Campaigns Offer Opportunity to Students
Some Monmouth students who have previously done campaign work shared their experiences and opinions on campaign work with the paper. Sophomore Grant Miller, who only recently had his first experience with campaign work canvassing for the Elizabeth Warren campaign, said that he, “wanted to work on a campaign because I feel like Civic duty, today more than ever, is crucial to our democracy, and I wanted to help a campaign that I supported.” Miller went on to state that he feels he got more out of the experience than just a few volunteer hours. “I feel like I gained some confidence in speaking to strangers, as well as putting forth my best effort in a worthy task. It always feels good to work on something that matters.” Miller goes on to say that he “would definitely recommend” campaign work to other students due to the experiences he gained in the process.
Editor in Chief of the Courier, Emma Hildebrand, also shared some of what she’s gleaned from working on campaigns for various Illinois Republicans in the past. Hildebrand “wanted to work for campaigns mainly to get some experience in the field and narrow down my list of possible career options.” Hildebrand recommends campaign work “even to those with less interest in politics,” due to the fact that she believes it’s “valuable to know your local and state representatives and understanding the campaign and election process is beneficial to being civically engaged.”
Considering these glowing recommendations from two Monmouth students alongside the fact that as the days go by this campaign season is growing more intense and more full of opportunities, it may be a good idea for students to seek out a campaign in need of a new volunteer or employee. Due to the relatively early occurrence of the Iowa caucuses compared to the Illinois primaries, a lot of opportunities for campaign work will be available in the Quad Cities area for the next few months before they really start cropping up in Illinois. There are already some campaign offices for different presidential hopefuls such as Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and others. These same campaigns have not yet set up offices in Western Illinois. However; the Illinois 93rd Illinois House district, just southwest of Monmouth, is currently host to both a campaign to reelect incumbent Norine Hammond and a campaign to elect Democratic challenger Emiliano Vera. All of these campaigns need people to help make them work and can offer great experiences.
Joseph Doner - Political Editor