Recap and Follow-Up

Here's an update on the rest of last week and how the Obama event actually went.  

Wednesday: 

I worked all morning at Applebee's, and some how was still in a good mood when I made it in to the campaign office later that night.  Being in a good mood made lots of other things more bearable, but it was still hard to have Escritora shut me out of EVERYTHING, because I'm just a phone-answering intern.  JKR and I were out with C. later and we talked a lot about how Escritora does that to her too.  It was nice to hear I wasn't the only one, and it was good to know that JKR liked and appreciated having me around. 

That night we ran out of tickets for the event, and we were pretty stoked about that.  They had disappeared very slowly the night before and everyone kept wondering aloud if the event was even going to partially fill. (It was that bad on tuesday).  We later found out from visitors that the press release had gone out late, which was why very few people came on Tuesday. 

We also heard through the grapevine that the "McCain people" were planning a "protest" for the newsmedia on Thursday morning before the event, so we tried to pull together a group for a "counter-protest".  We had to meet outside the fieldhouse where Obama would later speak at 6:00 a.m. for this to happen.  It was kind of a let-down actually.  "McCain people" was code for the Linn County Republicans Chair, and "protest" was code for "being interviewed"... so we just looked like extra excited Obama supporters, lining up to see him at 6:00.  Whateves.  I brought coffee and bagels for everyone from Panera so I was the cool kid that morning. 

During the event I hung out with all the press people.  I met a really cool freelance reporter from Davenport, and a guy (documentarian) from Japanese public television.  I feel kind of badly, because he really wanted to talk to me about Iowa and Coe and college, the midwest, politics and such, but I couldn't because any Obama staffer who saw me chatting with him would have murdered me.  That is so not allowed. So I had to give him the newspaper email address for him to contact me later, and I'm so sad he hasn't emailed.  I totally believe in what he was trying to report/document on, but I just couldn't talk to him while on campaign time.  *sigh* I hope he emails.  :(

I also was really impressed with what Obama said during question and answer.  His prepared talk was a lot of fluffy rhetoric, but he got specific and down and dirty when people asked questions.  That, combined with an Iowa City FO giving me a REAL, policy-driven answer about why he started supporting Obama when we were talking that evening, convinced me to climb on  the bandwagon.  So now I have an Obama t-shirt and a sticker for my binder.  I still am looking for a bucking democratic donkey for my mac though.  If you see one of those stickers, let me know. *wink*

All weekend:

I worked at Applebee's and actually had a pretty good time. 

Monday:

10-2 I was at the Campaign office.  All of the new FOs started, (add Saraswati, SMS, and Green Lady to the cast of characters), and I worked on a whole list of things D. asked me to do.  Specifically, I was creating a flyer to tell flood-affected voters about voting at the Auditor's office.  I made this probably way more complicated than it had to be, but since we are going to put it on the wall, I wanted it to be visually appealing.  I ended up finding pictures of about half of the flooded out voting locations and another picture of the mall and put them in the backround of the document, faded out with text over it.  It looks bad-ass.  The text is minorly cheesy, but I don't care.  And JKR loved it. I also created a document called "Front Desk 101" for whoever ends up manning the front desk and phone after I'm gone.  It has all kinds of information about how to answer the phone and where to  direct questions.  

2-4 I was as Coe finishing a Cosmos project I started in May.  Yeah... sending a letter to first-years took WAY too long.

4-late I was at the Bee's.  I wasn't first cut!! I stayed until almost close.  It was so cool to not be a lame first-cut person. I had a whole quarter of the restaurant to myself to wait on for a while.  Yeah... I'm a bad-ass.  I also went to my first Applebee's party that night.  'Twas a good time. Lots of laughing.

Tuesday I took a mental health day.  I started teaching an ESL class today and I needed to prepare for that, and I hadn't had a day off (as in no Democrats, and no Applebee's) in WEEKS.  Honestly. I was also way homesick for unknown reasons. 

Wednesday (Today):

I took the morning to finish prepping for ESL class (which was quite the experience), and then at about 5 came into the office.  

I spent my evening revising the two documents I sent to D. on Monday and creating a spreadsheet of all Linn County precincts and which candidates are running where.  We hope this will make giving out yard signs easier, firstly, and should prove useful in other ways.  I'm kindof worried I did the IA house and senate districts wrong, because while they match what I think the auditor's maps show, they are not what Derek had in his intro packet he gave me and the FOs about the area.  So.... we'll see what happens.

I only had about 20 minutes or so until the office closes at that point so I didn't start anything else.  And I don't understand my notes about the other things I was supposed to do that I wrote on Monday.  I guess I kind of do... but I'm not sure. 

Things that I know need to happen:

 - I need to update our contact list/office phone number list.  And it's totally not going to fit on one page anymore. Sad. 

