Film stars make final Kerry pitch

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

Some Hollywood star power swung through the Las Vegas Valley on Monday in an eleventh-hour effort to energize supporters and voters alike to put Democratic candidate John Kerry in the White House with today's election.

As phones around the valley were being sent the latest recorded message from a celebrity urging them to vote (this time by actor Ed Norton), Oscar-winner Sean Penn led a group that included actor Peter Coyote and "Thelma & Louise" writer Callie Khouri on a two-hour door-to-door walk through a couple of neighborhoods near the Las Vegas /North Las Vegas line.

Also Monday actor Leonardo DiCaprio told Kerry supporters at a rally in Henderson that President Bush "wants to make Nevada the nuclear dumping ground of the nation."

Penn, long a vocal and critical voice on the president's Iraq policy, said the Bush administration has also hurt the environment, the economy, and "divided us more than any other administration in our lifetime."

He said if Kerry wins the election, "There will be an immediate rejuvenation and sense of hope."

Penn said he didn't know how to best deal with Iraq now that the United States is involved, but said Kerry is the right person to handle the situation now.

Hitting the streets with members of the Kerry-supporting political group America Coming Together, Penn and the others with him said they think Nevada could make the difference in today's election.

Penn's presence shocked some residents, who opened their front door to see an actor and producer or two, plus a handful or media, cameras flashing and a small, but committed group of curious youngsters.

"I think it's awesome," said Aly Young, 29, who has been going door-to-door for the political group, without celebrities, for about two weeks. "The star power gives extra motivation to bring people to the polls."

Charles and Doris Adams, who live in the Shepherd Hills complex near Vegas Drive and Simmons Road, were tickled by the attention.

"I can't believe it's Sean Penn at my door," Charles Adams, 53, said. "We were going to vote anyway. That was really great."

Before Penn's visit to his home early Monday night, Rafael Castillo said he was planning to vote for Bush. Now, he said, he'll vote for Kerry.

But it wasn't because of Penn. Castillo's mind was changed by Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son died in Iraq.

"When I see him I think of my own sons," Castillo said.

Sun reporter

Kirsten Searer contributed to this story.