State of the Union

Though I am sadly not at a State of the Union watch party I am watching from my dorm room. Obama's speech is truly inspiring, his ideas of our country in my opinion are exactly what America is looking for. As a college student I would love a decrease interest rates on student loans and see an increase in funding towards Pell Grants. With these changes a numerous amount of people can go to college and give America a fighting chance against the rest of the world.

Obama's last three years in office have helped us increase the creation of jobs and decrease our ever growing debt. Under the care of Obama our economy can grow and we can once again be what many believe America to be; "A city upon a hill." We need to find a way to move away from petroleum and move towards a "green" America using alternative energy resources.

Hearing the State of the Union makes be feel as if I have chosen the right campaign to support. I am proud to be working for Obama's reelection campaign and hope that my contribution will make a difference.

Getting down to business.

Day two of interring and I am learning quite a bit. As you can see from the picture to your left, our new office is almost ready. A few of the other volunteers have placed decorations while I was put in charge of organizing; office supplies, signs and paperwork.

All the volunteers were thrilled to see how well our office is coming together. Walking in today I was amazed at how different our office looked since Thursday the first time I walked in. We had more room to set up phone banks and to fit more volunteers.

I was once again placed on the biggest aspect of a political campaign; phone banks. Today instead of asking people their opinion I was told to contact and recruit them as fellow volunteers. From the many calls made today less than half picked up the phone, but those who did jumped at the chance of getting more information on how to proceed with volunteering. Numerous amount of people are signing up to help us take this campaign to new heights.

The enthusiasm that people gave off the phone was infectious. The soon to be volunteers were so open and ready to get down to business.  Tomorrow I will be returning to gain even more experience on what exactly goes on during a political campaign.

Phones, Phones, Phones

   Today I started working on Obama's political campaign for the 2012 presidential election. I was extremely nervous and didn't really know what to expect walking into the office. My supervisors Victoria and Bernadette were very welcoming.

My first task was working the phone banks, one of the biggest parts of any political campaign. I was given a username, a phone and got to work making calls.

My first call was nerve-wrecking and I stuttered my way through it but as luck would have it, the person I spoke to was very nice and a whole hearted Obama supporter. My second call didn't go as well; that person didn't really like being called to talk about their politics or Obama for that matter. Either way it was a great experience.

I expected a scene much like one from the film "Definitely, Maybe," where Ryan Reynolds' character is sitting at a desk making calls and searching supporters. Everyone in the office appeared disheveled and bored. My experience was a lot more fun; we only had one desk five mobile phones and cheered every time someone was able to get a reaction out of a potential voter. We even had an Obama-meter where each of us would add a line and fill it in, marking our progress.

My first day on the job was great, everyone was nice and as dull as it may sound, mining the phone banks aren't that bad, it was actually a fun task to do and I look forward to helping the campaign as much as I can.