 - I also need to finish that senior outreach thing for Linn County (and hopefully Benton... but that probably won't happen).  

 - I think one of my notes says something about a volunteer spread sheet, but I think I need to talk to D. about that one again to really know what to do.  

 - And I need to finish double checking that all the flooded homes got entered into the voter database. 

Four things in about a week... Maybe it will happen. I can't believe summer is almost over.  Wow. 

Sometimes life is anything but glamorous.

Big news this week - Obama's coming.  For some reason, this makes me angry. I think it just throws a wrench in the daily in and out that has me displeased. That, and no one I can talk to has a good reason they like him. Still. It's almost August people. There should be a reason to like your presidential candidate by this point. Also, the FO's wont let me help.  And today sucks, so I need a reason to get happy.  Handing out tickets and registering voters would make me happy. But instead I get to tell angry out-of-towners that I can't reserve them tickets over the phone. Rar.

The mailman makes me happy though. He's just such a friendly and cheerful sort of man.

Other reasons life is unglamorous: 

- It took me 35 minutes to get my coffee at Starbucks today. 

- I got a $102.86 speeding ticket on my first time getting pulled over, EVER, for going only ten miles over on the highway

- When I drove the speed limit, I got tailgated and honked at

A. Carol at AARP in Iowa also makes me happy, because he was very pleasant on the phone.  Not an ass. 

Instead of being involved with the Obama event, I am making certain we have all the flood victims properly tagged in the voter system.  Which I suppose is important, but the majority are already tagged, so it's a lot of repeating already finished work. Oh well. 

I'm so mad about that speeding ticket. And that I can't be registering people to vote.  Cause the new FO's don't know what the hell they're doing.  And I do. Grr. And I did all the work to set up for the ticket process... and they probably are going to ask me to man the office during the event, so I still won't be able to see Obama and be suaded to jump on the band wagon.

I just hate that I don't know what he stands for. I know what Clinton and Edwards stood for. I don't know what Obama stands for.  What's his policy baby?  What are his priorities, what does he want to to? No one knows. Many people are charismatic and have efficient and friendly staffs. That shouldn't be why they get elected president. As uncharismatic as Art (Nymphadora's candidate) is, I know what he stands for and why I should elect him in the fall.  I'm voting for Obama because I believe in his party and I don't believe in his opponent.  Isn't that sad?  

God, I'm so disenchanted right now. 

And now the press is here, so the Obama people are erasing all sign of other local candidates from the shot. And I'm gonna go for a walk and cry a little. 

Eureka/OS!M

Today I had a breakthrough.

I've been loving my internship. I'm working with a bunch of young, energized people who believe in what they are doing (worlds away from interning with the State of Minnesota in the Executive branch a couple years ago, and from waitressing 40 hours a week). My work is usually challenging/interesting and I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something day in and out. But I still felt some of the latent frustration that I've become very familiar with. It's a frustration that denotes some level of apathy, boredom, or discomfort/disagreement with what I'm doing or being required to do. Like upselling. I hate upselling. Why should I waste my time convincing someone to buy a drink made with a more expensive brand of vodka or buy a full sized salad when they really don't care about the brand of alcohol or only want to eat a half salad? So each time I do it... I feel slightly disgusted with myself, even though my managers praise me at the end of the night when I have a slightly higher guest check average.

Anyway, I was feeling a bit like that, despite being generally very satisfied with my Democratic internship. It was definitely not overwhelming, nor something I thought about or noticed everyday. It just kind of nagged me from time to time. A little reminder that, while I may enjoy myself this summer, campaigning may not be the career for me. I couldn't put my finger on or define the issue, but it existed. Today while talking with D. about upcoming events, I finally figured out what it was - my unending idealism is poking its head into my life once again.

I have this belief that if people are empowered and educated on politicians, parties and policies, they will be willing and able to vote, and the sum of that vote would be a pretty fair indicator of what is best for the nation as a whole. I guess I just believe democracy should work, or something. That it could and should actually function as we teach our children it does. Because when you talk about it like that, it makes sense and seems fair and... something... Anyway, campaigning deludes this, destroys it. We spend so much time trying to figure out how to con and convince or otherwise talk or bribe or trick people into voting for our candidate or party. We're basically upselling (or selling in general) our party's product. And that sales mindset just doesn't ever sit well with me. I know I'm an everyday product and victim and active participant of/in the advertising industry and market economy. I realize that. I'm just not ready to like it.

That's what's happened to me in college. In high school people could tell me I was idealistic until they were blue in the face, and I wouldn't believe them. College has taught me that I am idealistic, but while I have come to realize and accept this, I'm just not willing to give it up yet. And people think that's strange, but without idealism and striving for something better - actually better, not merely tricking everyone into thinking it's better - where will we be? Our culture and society will stagnate. Innovation, working towards a goal (an ideal), striving to become more is a cornerstone of being human and is key to human progress. So, I'm not willing to give up my idealism. I just can't. It's a pretty integral part of me. Deal with it, all you cynics.

