Fire union leader calls for Kerry backers to step up pace International Associaton of Fire Fighters' President Harold Schaitberger stumps for the Kerry-Edwards ticket during a stop in Green Bay, Wednesday (photo by H. Marc Larson). By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle The head of the International Association of Fire Fighters urged his union's members in Green Bay on Wednesday to "put aside your hobbies, your personal interests" for the remaining time before the election and work for John Kerry. Harold Schaitberger is hitting key states to get his union's fire fighters involved in get-out-the-vote campaigns and other election efforts. "It's 41 days away and I could care less what the polls say," he told about 40 firefighters at a rally outside the Brown County Courthouse. "If we had been worried about the polls, we wouldn't have been fighting the fight we fought last October (when the union became the first to endorse Kerry)." He said the effort "isn't about pay raises, it's about having the tools and resources so you can do the job you're expected to do." Securing the homeland "is what this election is about," he said. "We've got a border that's porous. We've got 4,000 Border Patrol officers who have been laid off in the past few months. We've got a rail system that you can walk on with suitcases and ride to New York or any other major city. We've got ports that are pretty much unprotected. And we've got a war that's an absolute, catastrophic disaster." Schaitberger visited three state cities Wednesday and said he would be back in the state on Monday. He admits his union's membership is split as is the rest of the electorate. "I have a very politically diverse union," he said, adding the IAFF had a "moderate to conservative" membership. "This union is not going to focus on (pro-)life or pro-choice, not going to focus on prayer in schools, not going to focus on guns. Those are all critically important issues to every individual, but that's not our role. (It's to) make sure the understand the issues about their job, their career, education, economics, their profession, education, health care and labor. That's our job." "Does that mean that our membership is going to vote 80 percent one way or the other? No," Schaitberger continued. "I think 60 to 61 percent of our members - our polling continues to show - are for John Kerry."