voters names and numbers supplied 20 at a time. After a call, volunteers simply type in their response creating a centralized record for the campaign.

Mrazek, daughter of former Rep. Robert Mrazek, who represented Huntington and northern Nassau County, spends several hours nightly making campaign calls or enlisting volunteers through other Obama-related Web sites like "Environmentalists for Obama."

"It was an easy decision for me," Mrazek said. She said she initially backed Obama because he was underdog but her support has grown because he connects with her generation as an "authentic" politician.

Like golfer Tiger Woods, she said, "Barack Obama is a candidate that transcends race and gender. And part of the glory ... is that he is speaking to everyone no matter the race, gender or if they are white or blue collar."

Sedacca said her connection to Clinton is personal, dating back to the former first lady's first Senate run when she volunteered for Hillary's campaign. Sedacca said she helped organized the event to launch Clinton's "Long Island Livability" agenda the same day the Republicans gave former Rep. Rick Lazio a speaking spot at the national convention. She also kidded with Chelsea that she had two adult sons at home who were single.

And while, to her, the historic significance of electing the first woman president is secondary, Sedacca said a woman's experience in the presidency would be valuable. "I remember when I first got married and my husband and I applied for a mortgage, my salary didn't count at all. It didn't mean a thing," she said. "Hillary would bring a completely different perspective than a man would ever have."

While Obama has taken heat for his connection to his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Mrazek said the senator's speech in response to the attacks only made her prouder to be a supporter. "As with any great leader he was able to overcome what happened and take something from it and teach us all a lesson."

While the women, of different generations, say they will back their candidate to the end, neither will walk away from the party should they lose. "I will definitely support the other guy," Sedacca said. "I'm a Democrat and I can't live through another Republican administration."

Mrazek agreed: "Considering my brother [James] just returned from his first [Army] tour in Iraq, I don't think I would want to send him back by voting for John McCain."