I'm also not willing to resign myself to daily cheerfulness and not hating my job. Moving forward, I'm going to look for careers and jobs where I don't have an underlying nagging coming from my idealistic side. I'm going to look for something that satisfies that part of my personality too.

Back from Vacation

This has been my life for the last three weeks:

July 6-11th: Surviving a short-staffed Applebees Inspection

July 12-21st: Vacation in the Southwest

July 22nd & 23rd: Doubles at the 'Bees

Today: First day back at the Democratic Office

But before I could come in today, I had to deal with a lost debit card and orientation for an ESL conversation class I'm teaching in August. So instead of 10:00, I didn't get here until 12:00.

A lot of what I've been doing today is office operations related. Doing a lot of cleaning, moving some of our new Obama computers around. I also helped Bro' with a mailing, talked with JKR, was going to send out a absentee ballot request (but the dems changed my password, so I don't know how to log into the VAN (voter database) anymore, and can't do that until I see D), and now I'm working on my senior outreach stuff. I've decided Iowa has too many senior homes/apartments.

I still haven't been able to sit down with D. since I got back, so I'm not sure what all I'll need to work on in the coming days, but some things include creating a "Front Desk 101" handout - telling volunteers how to man the front desk when I'm not here - and also updating the HQ Phone List to reflect all the new Obama numbers.

Today has been a hard day. I've been working on this project so long that it is really hard to keep going on the senior outreach database. I've also been without my computer and/or internet for almost two weeks, so there was a truck-load of email and other things to go through that also provided distractions. I think I might spend my evening at the coffee shop, with my computer and my work... just kind of plow through more of it all at once. See if that helps at all.

Catch-Up

I started a second, paying, job at Applebee's which has greatly reduced the amount of time I spend at the Democratic office each week. I am still doing things around here though.

Some recent developments include taking over more of the office operations - like making sure it stays clean and that we have all the supplies we need - tending Pottsie's candidate while she does call time (calling people to ask them for money). I've also started on more community outreach projects - like the college research, but this time focusing on senior populations. Pretty exciting.

What's actually exciting is that there's been some major reorganizing of staff and a dramatic increase in the number of political staffers in our office. The drama was that the Obama for America campaign took over the Coordinated Campaign of the Democratic Party. Those of us who used to work for the Coordinated are now Obama staffers (or out of a job, cause that happened too, just not in our office). This demonstrates a shift in focus for the party. Instead of having a campaign dedicated to mobilizing voters for all candidates, we now are focused on growing and riding the wave of increased political interest Obama has been able to stir in voters since the primaries. The hope is if people are mobilized because they want to vote for Obama, there will be a trickle-down effect of mobilization for the local races as well. The office is a mix of various levels of pessimism, indifference, and optimism for this new plan of action. Now we have 12 staffers plus canvassers and two part-time junior interns. A complete list of characters follows:

Nymphadora, Campaign Manager for state house

Bro', (formerly J.), Campaign Manager for 2 state senate candidates

Pottsie, Campaign Manager for state house (easiest candidate to manage)

P-Fen, Pottsie's intern

D., formerly the IDP Coordinated Campaign Regional Field Director, now the Obama RFD and my boss

Obamapapa, Canvasser and now a regional Obama staffer (and kindof an Obama fanatic)

Newbie, Campaign Manager for a very young, boyish-looking state house candidate

C., canvass team leader

Semi-Colin, formerly a Coordinated Campaign Field Organizer, now an Obama FO

JKR, formerly a Coordinated Campaign Field Organizer, now an Obama FO

Escritora, I think she's a third Obama FO, but I'm not sure; we just met today.

Buttercup and Grey are the two high school interns. Buttercup does my job in the evenings when I can't be here and does data entry for the FOs. Grey is supposed to do things for the FOs, but has sort of been monopolized by Pottsie. One of the unfortunate consequences of the loosey-goosey thing our office has going on (which we usually enjoy) is that those sorts of misunderstandings sometimes happen. Grey's been able to do some things for other campaigns recently though.

I gotsta go to the 'Bees now though... more updates later.

They may be flooded, but the phone probably still works.

I'm dumb and forgot to tell... anyone at the office that I was in MN and not CR.  Whoops.  Pottsie just called (using his suavest phone voice) to make sure I was alive.  

New Rule: Always call before leaving town... no matter how early that would get someone that information.  Otherwise, I'll forget. 

