Road to White House

Day Nine, Ten & Eleven

2008-01-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

So, the last days of this campaign trail are going to be combined into one post. It's coming down to the end of the primary and all our hard work is about to show if it was paid off. Of course, you can probably guess what Laura and I did on our ninth day up there; PHONE BANKING! It was an all day affair of phone banking. Actually, in the morning we were able to go to a meet and greet with Rudy down the street where I was very close to him, so close that I could see every freckle and wrinkle on his face! After the meet and greet, Rudy then headed to Hudson for a town hall meeting. The next day though, was primary day. We arrived at our campaign around 8:00am and were taken to go lit dropping. Laura and I were so excited to hear that we were not going to be on the phones and could actually do something different. Laura, a volunteer from the campaign and myself went to neighborhoods to drop off literature and were able to talk to people and get their views about the election and who they were voting for. Although, we did meet a women who was a Rudy supporter but voted for Romney because she was trying to help McCain lose the race but I could not really understand her strategy. When arriving back to the office we were sent away again to do exit polling. This was fun, well when people would actually talk to you and not run away shaking their head. It was different and I enjoyed every minute of it. When arriving back to the office, we were sadly out on the phones. however, Laura did win a trip to the White House and I am going to tag along with her. Too bad that we were not able to get the flight to Washington as well. Time was running out and the polls were about to close. Everyone in the office helped pack up the office and then headed to a local bar to watch the results come in. McCain and Clinton won, with Rudy coming in fourth. The good news is though, we beat Ron Paul. Just wait until we start campaigning in Florida, Rudy will win! The next day we left the hotel and headed home. All in all, the trip was amazing and I got to meet many wonderful people from it. Best experience ever!

Day Seven & Eight

2008-01-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a day! We met with Dante Scala this morning and discussed his book and his views for the 2008 election. During the meeting, the fire alarm went off. At first, it was nothing and the Best Western workers told us that they were dealing with it and we were fine to stay in the conference room. About ten minutes later, we were informed that part of a wing caught on fire and we were to exit the building. Since there was nothing we could do but watch, we were dropped off at our campaign offices. About an hour later, we got the call to come back and gather our belongings and relocate to another hotel. We were so lucky that the Radisson had rooms to accommodate all of us. We definitely upgraded in hotel and in food service. Although, now we are much further away from our offices. After all the time it took for us to pack and get situated at the hotel, no one went back to the office because it was so late and instead watched the debate at the restaurant downstairs. An interesting day that will go down in history!

The next day we had a five star breakfast; we even had servers. Beats the poptarts that I was eating at the Best Western. We then went to our campaign offices and Laura and I did phone banking. As always, we went to Martha's Exchange for lunch but we were accompanied by other volunteers that came from New York who work for a Congress man there. They were all great guys and one volunteer even paid for our lunches. We then went back to the office to continue phone banking for the Mayor's town hall meeting in Hudson tomorrow. Getting a ride back was going to be difficult but thankfully we have two volunteers from New Jersey that have helped us a lot in giving us rides. They are the best. Thank you Norman and Agnus!

Day Six

2008-01-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

What a tiring day! Woke up and greeted Bill Richardson to Nashua at the Merrimack this morning. Then we went to the State Capitol and were given a tour. Beautiful building! After than was off to our campaigns! Laura and I first stopped at Martha's Exchange for lunch. We have gone there so much that a server has recognized us! We then were sent to the Elks Lodge for Giuliani's town hall meeting. We helped set up and get things organized. The meeting was a success and Laura and I got to sit right behind him....we were on TV! We meet Rudy afterwards and i think i love him even more now. There was though, an anti-Giuliani guy who came in shouting baby killer. Don't really see that much at meetings....just normally in movies. The man was never escorted out he did take his meeting outside, ALONE! After the meeting we went back to the office and did more phone banking for a house party on Sunday then finally back to the hotel for some dinner!

Day Five

2008-01-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

Phones! Phones! Phones! Today was a long day of phone banking due to Giuliani's town hall meeting tomorrow. But, I did start my day off by meeting the former FBI director, Louis Freeh. He was there endorsing Giuliani, who is his first candidate to endorse ever! He was a nice guy and could tell that he supported Giuliani 100 percent. He was also an alumni of Rutgers, which is where Dr. MacLaughlan got her degree from. Paul , a journalism student here with us, came with Laura and I today at the campaign office and was introduced to an odd man, as were Laura and I. All i can say is that he made the day interesting and funny! Great day and cannot wait until tomorrow because it is our first event!

Day Four

2008-01-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

Today was half field trip and half internship. We started out by going to the Library and Archives of New Hampshire's Political Tradition. Beautiful building and interesting archives inside. Especially the Lobster man. We then went to the New Hampshire Democratic Party office and then the Republican Party office. Both had very interesting things discussed. We then were dropped off at our campaign sites where Laura and I did some more quality phone banking! Got to love that! Giuliani is having a town hall meeting this Friday and we are trying to get the word and the people to come and listen to what Giuliani has to say. All in all, a great day!

Day Three

2008-01-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Today was a day of phone banking. When calling, I have found out that there a many people who are undecided. I had a lot of people who were fans of Romney and McCain, but we had our good share of Rudy fans. During our lunch break we were able to go play in the snow and take a walk up and down Elm Street. We tried to find places to eat but everything was closed or closed at 2pm so we ate at Martha's Exchange again. Our calls today were to tell people about Rudy's policy speech he is giving tomorrow and then started on notifying the town meeting that he is having this Friday, which Laura and I will be attending. Today was a fun but long day on the phones.

Day Two

2007-12-31T16:24:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day to start my campaign internship. Snow was everywhere and the mood at the office was excellent. I have the nicest and kindest people in my office, not to mention a great intern with me, Laura. We spent our morning doing phone banking and then were taken out to lunch by our field director. We went to Martha's Exchange, where a lot of candidates go during the primary. We returned to our office and continued to phone bank while watching the USF Bowl game. Our supervisor and field director knew we were huge fans and were able to allow to watch while we work. A great first day on the campaign.

Day One

2007-12-30T17:35:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a two-in-one blog about my adventures to New Hampshire. I am working for Rudy Giuliani’s campaign for these ten days I’m up here. So, before arriving to the state I am not sure what to expect since I have never worked on a campaign and thus have no expectations. I hope to gain experience and use it in my future and to access myself with knowledge such as figuring out what exactly is a caucus; which I have found out. Especially when New Hampshire is one state that takes presidential campaigns very differently than people do in Florida. Thanks to students up here with me and Mr. Scourfield-McLaughlin, now know what it is. I’m already learning and I have not even started my internship yet.

Our first day here was long. The flight was fine, with some turbulence. After arriving we went to the hotel to check in and to Wal-Mart for some items we might have forgotten and/or food and drinks. We had dinner around five thirty at the local restaurant by the hotel. We are waking up early tomorrow and starting our first day at our internships. I am thrilled to be here and can’t wait to start working on a campaign that I support.