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Photos courtesy of
Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
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The life of a Kerry Campaign worker By BETHANY JONES What is it like to work on a political campaign and be a young American? I’ll tell you what it’s not; it’s not hard to do. There I was, at a bar downtown celebrating a friend’s birthday, and I met this guy. Numbers were exchanged and the next week I met up with him and some co-workers for a beer or two. Turns out he was staff for one of the candidates. By the end of the night I was making plans to drive a minivan full of national press to Ames, Iowa, for an event with his candidate. Every four years there is a presidential election; and every four years the Iowa Caucus kicks off the political primary season. During the primaries for the 2004 election, I happened to be attending college in Iowa. Many of the candidates had offices in Des Moines, the capital of Iowa. In August 2003, if you wanted to work on a political campaign all you had to do was walk in the front door of whichever office you wanted - that’s how my friends got involved at least. I wasn’t political. I didn’t know who the candidates were, with the exception of John Kerry, since that’s who my friends were interns for. For the next 5 months I volunteered with the advance team for John Kerry. I mostly drove the press core, and on occasion senior staffers, to events around Des Moines and Iowa. I only missed classes a few times but for the most part my professors were understanding and sometimes encouraging. A few times I even got to go away for an entire weekend and was put up in a hotel and had my meals paid for by the campaign. For my birthday, the advance team scheduled me to drive Senator Kerry. There was a New England Patriots game that day and after his speech John Kerry had to watch it. The national press core, John Kerry, his staff, the drivers and I all stopped at a local sports bar in Ottumwa, Iowa and watched the game. Kerry had a burger and a beer, talked with people at the bar and challenged one of the reporters to a game of classic arcade Pac Man. He won and I believe the Patriots did too. A birthday I will never forget! I graduated in May 2004 and moved home to Indianapolis, Indiana, the most uninvolved – and one of the most Republican - states in the Presidential campaign. I went through campaign withdrawal. But somehow I managed to get involved again. This time I had to work for it. I called office after office, trying to find someone involved with the Democratic presidential campaign. I finally got in touch with someone who informed me of the volunteer things I could do. Though I am still just a volunteer, I am in the circle of campaign managers and state directors as a volunteer coordinator for the 7th District in Indiana. I still don’t have a real job yet, but that’s ok. I’m hoping that I can save enough money that I can either run away to Europe after the election or move to D.C. and get a job in the White House. Part of the allure of working on a presidential campaign is the respect you get from your family and friends as they see you doing your part to help make the nation a better place for everyone. For me it was simply being involved. Being able to have a story to tell my grandchildren when they are learning about the 2004 election in U.S. History. The thrill of saying I met a man who was, at one time, the possible future President of the United States. Not everyone can say that in his or her lifetime. Even if I never work on a political campaign again, I will never forget the time I spent on his campaign in Iowa and Indiana. |
