Students experience campaign lifestyle

MANCHESTER, N.H. — "This is the worst," volunteer Julia Friedlander '06 said cheerfully as she held up Wes Clark signs outside a polling station in Derry, N.H. "I definitely wouldn't do this for any other cause."

Friedlander was among nearly 50 University students who traveled to New Hampshire to serve as foot soldiers in the campaigns of four Democratic presidential hopefuls.

More than 25 students supported Gen. Wesley Clark, while approximately 16 rallied for Sen. John Edwards, six for Gov. Howard Dean and one for Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Volunteers spent long hours going door-to-door and making phone calls, bombarding residents with so many pleas that one resident threatened to change his vote if the campaign he supported bothered him one more time. Though occasionally frustrated, most residents were receptive to and even amused by the students' efforts.

"They like telling you that they're undecided and they like hearing you squirm," Clark volunteer Alexander Djerassi '06 said.

Students agreed that New Hampshire residents took their role in the nation's first presidential primary seriously, and enjoyed the attention the candidates, media and nation lavished upon the state.

"Even the people who were telling me to stop putting up signs and stop littering their towns, they all said — well, most of them said — 'I respect all of your energy; thank you for volunteering,' " Djerassi said.

Though motivated by a common frustration with the Bush administration, the volunteers varied in previous political experience. Djerassi discussed elections with his teacher in kindergarten and spent the summer on Capitol Hill, while others did not know how primaries worked until they arrived in New Hampshire.

Those tempted by rumors of an active bar and dating scene in the evenings found themselves collapsing into bed after 16-hour workdays.

"I came hoping to play a lot of poker and drink a lot," Clark campaigner Philip Van Stockum '06 joked. "There's not even time for sleeping or taking showers — I have to choose."

Voters and volunteers alike were impressed by the energy of the younger generation.

Staffers at Clark's Dover headquarters were particularly enthusiastic about the Princeton students, good-naturedly affirming they were far more competent than their Cambridge, M.A., counterparts.

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"The Princeton volunteers have been uncomplicated, enthusiastic and un-Jersey-like," said Mike Banyas, a campaign staffer in Clark's Dover headquarters. "You guys are way smarter than the other guys we get."

Students were cautious about revealing their Princeton affiliation, however. Steve McCutcheon '07 and Dave Greenhalgh '07 covered their orange and black sweatshirts while campaigning at the University of New Hampshire. Rob Buerki '06 considered promoting Dean at a monster truck rally in downtown Manchester, but "decided my Princeton for Dean buttons wouldn't go over too well with the patrons."

Yet McCutcheon said residents sometimes took his opinion more seriously after learning he went to Princeton.

Djereassi agreed that voters thought Princeton students were smart, though when he said he was from San Francisco, they considered him "zany."

"I'm from Kentucky," Van Stockum added, "but I didn't tell anyone that."

Campaign rivalries

In towns where campaign headquarters for four candidates lined a single block, and on street corners where volunteers from multiple campaigns jockeyed for roadside positions, rivalry was inevitable.

"It's a battle between the Democrats to see how loud we can go and who can get the most honks," Greenhalgh said of his group's time "doing vis" — campaign talk for holding signs to increase visibility.

New Hampshire resident Scott Williams, a veteran of ten state primaries, recalled that in past elections, like the 2000 race between Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Bill Bradley, the rivalry had risen to hostility.

"When you have that kind of one-on-one polarization, you want to beat the other side to a pulp," he explained.

But competition this year was friendly, bated by a common anger at the Bush administration and the shared misery of the coldest primary season in decades.

"You're fearful of getting your fingers amputated, so there's some empathy between the groups," McCutcheon said.

Dean handed out hot chocolate to Clark campaigners, and even Republicans invited students into their homes for brief respites from the harsh outdoors.

Rather than discouraging the volunteers, the freezing weather seemed to reaffirm their dedication to their causes.

The Clark students arrived in New Hampshire with varying degrees of knowledge of and commitment to the general. But by the time they left, all were "die-hard supporters," said Shlomi Sher GS, founder of Princeton Students for Clark. Many of the volunteers traveled to Delaware last Saturday and plan to campaign in Virginia this weekend.

"Usually, you're driven by your own interests and concerns and deadlines," Sher said. "For a week, we were driven by something that was a lot bigger."