On the plus side, I thought of tons of questions for Obama, should I ever have the opportunity to ask them.  I was listening to a podcast about the economy and the vast and growing inequality in the U.S. while I was waiting for my car to get fixed today.  The factoid burned on my brain:  

After being adjusted for inflation, the average worker in the U.S. in the 1960s earned $9.88 per hour.  Today that rate is $5.80.  Whoa.  That's an issue, especially considering worker productivity has skyrocketed in that time.  More work for less pay. A lot less pay.

Water, water, everywhere

I haven't been in the office since last Wednesday. Cedar Rapids flooded and I got sent home at about noon on Wednesday so I could get back to the west side of the river before the bridges closed. I called on Thursday and they told me to stay home... And check in on Sunday.

After pulling my hair out and watching the same episode of L&O: Criminal Intent three times over four days, I went home today to shower and do laundry, since I couldn't in Cedar Rapids. It was pretty fun to surprise my family for Father's Day and it was a great ride with KTB. Took us a bit of extra time to skirt the flood waters, but we made it. We also both felt kinda bad ditching our current home when it needed able-bodied volunteers, but we also both were going crazy... It was the first time I had been able to venture to the east side of the river since Wednesday.

These floods are so devistating. It's terrible. I don't know how the state is going to recover. Between tornados and floods... The state party postponed the state Democratic Convention. It was supposed to be yesterday, and I don't know when they'll hold it instead. Because really, a couple weeks isn't going to make much difference for people. Many of the festivals and parades we were going to campaign at are also cancelled or postponed. It's suddenly looking like a rough summer.

What follows here is an email I recieved from Democratic Senator (seeking reelection) Tom Harkin:

"Dear Heather :

"My thoughts and prayers go out to the tens of thousands of Iowans around the state who have had to evacuate their homes and businesses due to the severe weather damage and record flooding in communities and neighborhoods across our state. In addition, my heart and my sincere sympathies go out to the victims, families and friends of the boy scouts who were affected by the tornado that swept through the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Turin.

"The news that we lost four young boy scouts was both shocking and heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with the families who are grieving for their children. The teamwork and the swift disaster preparedness skills deployed by the boy scouts and local officials responding to the incident helped lessen the impact of that disaster, and for that I am grateful.

"Since the tornado hit Little Sioux Scout Ranch, large parts of Iowa have experienced immense flooding that has forced communities in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines to evacuate. My thoughts and prayers are also with these Iowans and I hope that their displacement is not prolonged and that they are able to return with their homes and businesses largely intact.

"I am touring our state with our Congressional Delegation and with officials from the Federal Emergency Management Administration to help coordinate relief efforts and I am confident that Iowa will emerge from this natural disaster stronger than ever. I know this because I have seen the strength of our communities as they have banded together to endure the devastation. Soon the waters will recede and we will begin the process of rebuilding and I will make sure that the federal government plays a robust role to help Iowans recover and rebuild.

"Iowans affected by recent tornadoes and floods are urged to call the 24-hour Iowa Concern Hotline for financial and emotional assistance at (800) 447-1985.

"Citizens who want to donate monetarily to help the victims of the storms can do so through service organizations including, but not limited to: Red Cross, United Way, and the Salvation Army.

"Due to the immense flooding and storm damage in Iowa, I have postponed the voting deadline for the final round of our "Building Blue " contest for Iowa State House and State Senate candidates. The contest - and the final round of balloting - will now run through the end of the month.

"Please keep our fellow Iowans in your thoughts and prayers and please support them if you are able. I know Iowa will emerge from the floods of 2008 stronger than ever.

"Senator Tom Harkin"


For more information on Building Blue, visit www.tomharkin.com/action/building-blue (Candidates Gretchen Lawyer and Swati Dandekar have their campaigns based in my office).

And I'm here... why?

I've been feeling guilty, like I haven't been getting enough done, so I haven't been taking time to post lately.  Problem is, I'm not really sure what to do anymore.  Now that Semi-Colin and JKR are here and working as Field Organizers, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do besides answer the phone and smile at people as they walk in.  I've also gotten really possessive of the office supplies and their organization, trying to keep my claim over some of my other duties.  

D still hasn't shared the Google Doc with me, so for the last two days I've been recreating and updating the spreadsheet from my computer.  I finished it this morning and emailed it to Semi-Colin so he could update the Google Doc for me.  And when I say "he could update it for me" I mean so I could update it from his log-in because that child doesn't know his way around a computer at all.  I guess that's one thing Coe or Hill taught me - how to be resourceful around a computer.  Infer that if one program or OS or whatever works one way, other ones are likely to work similarly.  And, surprisingly enough, it means that I almost have earned my office tech-goddess title.  I'm also just really frustrated that D hasn't gotten me access to that document for... almost a week now. Oh well. I suppose it's my own fault for using two email addresses simultaneously. 

