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Diaries of WLP Spring 2004 Interns -- In Their Own Words, On the Campaign Trail
In November 2003, Congressman Ernie Fletcher was elected Governor of Kentucky. As a result, the sixth Congressional district of Kentucky remained unfilled. On Feb. 17, 2004, former Attorney General Ben Chandler (D) defeated State Senator Alice Fogy Kerr (R) in a very bitter special election. Four interns from the Washington Leadership Program (WLP) volunteered to travel to Kentucky to help staff the last-minute efforts in this election.
Amy Kotwani, Meghana Mudiyam and Bharathi Sundaram all intern with Democratic offices in Congress, and volunteered through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for the Chandler campaign. Chirag Shah works for a Republican office in Congress and went to Kentucky with the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) to work on the Kerr campaign.
All four of them recorded their experiences in journals. A behind-the-scenes picture of what it is like to work for a Congressional campaign in the last minutes of an expensive and hotly-contested race that gained national attention emerges.
All four interns participated in the Washington Leadership Program (WLP-Spring 2004). WLP, run by the Indian American Center for Political Awareness, (IACPA), provides Indian American college students with internship opportunities in Washington, DC. In the last eight years, more than 130 students have participated in the program - making it one of the most successful Asian American internship programs in Washington, DC. Additionally, IACPA organizes a comprehensive series of lectures, meetings and discussions to give the participants in the program a uniquely well-rounded Washington experience.
-- Christopher Dumm
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Amy Kotwani |
Meghana Mudiyam |
Bharathi Sundaram |
Chirag Shah |
Kotwani, who interned with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) is from St. Joseph,
Mo., and graduated with honors from the University of Missouri-Columbia in
December 2003.
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 Mudiyam, who interned with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is from Huntington
Beach, Calif. A junior at the University of California, Berkeley, she is a
Regent's and Chancellor's Scholar
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 Sundaram, who interned with the Select Committee on Homeland Security, is a
member of the Class of 2004 at Mount Holyoke College, majoring in
international relations.
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Shah, who interned with Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), is a sophomore at Truman
State University, Kirksville, Mo., where he is pursuing a double major in
political science and marketing.
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