The approaching presidential election has inspired several Brown students to carve out their own niche in the democratic process. Brown students, joining with thousands of other campaign supporters nationwide, are spending their summer working for various branches of the political machine.
Sean Siperstein '05 and Will Bittinger '05 are working in Providence for a consulting group called Grassroots Campaigns, Inc., which sends representatives door-to-door raising money for various campaigns. The organization is raising money for the Democratic National Committee before the November election, Bittinger said.
Siperstein and Bittinger, along with "a handful of other Brown students," according to Siperstein, are paid to fundraise door-to-door in heavily Democratic states. The money is then used to mobilize voters in swing states in favor of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
Grassroots Campaigns also contributes to other organizational aspects of the campaign and election, such as providing lawyers at polling stations on Election Day, Bittinger said. One of the jobs of Grassroots Campaigns is to "make sure mistakes that happened in 2000, mainly in Florida, don't happen again," he said.
Bittinger said he learned about the job by scouring the Internet and from representatives who came to Brown. He decided to take the job for a variety of reasons, including the Providence location, the salary and the overall goal of the job.
"It's fulfilling because you're helping the Kerry campaign, helping get Bush out, and you also get paid," he said.
Another reason Bittinger decided to work for the campaign this summer was that he enjoyed working for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign over winter break. His experience was such a positive one that "if Dean had been the nominee, I wouldn't be talking to you right now," Bittinger said, implying that he would likely have taken the fall semester off to follow Dean's campaign trail.
Instead, he's continuing his work for former Dean rival Kerry by helping the Brown Democrats organize various activities and events as the group's head of campaigns and internships.
Siperstein has also had previous political experience. Aside from being vice president of the Brown Democrats, he completed an internship in Washington, D.C., for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last summer.
Siperstein said that the part he enjoys the most about his job is the conversations he has with people he's asking for donations.
"Having conversations with people is the best part of it. It's definitely inspiring and motivating," he said.
Siperstein often hears stories about people's personal experiences with the economy or other ways their lives have been affected by the Bush administration's policies. "It's inspiring to hear from people who want to give money but can't," Siperstein said. He said the smallest contribution he's received is $2.
Other Brown students are spending their time contributing to the political process in a more traditional way - through volunteer office jobs. Swathi Bojedla '07 works on the Internet team in Kerry's campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C. Her job consists of sending out various e-mail forms, as well as answering questions about fundraising and house parties through e-mail.
The office job can often get monotonous, Bojedla said, but it's exciting to be working in the headquarters of the campaign.
"It's cool because there are a lot of people you read about in the news who hang out here," she said.
Bojedla decided to work in Washington because she'd never been there and already had exposure doing field work. She also plans to help organize delegates for Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month.
Like Bittinger, Bojedla worked for the Dean campaign over winter break and felt very passionate about it. "It was literally the best experience of my life," she said.
Although Bojedla will return to brown in the fall, she said she plans to continue to be active politically. She would like to organize a program to travel to swing states on weekends and canvass there with other Brown students.
Neither the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign nor the Republican National Committee had any knowledge of whether there were Brown students on their staff.
But no matter how the election turns out, Bojedla and the other Brown students working for campaigns this summer will know that they've contributed to something they believe in.
"No matter what happens, I'll know I did the best I could," Bojedla said. "I'll know I was part of something important."
Herald staff writer Stephanie Clark '07 can be reached at sclark@browndailyherald.com.