Along with twiddling my thumbs, I've been helping JKR with her phone calls.  We've called seniors to talk about issues and who they're thinking about voting for.  We've called past volunteers to ask them to volunteer again.  It reminds me a bit of telecounseling.  But I might just like telecounseling more.  For one thing, at TC, the supervisor doesn't try to make me change my script mid-call or ask me to lie to the people on the other line.  JKR tried to do both.  We are not the Obama office.  We're the everything office.  So, yes, we work for Obama, but we don't have a campaign staffer here or even one that stays in semi-regular contact with us. I'm not going to tell people on the phone that I'm calling with the Obama campaign, just because they've previously volunteered for him.  When we ask someone to volunteer it's not just for Obama, it's for everyone.  Oh well... idk. I just say whatever the hell I feel is right and let JKR and Semi-Colin call the stubborn people back.  That's all you'd get from a volunteer.  And maybe I just need to feel more able to talk about Obama in order to say I work for him.  I know very little about his campaign, because I wasn't originally a supporter.  JKR (and D, and most of our canvass team) worked for him before the canvass, so they know a lot about who he is as a candidate and his platform and such.  They can talk about him if people ask questions.  

Yesterday, I spent most of the day out of the office.  I taught the canvass team leaders how to deal with Absentee Ballot Requests (ABRs) and Voter Registration Forms (VRegs) and drove them to the Auditor's Office so they can help take those in if we need them to.  (More things being taken out of my jurisdiction...)  A little while after I got back, Nymphadora's friend (who's managing Larry's campaign south of us) called because he got a flat tire and didn't know how to change it.  So I got to ride in Nymphadora's yellow truck and change Larry's CM's tire out on Hwy 380.  Nymphadora called me a badass a lot.  Then I came back and worked on spreadsheets and tranferring data from one sheet to another.  Today, I feel like a glorified baby-sitter. I've spent much of the time making sure one of our candidate's children are entertained so she can call and meet with people and be undistracted.  

Here's the story of a lovely campaign...And that's how we all became the Linn Dems Bunch.

Yeah.  We're that cool.  Nymphadora is taking all the day staffs' pictures and making a Brady Bunch themed, meet-the-office display.  It's gonna be fantastic.  

Our canvassers started yesterday.  I realized (to my dismay) that one of the canvassers who I go to school with still won't talk to me due to campus drama.  That's fun.  An exercise in professionalism I guess. I really hope we can at least move towards a working relationship again. D was joking about holding a reconciliation event for the two of us at the same time we hold one for all the Clinton and Obama people. 

Yesterday I organized the list of people who came to the Obama meeting on Monday and filled out the contact list so it was actually useful for our field team.  I'm impressed at my online resourcefulness.  I'm getting way good at finding all sorts of information and exploring websites. 

Yesterday I also had two more interviews for paid employment.  The first went horribly, but the manager I interviewed with also said that they were more looking for people who could be around over the winter holidays, rather than summer workers.  So I'm okay that didn't go well, even if I'm annoyed that I wasted my time interviewing and applying.  The second interview, the manager seemed checked out of, but she hired me with the warning of "you're a lot more mature than most of the other people who work here."  Didn't really know what to do with that, but I've got a job starting next week, I've just got to find some black tops and buy another pair of jeans. 

I put my online researching skills to the test again today and finished the College Report.  I'm actually really impressed that I found course listings for all the schools.  I mean, Coe hides those inside the student only section of our website, but I found ways to get at it on the other sites.  

Now I'm not sure what to do with myself.  D's training the canvassers and thus can't give me a new job, but I finished my to-do list.  I still need to rearrange the conference room, but the canvassers are in there.  I could work on more updates to the "God List," but technology thwarts me there too - D put the spreadsheet on Google Docs, but I can't access it yet, because he forgot to share it with me.  So I'm a little bored.  Hence the post.  

Hmm... How're those goals coming?  

I think I'm learning a lot about party structure and function and how campaigns work at a basic level.  I know I have a better understanding of how the party is organized, at least here in this county.  Something that baffles me is the lack of overall organization.  See, each county in this state has it's own Democratic party.  Then, the state party has also divided the state into regions for the field campaign - D is the regional field director for region 4; I'm the region 4 intern.  Thing is, not all the precinct that R4 covers are completely contained within R4 - one of the state senators J is overseeing has a precinct that extends into the county and region to the south of us.  So we're overlapping staff there. Also, the national party and the Obama campaign has divided up the territory differently too.  So today we had an Obama volunteer here at our office, looking for the Obama staffer, but he's in Iowa City.  It seems like it would be beneficial to somehow divide the territory in a uniform way - at least so the Coordinated Campaign is working with all the same people and has everyone in a common office with satellites if need be.  

I haven't done any data entry recently, so I'm not sure if I'm getting faster all that quickly.  I am getting better at researching and creating those spreadsheets that are so all-important.

