Gabriela Rico of the Salem Statesman-Journal has an immmensely entertaining article this morning on a group of volunteers that could still move this election. In "Red, blue and gray", she leads with this:

Amid all the fuss about getting new voters to the polls next week, campaign signs affixed to wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and motorized scooters illustrate why the nation's seasoned voters shall never be ignored.

They just won't pipe down.

Warren Easterly, 90, of Salem cast his first vote in 1936 for Franklin D. Roosevelt and hasn't missed an election since.

Unable to move around too much, he does street-corner campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

"A lot of cars drive by, honking, waving and hollering, 'Hang in there,'" the West Salem resident said. "It's fun."

The article does not only have great anecdotes like this one; there are also some amuzing numbers as well.

But in a year when the polls show President Bush and challenger Sen. John Kerry in a virtual tie, even the older crowd is reminding its peers to participate this year.

Whether it's the fate of Medicare and Social Security or the state of the country left behind for their grandchildren, groups that represent older Americans are launching their own "get out the vote" efforts.

GrannyVote.org is asking the estimated 70 million grandparents in the United States to vote on behalf of future generations.

According to a recent survey commissioned by the group and conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs, an overwhelming majority of America's 70 million grandparents, about 86 percent, are registered to vote in the 2004 election. This is higher than both nongrandparents (76 percent) and the general public (79 percent), according to GrannyVote.org.

The article ends by finishing up with a little more of the aforementioned old man.

Part exercise, part entertainment and part wanting to see Bush move out of the White House, Easterly said his weekly banner waving at busy intersections is what he has to offer at this point.

"I can stand still," he explained of why he spends two to three hours per week greeting drivers with a Kerry/ Edwards banner.

"It's my political belief, but it's also good exercise," said Easterly, who uses an oxygen tank.

Although he gets a lot of positive response in the form of "thumbs up" he also has seen his share of the single-extended-finger reaction.

"I get a kick out of it," Easterly said.

And he hopes that his efforts are at least making people think.

"Why would this dawdling old man be out there?" he hopes people wonder. "He's only got today, so why does he think that (Kerry) should be president?"

This is definiely the article of the day.