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Health & Fitness

Political Primaries ~ Grass Root Campaigning

The importance of grassroots campaigning and political activism through the eyes of a volunteer on the Mitt Romney Campaign.

Let me start by saying, I am a student from Quinnipiac University, and this year I took an internship working in New Hampshire on Gov. Mitt Romney’s Campaign. I was heavily involved in the grass roots area of the campaign.

What this post is mainly about, is the concept of grass roots campaigning, the challenges one faces when canvassing, as well as why people don't volunteer more. Grass roots campaigning is one of the oldest ideas in democratic politics. Before phones and the internet, candidates relied on volunteers walking around and knocking on people's doors to get the word out on their candidate as well as to create a reliable likely voter list.

In today's elections, grass roots is just as important and politicians rely on volunteers to obtain important potential voter information. This is what a majority of my time was devoted to. Phone banking, door knocking, and sign waving was the theme of my days, from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Perhaps that is the reason many people don’t volunteer to campaign.

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Many kids have become lazier or perhaps less enthused to get out and help. The exception, of course, occurred during the 2008 Presidential election, as Barack Obama rallied the youth and got them to come out and help. This election alone showed the significance of grass roots and volunteers. Those young adults who came out and called homes and knocked on those doors helped to do something nobody thought was possible.

When I set up events for Romney, personally I was interviewed over a dozen times and almost every time the same question was asked: “You're a relatively young adult, why are you out here campaigning, especially for the republican side?” My answer would be consistent every time. I was out there because I believed in the ideas that were presented to me. I am passionate about this country and care about which direction it's headed. Everyone in this country has a voice, which is presented with a vote. Nobody should complain about their government if they don't volunteer or at the very least vote in an election. If you want something changed than you have to take the initiative, and for me volunteering is a first step to do that. Grass Roots campaigning is an amazing and important experience everyone should try at least once.

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