From 2005/2006 forward I didn't miss a beat in Legislative District 17 and did my best to stay involved with the Arizona Democratic Party Headquarters.
How?Attending Legislative District monthly meetings, attending fundraisers for our Representatives: Ed Ableser, David Schapira, Meg Burton-Cahill, Harry Mitchell.
Another thing I did was learn as much as I could.
How?Meetings, political and community events, canvassing neighborhoods speaking to fellow Tempians (someone from Tempe, AZ), calling folks on behalf of one of our local Representatives.
I encourage everyone to try this - at least once. Don't let the fact that you may not know anyone stop you.
In the beginning I didn't know anyone .(really - most of my new found friends from campaign GOTV weekend 2006 had either left for D.C. or back to their former campaign selves.)
The 1st political fundraiser that I went to alone I did not know anyone there - and after about 5 minutes I ran into a former professor of mine from Mesa Community College...
This night I met many folks and later I didn't have any problem going anywhere alone, to a place where I would not know anyone.
Just going around introducing yourself to folks becomes easier and easier.
"Politics" not your thing? How about Causes, Non-for-Profits, Unions, Teacher-Ed Coalitions, Animal Shelters?
All of the aforementioned need the same type of volunteer base as any political party.
They to hold rallies, fundraisers, ask for donations, canvass neighborhoods, call folks, and work with the media to get their message out.
They too are always in need of volunteers.
Bored, frustrated, angry? I challenge you to get involved with one of those issues which frustrates you most - what makes you throw things at T.V.? Fume in front of your laptop?
I promise you, it will be one of the best experiences ever.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Emerge Arizona Event with Speaker Pelosi
This June I will complete my training with Emerge Arizona, Arizona's premier political training for democratic women. The program is 6 months long, January - June.
Emerge America / Emerge Arizona designed this program so that at the end of the 6 months each program member will be ready to run for office, manage a campaign or fill any needed integral asset for a winning campaign!
PHOTO: Here I am with my great friend & Emerge sister, Tory Anderson & Speaker Pelosi. The event took place May 2009 at a private Phoenix residence.
Thank you Speaker Pelosi!!!
For more information please visit: http://www.emergeaz.org/
A Journey: State Government & Politics
I began my adult journey into working and being completely immersed into State Government and politics back in 2006 (2005 ?).
A desire to switch careers (right at that moment where I was charging upwards full force...) and wanting something more, something different...in my mid 30s I made a tough, but wise decision to switch careers.
After almost a year of not working, volunteering for 9months, collecting unemployment and working temp jobs, my resume ended up in the office of Governor Janet Napolitano...after doing the happy dance upon learning this, I interviewed, was hired and after 6 months I realized this is what I want to do for a career!
At the time of this realization what I did not know was that what I had discovered, what I loved, what energized me was not just working in public service but politics!
What helped? Governor Napolitano was beginning her 2nd campaign for a run for Governor once again - I became involved (outside of work, of course!) with campaign as many of us did.
Through this I ended up GOTV (Get Out The Vote) week end at Harry Mitchell's Campaign Headquarters. This was his first run for the congressional seat (Congressional District 5) at the time held by J.D. Hayworth.
I absolutely loved my GOTV week end, during that week I developed a respect for the seasoned volunteers and staffers. I met groups of amazing young adults, many who traveled from different states to help democrats where needed.
I also made lasting friendships and met amazing people, many of whose careers I have seen grown in politics and government...my self included.
That I leave for another entry.
A desire to switch careers (right at that moment where I was charging upwards full force...) and wanting something more, something different...in my mid 30s I made a tough, but wise decision to switch careers.
After almost a year of not working, volunteering for 9months, collecting unemployment and working temp jobs, my resume ended up in the office of Governor Janet Napolitano...after doing the happy dance upon learning this, I interviewed, was hired and after 6 months I realized this is what I want to do for a career!
At the time of this realization what I did not know was that what I had discovered, what I loved, what energized me was not just working in public service but politics!
What helped? Governor Napolitano was beginning her 2nd campaign for a run for Governor once again - I became involved (outside of work, of course!) with campaign as many of us did.
