Next up: Opportunities in New Hampshire Presidential Primaries
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11/01/2018
By Katharine Webster
Working for the underdog ā a Republican candidate in a Democratic-leaning district ā has its advantages.
Just ask Justin St. Louis, a junior political science major in the Honors College. In 2016, he was knocking on doors and phone-banking in New Hampshire as a field representative for then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte. Now heās deputy political director for Rick Green, the Republican running for Congress in Massachusettsā 3rd District.
St. Louis is helping to plan events and constituent meetings, creating all of the campaignās graphics and crafting much of its email and social media messaging, all while learning about fundraising. If he were working for an incumbent with an existing political organization, he wouldnāt have gotten such an opportunity, he says.
āIāve gotten to see the whole campaign from start to finish,ā he says. āItās like being on the ground floor with a startup that grows into a significant company.ā
Students are talking to voters, working on social media outreach and serving as debate panelists. One or two are even running for office themselves. And theyāre connecting their classroom learning to their experiences in the field every day.
āIāve been able to take what Iāve learned in the campaigns and relate it back to what I learn in the classroom,ā says Curtis Boucher, president of the UML College Republicans. āThe media stuff, public opinion ā Iād learn it in class in the morning, and in the afternoon Iād live it.ā
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āSeeing campaigns up front gives students a chance to apply the research we show them in the classroom, but also think about the limits of that research,ā says Assoc. Prof. John Cluverius, associate director of UML's Center for Public Opinion. āSome students will even apply their campaign experiences to new research projects, based on what theyāve observed.ā
For members of the UML College Democrats, the contest for the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas offered tons of internships ā and plenty of friendly rivalry, since 10 Democrats were on the primary ballot.Ā
Several women in the club campaigned for Lori Trahan, now the nominee. Other members campaigned for Rufus Gifford and Juana Matias before the Sept. 4 primary.
āI learned how the political machine works, how fundraising money flows and how to convince voters,ā he says.
Madhav Sampath, a junior majoring in economics, interned during the primary for Gifford, the former ambassador to Denmark and finance director for President Obamaās 2012 re-election campaign. Now heās interning for the state Democratic Party in support of Trahan, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and candidates in state races.
Image by K. Webster
āAfter nine months of campaigning for Rufus and other Democrats, I realized this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,ā he says.
Hannah Casey, a sophomore double-majoring in history and political science, signed up to work for Gifford over the summer after he came and spoke to one of her classes. She knocked on 2,000 doors and made 2,000 phone calls to voters on Giffordās behalf. She loves making that personal connection.
āConversations are the most critically important thing we can do,ā she says. āYou need to be able to talk to people with completely different points of view, listen to them and understand where theyāre coming from.ā
Andrew Sciascia also āloves the doors.ā A junior majoring in political science and criminal justice, heās interning for MassVictory, the Republicansā coordinated campaign. He enjoys listening to peopleās stories ā and practicing his powers of persuasion.Ā
Sciascia and UML College Dems President Julie Lawton also got to quiz candidates in the 3rd Congressional and 1st Middlesex Districts during debates co-hosted by the university and The Lowell Sun.Ā
Alex Leighton Williams, a 21-year-old Amesbury resident whoās in the History Departmentās five-year bachelorās-to-masterās program, is the Republican candidate for state Senate in the 1st Essex District.Ā
Image by Scott Maki
Heās running as a social liberal, a civic reformer and a fiscal hawk, trying to bring attention to issues that affect young people. He supports treatment instead of jail for people addicted to opioids, and heās a strong advocate for public higher education. He says his professors are as good as those at private colleges. The same goes for his friends in UMLās engineering and business programs, who are helping him knock on votersā doors from Methuen to Salisbury Beach.
āIf UMass can offer the best plastics engineering program in North America at one-fourth the cost of a private university, why does college cost so much?ā Williams asks. āIām really proud of UMass.ā
Boucher, whoās out knocking on doors with MacDonald whenever heās not in class, is another ŠÓ°É“«Ć½ fan. He says his political science professors are always pushing him to learn more, both inside and outside the classroom, from doing campaign work to volunteering at SayDaNar, a nonprofit that aids Burmese refugees.
āThis university has opened so many doors that Iāve never dreamed of being opened,ā Boucher says. āThis university has put an emphasis on making sure we get out there and learn hands-on, in the field, so itās not total culture shock when we leave the classroom ā that we actually know what weāre doing out there.ā