The cool thing about our office is that D, M (aka JKR), JR (aka Semi-Colin) and I are all working on the same projects a lot of the time, but we prioritize them differently.  For me, the needs list is a pretty important thing, while the Master List is more important to JKR and Semi-Colin.  So, if I'm needing a new task and updating the needs list and checking on the Master List are both important, I know JKR and Semi-Colin are on the Master List, so I should update and republish the needs list.  It breaks down the tasks one more time; keeps our eyes on the prize...

Other exciting developments this week:

- Obama has basically clinched the nomination, so we've gotten back to decorating the office with Obama paraphernalia, now that we are free to do so.  D spent a good twenty minutes making sure a huge wooden Obama logo was centered and stable in the window this morning, running in and out the door, slightly repositioning the circle, checking it, re-repositioning it, until it was just perfect. 

- Federal House Democrats started the LGBT Equality caucus as a part of the party in that body.  

- We're ten days away from state convention!

- All of the incumbents won their primary races, so we in the office can officially endorse them too. 

Update

A notorious Coe Grad just came from the Obama meeting and stopped by my desk on the way out.  He handed me some buttons that say "Drinking Liberally" on them.  I'm not surprised.  But being curious, check out the website... I kinda love it!  Visit www.drinkingliberally.com and read the About section.  Cute idea.  Way to Go, famed and reputed long-term-Coe-Student-recently-turned-Grad, in starting a CR chapter of such an illustrious organization.  

hehehe.

I am Networking Queen

It's only Monday, and already I have accomplished a great deal this week.  Foremost among these achievements, I got one of my friends an internship, and hopefully a place to stay this summer. Because I rock like that.  Pottsie wanted an intern, so I hooked him up with PFenner, and she'll start tomorrow.  Now S (henceforth known as Nyphadora), is jealous and wants her own intern.  So I'm trying to get M to come intern too.  We're flooding the office with Kohawks!  Woot!

Today D was in Des Moines (again) with our field organizers for their training.  He might still be there tomorrow too.  (Hmmm...) I coped with this complete lack of direction as best as I could (which was fine) and worked on finishing a couple of reports he wanted me to do.  The one I spent the most time on was the "College Report" which entailed gathering info about the four local colleges - things like Poli Sci professors, campus maps, student contacts, enrollment... you know, good, useful volunteer-finding information.  I also kind of attempted filling in more contact info in the R4 List of All-Important Knowledge (that's my cool, excessive name for it today), but I was having a hard time concentrating on scouring the internet for labor unions in the CR area.  

This afternoon I had my first interview for a real job (one that pays me money, not just experience).  It was at Applebee's by my house.  I filled out a REDICULOUS "personality" survey.  Definately meant to weed out depressed and aggressive types.  A little discriminating against those with mental health problems I think.  Tomorrow I get to interview there again and at Express.  Not sure which I want more right now.  Probably will come down to flexible hours (to work around the campaign) and which pays more. 

Tonight, I stayed late at the office to be around while the Obama campaign met in our conference room.  This is definitely inspiring some rearranging of furniture.  And the updating of the needs list to emphasize "Folding Chairs!!!!" because we need those that bad.  It's totes true.  

Goals and Plans

I have three goals I am working to accomplish during my internship experience:

1. Gain an understanding of campaign and party functioning

2. Increase my speed on data entry, without sacrificing accuracy

3. Better develop my prioritizing and time management skills

It's this last goal that I'm most concerned about.  Deadlines and I have never really gotten along, and I'm worried this will get in my way later in life.  I feel like if I get better at prioritizing and focusing on one thing at a time, step by step approaches, I'll get better.  D is helping a lot with this too.  Whenever he gives me a list of things to do, he usually puts it in some type of priority order as well as giving deadlines.  

I'm already well on my way to accomplishing the first goal as well.  Last night I attended the Linn County Central Committee meeting.  It was mildly reminiscent of a student senate meeting.  The whole "Robert's Rules of Order" thing.  But interesting still.  It was an abbreviated meeting, because they had a candidate forum first, so I don't know that I really understand a whole lot, but it seemed interesting and I'd like to go again.  The CC is LARGE.  That's really all I got from it. 

Today I've been doing more computer setup, more data entry.  It's kinda data entry crunch time because theres a bunch of stuff we need done before the FOs (M and JR) start on the 3rd.  D also got me information on  the GLBT/Stonewall Caucus - an organization for GLBT rights within the Democratic party.  I think I'm going to join, or at least go to some meetings and learn about it.  I'm trying to come up with a nickname for D that means benevolent boss-man, because he's great. SP (aka Pottsie) is back today.  It's been so much louder and social around here as a result.  Love it!  Pottsie's such a flirt.  Man... :)  Oh, and if anyone wants to help him fundraise, he's looking for help (an intern).