Through this I ended up GOTV (Get Out The Vote) week end at Harry Mitchell's Campaign Headquarters. This was his first run for the congressional seat (Congressional District 5) at the time held by J.D. Hayworth.
I absolutely loved my GOTV week end, during that week I developed a respect for the seasoned volunteers and staffers. I met groups of amazing young adults, many who traveled from different states to help democrats where needed.
I also made lasting friendships and met amazing people, many of whose careers I have seen grown in politics and government...my self included.
That I leave for another entry.
Class: PAF 584
When I signed up for this class, I knew I would be getting school credit for a political fellowship I did via the office of Congressman Mitchell.
What I did not know was that it was a BLOG. Previously I had never had a desire to blog about anything, this mainly due to the fact that it can prove to be time consuming and also because complete strangers can leave you their opinions, comments, rantings, etc on what would otherwise be your thoughts. Thoughts - this being something personal (as in not shared with whoever) but our 21st Century technology has changed all that, everyone is your friend, everyone has a need to share and in the "blog world" we all converge into a type of "group therapy session." (I hated group therapy.)
So, here I am, blogging for A.S.U. credit for my Masters in Public Administration degree.
Initially I was going to blog about my Mitchell fellowship but at this point and time much of the "in-the-heat-of-the-grueling-campaign-moments" have passed. Can it be recaptured? I've rarely been able to retell a situation with conveying the feeling and usually end up with the "you had to have been there" explanation.
With this said I am changing the name of this internship blog to: PAF 584 Blog experiences....?????
What I did not know was that it was a BLOG. Previously I had never had a desire to blog about anything, this mainly due to the fact that it can prove to be time consuming and also because complete strangers can leave you their opinions, comments, rantings, etc on what would otherwise be your thoughts. Thoughts - this being something personal (as in not shared with whoever) but our 21st Century technology has changed all that, everyone is your friend, everyone has a need to share and in the "blog world" we all converge into a type of "group therapy session." (I hated group therapy.)
So, here I am, blogging for A.S.U. credit for my Masters in Public Administration degree.
Initially I was going to blog about my Mitchell fellowship but at this point and time much of the "in-the-heat-of-the-grueling-campaign-moments" have passed. Can it be recaptured? I've rarely been able to retell a situation with conveying the feeling and usually end up with the "you had to have been there" explanation.
With this said I am changing the name of this internship blog to: PAF 584 Blog experiences....?????
Monday, March 30, 2009
Blog update - a little something about August 2008
Hi All,
Sorry for the delay but class, political leadership program, events and life have kept me busy! Oh, and let's not forget Facebook! This blog for my internship forever looms in the back of my mind because I know I am behind and have yet to visit the blogs of my fellow SPA Internship classmates...
Last August 2008 when I began the Congressman Mitchell internship was a very exciting and already somewhat exhausting time for Democrats in AZ (actually, yes, everywhere but since the blog is about my internship I will try and focus on AZ).
One of the first assignments I was given was to assist with contacting voters via phone.
Voter Contact via phone consisted of the following:
*Volunteer recruitment - there are always those folks who have signed up & express interest and the challenging work is reminding them and having them sign up for dates and times to come in.
*Informing voters on campaign updates; media articles; happenings in D.C. which can affect voter turnout (such as the stimulus plan, and also how politician voted on bills of importance to AZ voters).
*Informing voters why canditate is the best person to vote for - providing concrete information.
Not everyone loves doing Voter Contact via phone but it is one of the most important ways to reach the public. Here are a few things to consider:
**Targeting - "helps us to better balance our resources to more effectively, and efficiently, COMMUNICATE, with the specific voters that will decide the outcome of the election."
**Predicted Turnout - "such as current events, ballot initiatives, absentee ballot drive; this just names a few.
**Polling (demographic)
*Voter file (geographic)
Each night afterwork I would head over to the Mitchell Campaign headquarters which was located on the corner of Mill Avenue and Baseline Road. Each night Congressman Mitchell's amazing team of Campaign Directors were there - these people had the best attitude, sense of humor (which proves crucial as campaign is coming to a close) and worked amazingly well as a team.
