I was a Campaign Organizer in Ohio for President Obama’s 2012 Re-Election

And What I Learned on the Campaign Trail

I started as a volunteer organizer in Michigan in 2011. I was living with my parents after graduating college and I was very lucky to have their support which provided me with the resources to basically work for free for almost 2 years with no real guarantee of paid employment. But they more or less understand I had to do it.

Up until this point I never explored volunteerism as a possible career option. I don’t come from a community organizing background nor did I have the desire or courage to devote my life to non-profit organizations. This all sort of happened for a variety of reasons. Fate or something I guess. But I’m glad I took the chance.

Don’t Take Things Personally

You take a lot of shit from all kinds of people because you’re an easy target (and that’s a big part of the job). You are on the front lines, tip of the spear, the first soldiers to march into the mouth of the dragon.

People are emotional creatures by nature and most believe that that emotion gives them the right to be rude and dickish to complete strangers. As a result you develop a pretty thick skin and learn to not take anything too personal, even when everyone else does. It’s also the price of working the political arena I guess where emotional manipulation is a pre-requisite to getting stuff done. That’s certainly true as an organizer.

All Work and No Play

You work incredibly long hours because you have no other choice. And I’m not talking about indentured servitude here. For any campaign, time is the one limiting factor. Election Day is coming no matter what and you have to keep building and building to that one day like your life depends on it.

It’s like taking a high school football team and instead of playing a game each weekend all you do is prepare for one big game in a year. And, oh yeah, that game is the Superbowl and you’re facing Brett Farvre, Eli Manning, and Tom Brady all at the same time. Does that give you a better idea?

Money Doesn’t Always Talk

You absolutely don’t do it for the money. Well, maybe some do, but they’re fools. I made about $900 twice a month for 60–80 hours’ worth of work 6–7 days a week. But things like gas and other expenses were partly subsidized including room and board as many times volunteers would donate a spare bedroom to us lowly organizers.

And speaking of time off, you don’t get much. In August we were allowed 2 days rest for the whole month, September we could apply for 1 day off, and October we had zero days off. Yep, you pretty much work every day for the whole month, 31 days straight, because Election Day is right around the corner.

Yep, as a campaign organizer for a major presidential candidate you will work harder than you ever have in your life. But you will also have more fun than you will ever have in you life. You will be exhausted, but surrounded by the best kinds of people you can imagine because that’s who campaigns like these attract. There will plenty of dark days; plenty of vindictive people with hidden agendas (this IS politics after all). But win or lose, you will learn so much about yourself than you could have ever imagined. If you have the opportunity to do something like this, big or small, for all the right reasons, I highly suggest you take that opportunity and just go with it. It was the best decision I ever made.

I had the opportunity to meet President Obama during Inauguration Week at the White House. I blurted out, “I was a field organizer in Ohio!” when he asked how I was doing and he quickly responded, “You did a hell of a job there.”