My 21st Century Story

Canvassing in CO-2

In November of 2007 I considered a Capitol Hill internship with Congressman Mark Udall (CO-2). Now, after taking a different course - an internship with 21st Century Democrats and an invaluable training experience - I am a field organizer for Joan Fitz-Gerald, the woman running to fill Congressman Udall’s seat as he runs for Senate.

Until 6:59 PM on June 4th I was frantically helping (21st Century Dems National Field & Training Director) Wendy Davis settle all the details for the Major League Action Training. But at 7:00, I ended my semester as an intern and became a trainee. It is hard to believe how quickly time has passed since then. Three weeks ago I checked in at Georgetown University for the field organizer training. Four days later I was one of the “Class of 2008” organizers being placed in the field. Eight days ago I began work with Joan Fitz-Gerald’s campaign in the second congressional district of Colorado. And in less than seven weeks, Joan and her staff face the major obstacle on her path to the Capitol, a primary election against millionaire opponent Jared Polis. I only started organizing phone banks, walks, and volunteers for these events last week, and yet mail-in ballots go out in less than a month. It is easy to say that there is not enough time to contact everyone who needs to be contacted, but the pressure and the unyielding deadline are the factors that make this job exciting.

When I was knocking on doors last week, I encountered a man who seemed to be leaning towards supporting us, despite the numerous television ads that her opponent has already run. I asked if I could speak with his wife and he respectfully called her over and left the conversation to the two of us; he did not want to impede on his wife’s independent decision. After finishing a conversation with the next door neighbor, Joan caught up with me and began speaking with them. After a long conversation these Wellstone Democrats decided to support Joan in the primary and even volunteer – “Let us know how we can help,” they said. Talking to these voters with Joan was one of those “Aha!” moments. Statistically maybe 50% of people will answer when you knock on their doors, even less will support your candidate. But because of the response at that one household, no other statistics mattered; my entire afternoon was effective.

Preparing to go door knocking
Joan is blessed to have a network of hundreds of volunteers and I am privileged with the task of translating their passion into action. As I contact our volunteers I am excited by their responses. They all want to help Joan in whatever way possible, whether it be calling, mailing, knocking, or showing up to events. Every time I meet a new volunteer I am reminded of a valuable lesson I learned at the training: volunteers keep a campaign’s wheels turning.

Coming into my summer as an organizer I worried that I had positioned myself for a future in campaigns, but I may not enjoy the work. Within the first day I knew my concerns were baseless. Now I look forward to “work” every day because I get to meet countless citizens – most of whom are unpaid – committed to a common cause. Together we envision a society in which success is based on effort and not on a person’s status at birth. We believe a country should make its youth a priority by investing in education and should not neglect its seniors by barring them from prescription drugs and healthcare. We need leadership that will respect and understand foreign cultures and make the very best effort to discuss differences before resolving them with weapons and violence.

I could continue this vision for pages but some volunteers just showed up and I need to give my two cents about the recent Supreme Court decisions…