Meghana Mudiyam

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

14/2/2004

After leaving from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and driving all night, our buses arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, at 4:45 in the morning. Our day (Saturday) officially started three hours later, when we piled into buses and set off for our individual staging sites. We were organized into smaller groups that would be assigned specific tasks, such as door-knocking in a certain precinct or making phone calls. Each team was named after the sport that comes second in the area only to University of Kentucky Basketball, the Kentucky Derby. We WLP participants were all on the team, Sea Hero.
From the staging site, which was the state headquarters for the Democratic Party in Kentucky, we left for our first precinct. We were given stacks of literature, maps and lists of addresses with names that we were specifically supposed to knock on.
That first day our precinct had mixed results. Many people were not home, which meant that we had to drop literature off on their doorsteps. Of the people who were, however, most were very happy to see us and told us that they were definitely going to be supporting our candidate, Ben Chandler. Some even invited us into their homes to chat!
In the afternoon, we were told that the canvassing and phone banking efforts would be put on hold to allow people to watch the University of Kentucky basketball game. There was only one other event that would create such a pause in our schedule over the next few days, and that was church on Sunday. In canvassing that afternoon, we had all noticed that many doors had some sort of Wildcat paraphernalia on them. However, we soon came to realize that it was not just fanfare, but an important part of the local culture. Even at the staging site where we waited for the game to finish, the local volunteers insisted on at least listening to the radio commentary on the game since the TV was not working.
That night, the DCCC had a party for the volunteers. It was catered with home-style barbecue, had a DJ, and, of course, was decorated grandly in the colors of the University of Kentucky. We returned to the hotel that night very tired, but excited for the next few days...

15/2/2004

Today (Sunday), our group worked in Frankfort. The streets we started out in were a sharp contrast to the ones we had worked through the day before. The homes were fairly dilapidated and the streets emptier. I only actually spoke to two or three people in the morning, and they did not seem especially pleased to have me around. However, as we moved through the neighborhood, it seemed to change dramatically. All at once it felt as though we were in a much wealthier neighborhood. We had not crossed any major streets, so it seemed odd that things would change so quickly. Soon enough, though, the reason became clear. We were standing directly in front of the state capitol of Kentucky!
After canvassing that afternoon, we returned to our hotel for a social hour. During this time, the DCCC asked the volunteers to stay through Wednesday (Feb. 18). A large portion of the volunteers were planning to leave on Monday (Feb. 16), which would have reduced our numbers by four fifths.

16/2/2004

In the end, many people did end up leaving on Monday. It was unfortunate, but it made those of us who stayed that much more determined to cover a lot of ground in the next two days. We were regrouped and assigned to different neighborhoods. Today (Monday), we switched from canvassing to door hanging on designated doors throughout our assigned neighborhoods. This process went much more quickly because there was no knocking or waiting involved. By the time we went back to the staging sites, we found out that our few teams had managed to cover all of Frankfort. This was especially exciting considering how few we were in number. We then left to go to Lexington, where we continued the door hanging process. While we were waiting, a couple of news crews came through to film us working and talk to some of the DCCC leaders.
We continued door hanging through the night. We finally returned to the hotels around 10 p.m., completely exhausted. At the hotel, the groups met once again to discuss the plans for the next day... ELECTION DAY!

Election Day

On Election Day, we started out at 5 a.m. Our first activity was visibility. This meant going in small groups to different intersections with large signs to remind people to vote. It was absolutely FREEZING that morning, not to mention dark! We did a lot jumping and waving to get people’s attention. Every time we got a wave, a honk, or a thumbs up, it almost felt like a small victory. After doing this for a couple of hours, we did some door knocking/door hanging around Lexington till lunch time. This time, if we spoke to anyone, it was to remind them to vote. Of course, most people were not home because it was still during the work day. In that case we left door hangers for them. We took a break for lunch at the staging site and then hit different neighborhoods. We continued this until the polling places closed at six. As soon as we returned to the hotel, all of the volunteers headed to the bar to watch the results coming in. It was exhilarating to watch the results coming in as we saw Chandler leading in the results. When the complete results finally came in with Chandler winning by a 12-point margin, all of us were cheering. Even though we had only been there for a few days, it felt as though we had vested something in the election and that it was our win, too. Ben Chandler stopped by our little victory party in the hotel ballroom. We each spoke to him for a little while and got our pictures taken with him. It was exciting to meet the man we had been working to get elected.
This was my first campaign experience of any sort, and I can honestly say that it was a wonderful one. I learned quite a lot during my time in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. For one thing, I saw first-hand what it meant to be part of a grassroots campaign effort. I came to know how much effort, time and planning goes into coordinating an operation. This was just in a single congressional district, too. I can hardly imagine what this would mean for the races across the country! Also, I learned how culturally different parts of the country can be. Coming from California, it was especially interesting for me to meet democrats in Kentucky who were for the environmental causes of the Sierra Club and at the same time pro-Bush. These two would have been considered conflicting ideologies in most contexts that I was used to. This was my first exposure to people who might be considered conservative Democrats. Campaigns are an exciting aspect of the democratic process. It boggles the mind to see how many people invest so much of their time and lives into someone that they believe in. I was only there for the last four days, and I felt a sense of personal victory when Chandler won. However, there were people who had been working full-time for months on what was, in effect, a temporary job. Seeing the dedication that drove them to do so was inspiring. My experiences in the Sixth Congressional District of Kentucky are definitely among the most memorable I have had since coming to Washington.