One of the candidates brought us a big bag of popcorn this morning.  Also amazing.  S's candidate is getting in trouble for not working hard enough.  S has been talking all day about how other candidates and current elected peeps are calling the IDP to talk about her candidate.  Hopefully, this is effective, 'cause we want him to do well... but he's gotta work for it. 

Week 2: Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday, May 27th

Monday was Memorial Day, and I (as ordered) stayed home.  D did not.  When I came in I had emails from him waiting for me.  They were waiting, because he sent them Monday night.  Poor D, working holidays. 

Today felt like a slow day.  SP wasn't in the office and it was a lot quieter without him.  

I met with D when he got back from a meeting somewhere in Benton Co. to talk about what we need to still get done before the FOs (field organizers) and Canvassers and Volunteers start coming in on June 4th.  He had emailed me a to-do list that included data entry and finishing organizing the office and getting it ready for the open house.  It also included getting all the computers and network stuff up and running.  I have no idea why he thought that was a good idea.  I can't do much with computers. I certainly can't do anything with a network to save my life. I think he was expecting this, so he gave me the name of the IDPs tech guy to come help if I need him.  Yay... more talking on the phone with people I don't know. (yuck.)  I suppose I would rather be doing that than the VAN research D is doing, though.  And we have a crap-ton of ethernet cords... so maybe I won't need the network stuff anyways.  

After talking with D, I worked on some finalizing the community events list and updating the online calendar the office uses.  I also took stock of the office and updated our needs list.  I was impressed by how much (especially high-tech, expensive things) we had acquired in a week's time.  We still need many basic things, though (like toilette paper). 

I got to close the office as well, because everyone else cleared out for a labor meeting, while I was finishing a few last things. 

Wednesday, May 28th

Today I was late.  I overslept.  I worried about what D would say, while I sped the whole way over.  When I got to the office I quickly started working on setting up computers.  Later when I checked my email, I saw D was late today too. Maybe that's why he didn't say anything.  Either way, I'm not having that happen again.  (If only work were a place I could go in sweats with dirty hair... I maybe would have been on time.) I've decided I'm going to Best Buy or an electronics store after work, so I can buy a plug adapter, so I can plug in and use my better alarm clock. I don't want to be late ever again.  

I spent today setting up computers, pretending to be a technology goddess. I've discovered we are missing some essential computer cords and that I really have no clue how to work a wireless router, but I set up the two desktop computers we have so far, and D seems pleased with that (for now). 

After I was stymied by a missing printer power cord, I decided to work on some database projects I have going for the rest of the day.  Later tonight, I am going to the county central committee meeting.  I'm pretty stoked for that.  

An Explanation

Here's a little bit of background information for this blog. 

I am a college student majoring in Sociology and Political Science, starting my senior year in the fall.  This summer I'm living near my school (which is five hours from my home) and interning for the Iowa Democratic Party.  Doing some sort of career related experience is a requirement for graduation from my college.  Along with wanting the experience, I am also using this internship to satisfy that requirement and to do so, I need to keep a daily journal of my experience.  This blog is that journal. 

Welcome and enjoy. 

1st Week on the Job - a recap

Monday May 19th

This was my first day as an Iowa Democratic Party intern.  I was expecting bottom of the campaign food chain. Boy, was I wrong.  

I came in for training at 2:00 pm.  I got a tour of the barely-habited office, and was told I would be mostly responsible for organizing the random pieces of furniture and the dusty and dirty piles of office supplies (the boxes had been sitting in someone's barn since the last major election).  I am responsible for general office efficiency, for not only am I "intern," I am also "office manager" - a much more definite job title.  Then I was shown how to log into the party's database and do data entry.  

I still had so many questions that I was unable to put any of them into words.  Exactly what a coordinated campaign was had become more clear, but my role in it was still fuzzy to me.  I felt a little overwhelmed, but jumped into data entry for a few hours, hoping as my days in the office increased my role would become more clear to me. 

Tuesday, May 20th

Today I memorized the campaign managers' names, the names of their candidates, and what office their candidates are running for.  I thought I had mastered at least the campaign managers' names, but when I got home last night I could only remember two of four.  I was very nervous to enter the office today knowing only two of my co-workers names.  Apparently name retention is a skill I still need to master. 

I also memorized my system log-in, saving me from rifling through my stack of job documents each time I need to do data entry.  

