10 Lessons I Learned From Interning On a Political Campaign

For my entire high school career, I was told that the summer before college would be this magical, freeing window of time. I pictured myself exploring the Bay Area (where I’m from), taking frequent trips to San Francisco, and trying every underrated food spot in my hometown.

Of course, I couldn’t predict that a pandemic would upend those plans.

Meanwhile, a lot was going on in the world. Notably, the Black Lives Matter movement was rapidly gaining traction, and with that, the call for social and political change to address racism and inequality in the U.S. On a much smaller scale, I had just turned 18, meaning that I was now of voting age and felt an obligation to educate myself about a host of issues. Despite having no previous interest in pursuing a career related to politics or policy, I found myself scouring the internet for political internships I could volunteer my time for. I soon started interning for a grassroots, progressive political campaign fighting to advance through an August primary. Although the candidate ultimately did not advance, I can say, without a doubt, that it was a transformative three months.

So, without further ado, here are 10 lessons I learned from interning on a political campaign:

1. A surprising number of Americans care little about candidates outside of their party affiliation. I could not tell you how many times people cut me off, asking, “What party is your candidate?” As soon as I responded “Democrat,” they quickly assured me that they’d only vote for Democrats on their primary ballot before hanging up. However, there were two Democrats (and four Republicans) running for the position in a district holding a top-two primary — meaning that there could have been two Democrats on the ballot in November and that there was a choice to make within each party. For me, this really highlighted the importance of thoroughly researching each local candidate on my ballot.

2. Along those same lines, people rarely spend extensive time researching issues via factual or unbiased sources. I don’t mean this in a condescending way, because I could never claim to be the most informed citizen. But knowing this taught me the importance of connecting with people in terms of how issues and policies affect their own lives and offering personal anecdotes for why I cared about the candidate I was canvassing for. Aggressively spewing facts and figures doesn’t convince people — speaking from a place of empathy does.

3. Don’t take anything you read at face value, even if it’s coming from your favorite candidates. During the campaign, the candidate I interned for ran multiple social media ads on her opponent regarding a letter he signed, penned by a Republican senator, in support of a bill that was criticized by some as a means to cut Social Security. However, the opponent did not sponsor that bill — he merely signed the letter supporting it, and later withdrew his support. The ads, however, while not untrue, were somewhat misleading in where the opponent stood in terms of his position on Social Security. In other words — do your research.

4. Public pressure is an effective tool, especially with local politicians. While the incumbent candidate did not want to acknowledge my candidate, he did draft a response to constituents who reached out about the Social Security issue and started altering the advertisements he ran accordingly. Holding politicians accountable for their voting record and actions makes them more responsive to who they represent.

5. Be nice, or at least somewhat respectful, to telemarketers and phone bankers! I was phone banking for six to eight hours a week and it would make my day to have just one respectful conversation per shift, even if that conversation wasn’t with a supporter.

6. The Democratic party does NOT support progressive challengers. I mention this not because it is surprising, but because it was interesting to see how this played out. For instance, our campaign was denied access to data on residents’ information, relied on obtaining donor lists from other progressive candidates, and faced a steep uphill battle in terms of endorsements and publicity.

7. You probably have more information about yourself online than you think! I don’t mean this in terms of the data that sites like Facebook and Instagram collect about you but in terms of what you yourself make public. I was a member of the campaign’s donor research team; donor research is essentially a less creepy way of saying social media stalking. The purpose of this team was to research issues/talking points the candidate and potential donor could bond over to increase the likelihood of obtaining a donation. Just by looking at a person’s public donation history and LinkedIn, I could deduce the issues most important to them and hobbies to connect over; if you threw in a public Twitter account I would have more than enough notes to leave for the candidate.

8. Grassroots campaigns really come down to “scrappy” work. In the campaign, I was also a captain for the social media canvassing team. Often, I spent hours clicking through each Facebook post the campaign made, identifying supporters via their comments or positive reactions, and inputting them one-by-one into the campaign database. I also frequently messaged local supporters via social media about whether they were interested in remote volunteering. I realized that there were so many supporters that weren’t reached via phone because of the lack of current data (mentioned in #6), so while this work could be tedious, it could not be dismissed. If you’re passionate about progressive politics and have extra time on your hands, volunteer. There are a number of campaigns that could use your help, and with the progressive movement being relatively new, not all of them have great organizing. Especially with the current remote nature of everything, campaigns need you now more than ever.

9. It is possible to convince Republicans to vote for progressive candidates. It is very shocking when that happens, but it does happen.

10. Prank voicemails are hilarious and something I genuinely enjoyed between calls. Even if I was saying “hello?” into a void, it was nice to get that bit of humor within a long shift once I realized what was going on. I’m now considering making one myself!

While interning for a political campaign was no walk in the (Golden Gate) park, and probably reinforced my aversion towards a career in politics — I am incredibly grateful for the experience. I started out with a fear of speaking to strangers over the phone and having no clue about how campaigns were run. Within a few months, I’d gotten over phone anxiety, learned about how volunteers and staff were structured within a campaign, and gained knowledge about the complex (sometimes corrupt) but promising political sphere.

Lastly, I was simultaneously interning with VotingSmarter, a nonpartisan organization focused on informing voters and increasing election turnout (download the VotingSmarter app!). The combination of these experiences has shown me that however disillusioned I may get with politics, there are so many ardent, inspiring people working to incite change in America and improve our collective livelihood, regardless of political beliefs. That, perhaps, is the most valuable lesson I could have hoped to take away this summer.

Contributed by: Ada Zhong (Marketing and Social Media)

Edited By: Connor Dobson (Blog Editor & Podcast Producer)

Topic: Political Campaigns