WESTSIDER GOES TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE

Richard Fife has been in politics for more than 30 years. He has worked on gubernatorial campaigns from coast to coast and runs a public relations and political consulting business. Fife, 53, can now add Electoral College to his resume. He was selected as an elector to cast his vote for Barack Obama, officially electing the president and vice president. "I feel very honored and excited casting my vote for Obama," Fife said. However, the nature of the Electoral College-that the college, rather than the popular vote elects the president-is "outdated," he added. "There's a side of me that thinks about how ridiculous the Electoral College is," he said. Fife, a native Upper West Sider, was selected after Labor Day by the New York State Democratic Party's executive committee to be in the electoral slate. He worked in the past for Sen. Hillary Clinton but threw his support to Obama during the primaries. Though nearly all of the New York State Democratic Party and elected officials endorsed Clinton, Fife was committed to Obama. On Dec. 15, electoral slates will flock to state capitols to cast electoral votes. Fife will travel to the State Senate chamber in Albany. Though all electoral members will likely cast votes for Obama, the state Democratic Party chair, June O'Neill, designed the slate to strike a balance between Clinton and Obama supporters. "June O'Neill made an effort to be very inclusive and diverse," Fife said. "The selected slate will be very unifying."