I started talking with the campaign managers today about how they came to campaign managing, what brought them to this job from their various backgrounds.  Campaign managing is a very fluid and ever-changing profession.  You have a job for a few months, and then the election happens and you're unemployed again. Then next election cycle you start applying and hope for another successful campaign to work for. It's all about networking, what connections you make and who you know - moreso than running for the office itself. Being a candidate, you need to have the support of the party (and even then, if the people in your district like you enough, you may not even need that in the end); to be a manager you need to know someone who can give you an in.  If you don't have that, you'll be extremely lucky to get them to even look at your resume.  Apparently this is also true of many of the jobs managers want during the off cycle (like campaign research groups and other party or non-party groups (PACs and such) in Washington).  

I also started compiling a list of local elected officials in the three counties our coordinated campaign is responsible for.  This task turned out to be a true test of my researching abilities.  Many of the small towns lack functioning websites, and the county pages are often just as unhelpful.  Google Search and I bonded.  And then I started calling and bothering all the small town city clerks.  Oh well. 

So far, I am very pleasantly surprised.  The last time I worked in an office environment, I was miserable and dreaded going to work each day.  Then I was working in a state executive branch government office, and I was worried my politics training was not going to lead to a satisfying job.  This experience in the campaign office has proved that wrong.  I also am learning so much about party politics and about politics "on the ground," things completely unmentioned in my classroom experiences.  Perhaps the challenge is what is keeping me interested and happy.  I hope it's not just the novelty.

Wednesday, May 21st

I'm noticing a theme.  D., my supervisor keeps emerging from his office at various times throughout the day, asking me how my job search is going, asking if I took a lunch break yet, telling me it's time to leave.  He's funny.  To tell you the truth, D., I'm enjoying myself and getting things accomplished - that's why I'm still here!  Believe me, if I was burning out or getting frustrated with my work, I would be splitting out of the office as often and as early as I could. No need to fuss, but I appreciate it.  :)

The atmosphere in this office is much more congenial and energized than the last office I worked in.  S.P. plays music in his office constantly and tells me I should too, because it's "too quiet" in here.  S. and I have desks facing each other and we talk and joke across the entry way all the time.  Everyone asks one another if they need anything when they run to get coffee or lunch or go to Office Max.  I am reveling in this atmosphere and hope it doesn't change when we get more people here in the beginning of June.  

Today I work on setting up the office.  I move furniture around in the front room, making a better space for volunteers to work, and moving myself to right by the door, allowing me to better welcome visitors to the Democratic Campaign office.  The most daunting task to me is unpacking and organizing all the office supplies.  I despise packing and moving with every fiber of my being.  Uprooting my life and replacing it in another space stresses me out like you wouldn't believe.  Unpacking the boxes of office supplies would have been unpleasant enough if I had been the one to pack them up, so that I kind of knew what I was dealing with, but I was coming in here blind.  I have no idea what is in these boxes and I make a general mess trying to find out.  But after that initial mess is made, things get better and I have all of the office supplies in a new home just after lunch.  

I also run errands today, going to the auditor's office and a supporter's house.  I discover areas of Cedar Rapids that I didn't know existed.  I find this a little sad, since I've lived here for three years now, and I take the scenic route everywhere for a couple of days afterwards, getting lost and confused, but having fun. 

Thursday, May 22nd

Today it's back to creating the local contact database.  I continue calling small towns across three counties and discover that many city halls are not open on Thursdays.  I, and the campaign managers, find this quite the oddity.  East Central Iowa apparently thinks it's normal. I also work on some more data entry, and I think I'm starting to move a bit faster on it.  It's a matter of being disciplined enough to focus on one step at a time rather than trying to update three things at once.  This doesn't sound difficult, but I like to do all three at once... but it's much less efficient, so I'm trying to remember the order of what to do first and train myself to be consistent.  (Later, over memorial day weekend, I'll find this same issue of trying to do everything at once come up again while studying for the LSAT.  Apparently, prioritizing and staying focused are also issues for me.)

Friday, May 23rd

Today I need a break from data entry and phone calling, so I work on another project, which is to gather information on the local colleges so that the coordinated campaign can find volunteers quickly once classes resume in the fall.  I have an easy time doing this for my school, since I know it inside and out.  But there are three other schools in the area to research as well.  Again, I run into the issue of poor website design and lack of published information.  But using my newly developed skills of creative search-engining, I slowly find most of the information I need by the end of the day.  

Today was also a very chill day in the office.  SP had his candidate's first big fundraising event last night.  It went very well and he reminds me of all us college kids when we've just finished midterms - yeah, there's more to do, but you have to celebrate being done with all the work you just turned in for a little bit.  As usual, his attitude is pretty infectious, and we're all pretty cheerful and looking forward to the weekend. I end up staying late at the office with SP and J enjoying a pizza we order for dinner and discussing weekend plans. I'm still here when D gets back from Des Moines and he starts in on telling me I should leave and take it easy while I can, and I tell him we were talking and eating and that I'm fine... I have nothing else to do anyway.  He settles for reminding me I'm supposed to take Monday off.