Each night I would see different volunteers, some folks I would get to know fairly well and would find that campaign volunteering was nothing new to them.
I would become quite amazed with myself as the campaign continued; I would put in 40 hours at work, go to Ron Perry's Research Methods I on Wednesday night & would put in many hours at headquarters.
To give you an idea of hours:
In the beginning (August) I would go in Tue/Thu for 6 hours totals & Saturday usually about 11AM - 4PM or 5PM. So about 12-15 to begin with...this would eventually go to 20 hours - 30 hours....pretty much anytime I was not at work I was there & LOVING IT...
This was not the first campaign I had volunteered and I had been active in LD17 for a few years.
****I hope you have enjoyed this post & look forward to hearing what the rest of you in SPA 584 think!!
Sorry for the delay but class, political leadership program, events and life have kept me busy! Oh, and let's not forget Facebook! This blog for my internship forever looms in the back of my mind because I know I am behind and have yet to visit the blogs of my fellow SPA Internship classmates...
Last August 2008 when I began the Congressman Mitchell internship was a very exciting and already somewhat exhausting time for Democrats in AZ (actually, yes, everywhere but since the blog is about my internship I will try and focus on AZ).
One of the first assignments I was given was to assist with contacting voters via phone.
Voter Contact via phone consisted of the following:
*Volunteer recruitment - there are always those folks who have signed up & express interest and the challenging work is reminding them and having them sign up for dates and times to come in.
*Informing voters on campaign updates; media articles; happenings in D.C. which can affect voter turnout (such as the stimulus plan, and also how politician voted on bills of importance to AZ voters).
*Informing voters why canditate is the best person to vote for - providing concrete information.
Not everyone loves doing Voter Contact via phone but it is one of the most important ways to reach the public. Here are a few things to consider:
**Targeting - "helps us to better balance our resources to more effectively, and efficiently, COMMUNICATE, with the specific voters that will decide the outcome of the election."
**Predicted Turnout - "such as current events, ballot initiatives, absentee ballot drive; this just names a few.
**Polling (demographic)
*Voter file (geographic)
Each night afterwork I would head over to the Mitchell Campaign headquarters which was located on the corner of Mill Avenue and Baseline Road. Each night Congressman Mitchell's amazing team of Campaign Directors were there - these people had the best attitude, sense of humor (which proves crucial as campaign is coming to a close) and worked amazingly well as a team.
Each night I would see different volunteers, some folks I would get to know fairly well and would find that campaign volunteering was nothing new to them.
I would become quite amazed with myself as the campaign continued; I would put in 40 hours at work, go to Ron Perry's Research Methods I on Wednesday night & would put in many hours at headquarters.
To give you an idea of hours:
In the beginning (August) I would go in Tue/Thu for 6 hours totals & Saturday usually about 11AM - 4PM or 5PM. So about 12-15 to begin with...this would eventually go to 20 hours - 30 hours....pretty much anytime I was not at work I was there & LOVING IT...
This was not the first campaign I had volunteered and I had been active in LD17 for a few years.
****I hope you have enjoyed this post & look forward to hearing what the rest of you in SPA 584 think!!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Introduction March 9, 2009
Hello! The picture to your right is of the Congressman Mitchell 2008 Re-Election Victory Party!! Tempe, Arizona.
This past year I was privileged to have been chosen for the 2008 Congressman Mitchell Fellowship.
This Fellowship was specifically designed to place students in the campaign environment of Congressman Mitchell’s 2008 Re-Election Campaign; allowing students to gain experience in Campaign Management in exchange for class credit.
This blog will serve primarily to share my Fellowship experience with you and to also provide a bit of my history with the Arizona Democratic Party, specifically in Congressional District 5 and Legislative District 17.
My hope is to make my fellow SPA students at A.S.U. inspired to become involved in local government, politics, and activism.
Thank you for dropping in...Stay tuned...I can also be found on Facebook.
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