Making Sound on Election Day with Cherelle Parker and Marian Tasco (From 2012)

With her staff calculating voter turnout tallies nearby, Ninth District Councilwoman Marian Tasco takes a seat in the basement of Agape Baptist Church and pronounces, “My legs hurt.”

It’s been a long day so far: Tasco was up at 5:30 a.m. and at her polling site by 6:30 a.m. and now, at about 3:30 p.m., she’s taking a breather while waiting for State Representative Cherelle Parker, who is running a tad late for their drive-time “get out the vote” effort.

With many of her divisions showing promising results – some are reporting at over 50-percent by 2 p.m. – Tasco is recalling her hectic morning and narrowing down the divisions that will require just a little extra prodding when Parker arrives, somewhat out of breath. With time hanging in the balance, Tasco stands up and tells her staff, “We’re going to run and make some sound.”

Up the stairs and out the doors onto Pickering Ave., Tasco and Parker are ushered into a waiting Cadillac Deville that is equipped with a loudspeaker above and a microphone inside. It’s one of the more enduring and endearing traditions of Philadelphia politics – getting out the vote through cars equipped with public address systems.

And Parker wastes no time: The car hasn’t crossed E. Wadsworth Ave. when Parker, seated shotgun, takes the microphone and begins her oratory, which would continue virtually uninterrupted for the next 45 minutes.

Mighty, mighty Democratic Fiftieth Ward, today is Election Day. Please come out to vote – your vote is your voice. We need you to come to vote today; today is Election Day. Vote now, vote now, today is Election Day.

“We’re going to go down to Cedar Park, and then we’re going to go down to Broad and Olney, and then we’ll come back up,” says Tasco to Reggie Ellis, the owner/operator of the immaculate 2005 Cadillac which begins the trip with just 17,675 miles on it. The Radio Shack public address system is his as well: Ellis received it from the Laborer’s Union in 1991 while assisting with the mayoral campaign of John White.

After White lost to Ed Rendell, Local 332 told Ellis to keep it, and he’s been plugging it into his cigarette lighter and strapping it to the roof of his car ever since. He fired the PA up for the first time on Tuesday at 6:30 a.m., reminding many local residents – including Parker, still getting dressed at the time – to get out to the polls.

You live in the mighty Fiftieth Ward and we need you to come out and vote today. Polls close at 8 p.m., no matter how long the line is. Be in line before 8 p.m. so that your vote can be cast. Come on out to vote today; today is Election Day. This is your State Representative Cherelle Parker encouraging you to come out and vote today. The Fiftieth Ward executive committee and your ward leader Marian Tasco, we want you to come out and vote today. If you’re home now, come out to vote.

Turning right onto E. Mt. Airy Ave., Tasco instructs Ellis to take the alley way that runs between houses located between Temple Rd. and Michener Ave.

“This way,” she observes, “if people are in the kitchen, we can get them.”

Despite taking a back seat to Parker on Tuesday afternoon, Tasco is an old pro when it comes to making some noise to drive voter turnout, getting her start in 1973.

“Sound was always a part of our process,” she later explains, recalling that her colleagues have relied upon everything from motorcades to entire street caravans. However, she notes, such pageantry tends to manifest during primary season, when competition is stiffer.

During this race, with diminished opposition in the various contests – State Rep. Dwight Evans noted recently that President Obama received 99-percent of the vote in nearby 10th Ward in 2008 – their efforts are oriented toward getting out the vote.?

Today is Election Day. We know the struggles of our community, and we know that lives were lost so that we could vote. There’s a reason we live in one in one of the highest voting regions in the city: That’s because you participate in this electoral process. Let people know that you care about the issues facing our community by coming out to vote. Polls close at 8 p.m. If you’re home now, don’t wait. Let’s vote early…

“And often,” Tasco jokes, while Ellis negotiates the waylaid trash cans of house 8130.

You do not need identification in order to vote if it’s not your first time. If you have a phone, call your friends, call your neighbors. President Obama needs you, we need you, your community needs you to let your voice be heard. If we don’t vote, we don’t have a voice, and we can’t complain about anything.

Turning right onto E. Phil Ellena St. and then left on Temple Rd., the first transactions with the general public take place. Two ladies standing on the sidewalk nod at the vehicle, and Tasco gives them a generous thumbs-up. On the opposite side of the street are several children, to whom Parker tailors her speech.

Even if you can’t vote, you can knock on every door on your block and ask the grown-ups, ‘Have they been to vote?’ because your future depends on it.

The children stare back blankly.

Throughout the car ride, most responses from the public fall into one of two categories, recognition and approval being indicated by a nod, a wave, a thumbs-up, or the occasional upright fist. Alternatively, there is the blank look manifested by the youths above, which is fairly typical of the interactions with children and a handful of adults.

There are three memorable exceptions: The first being that of an older man with a cane at the Philip Murray House, who is wearing an “I Voted Today!” sticker and upon Parker’s recognition of this act responds, “That’s right.”

The second exception is that of a police officer from the Northwest Division, who gives the occupants of the Cadillac a wholly unamused look when Parker gives the police department a shout-out.

Lastly, there was the mailman pushing a letter cart whose neutral expression gradually warmed, with a glimmer of a smile appearing after Parker gently harped on him to vote.

For Parker, making sound is critical – it helped put her into office.

In her special election in September of 2005, there was a foul-up with the post office and Parker’s campaign mailers didn’t get sent out in time. Because of this, her people got into cars – Tasco included – and hit the streets with the wheel in one hand and a microphone in the other. It was a low turnout – but she emerged victorious, and the result demonstrated to her the importance of making sound.

She says her passion for her community and for her party inspired her virtuosic 45-minute performance on Tuesday, and the knowledge of its importance keeps her motivated.

“When you’re driving through a block, and you don’t see anybody, you ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” she says. “The perfect example was me getting dressed in the morning, and hearing, ‘Oh, here’s Reggie Ellis, we have to get out of the house.’”

As they loop back to Agape Baptist Church, Parker continues speaking until the car is parked, at which point she puts the microphone down, and steps out of the car, where Tasco says to her, “You didn’t even come up for air!”

?“Believe it or not,” observes Parker, “those are the kinds of things you do to remind people to vote.”

“Making noise,” says Ellis. “Making noise,” repeats Tasco.

Reaching the basement, where the staffers are awaiting the 4 p.m. tallies, Tasco again laments her legs and summarizes the trip.

“Hey guys,” she says, “Cherelle was on that mike for almost an hour. She never let up; she never came up for air!”

“She needs a glass of water, wow,” says Ellis.