Rise of the Super Volunteer: Presidential Campaigns Lure Everyday Atlantans into the Political Arena
November Dawn
August 30, 2007
Julie Simon did not believe in politics. C-SPAN was something she flipped past in search of entertaining television. That changed in January 2004 when her husband beckoned her to listen to a televised speech of then Senator John Edwards. “It was the first time I had ever listened to a politician speak,” reveals Simon.
The speech thrust the self-employed Decatur resident into the world of grassroots campaigning. Simon and her husband became full-fledged volunteers – canvassing neighborhoods, writing letters, soliciting support by phone and attending volunteer meetings. Their commitment even took them on the road to South Carolina and Tennessee. “I was a John Edwards machine,” she laughs.
Canvassing and phone banks have long been a mainstay of the elections process. The instantaneous nature of the Internet has given rise to a new breed of political volunteer. Heavily used by Howard Dean in his 2004 White House quest, the World Wide Web enables organizations like MoveOn.org and ONE to mobilize the masses to communicate with their representatives, fellow citizens and the media on a variety of issues.
Volunteers once disconnected from a campaign’s leadership, now receive personalized correspondence on a daily basis. Campaigns allow potential voters to track their activities through Twitter, view videos on YouTube and organize volunteer meetings via social networks like MySpace and FaceBook. Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, who boasts a FaceBook cofounder on its staff, offers cell phone ring tones and text messages.
The unprecedented connection gives rise to the super volunteer – super informed and super connected. When Edmund McAfee sought to encourage former Senator Fred Thompson to throw his hat into the ring, he did not rely on his position as a City of Atlanta legislative liaison. Baptized into politics as a volunteer with Mark Warner’s successful Virginia gubernatorial race, McAfee returned to Atlanta to pursue a graduate degree from Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Public Policy. An undeclared dark horse candidate intrigued him in the crop of Commander-in-Chief contenders. “It seemed like it was a free-for-all with every Tom, Dick, Rudy and Mitt throwing their hats into the ring and I wasn’t sure it was for the right reason. I attended an event with Fred and it went from there,” states McAfee.
The Atlanta native became part of a grassroots campaign involving political insiders and average citizens – all working to encourage the senator turned actor to run. He spoke with Georgia elected officials to gauge support for Thompson. His efforts spilled over to the Internet with email marketing and an underground website. McAfee’s efforts were not in vain. Despite only filing a presidential exploratory committee in June, Thompson places ahead many Republican candidates in polls in key primary states.
The Obama campaign promises Atlanta volunteers the opportunity to take part in something bigger than them. Volunteers meeting resemble church revival meetings. Rallies, like the one on Georgia Tech’s campus, resemble rock concerts with crowds soaring to 20,000 in attendance. The campaign hosted a nationwide canvassing initiative in June. For some, the event also served as an opportunity to galvanize the state’s democratic citizens. “Atlanta has the potential to become player nationally,” says Marika McCauley. The Hawaii-born corporate professional’s familiarity with civic involvement spans a lifetime. The daughter of a political activist and feminist, McCauley frequented rallies and marches as a child. She counts the Illinois senator as a family friend.
Critics warn that candidates must tighten the reins that volunteers have to raise funds, organize events and communicate with the public. In May, the Obama campaign received unwanted press when it took over the MySpace page originally developed and maintained by California-based volunteer, Joe Anthony. While its concern for accuracy was justified, the campaign lost creditability in the blogosphere and had to rebuild its massive friends list. John Edwards’ camp had a recent gaffe when members of his own staff referred to Christian evangelicals as ‘Christofascists’ on the candidate’s blog. The need to disseminate information far outweighs the risk of erroneous information according to City of Atlanta engineer, Michael Tyler. “The biggest risk is not getting the information out there,” states Tyler.
Meanwhile, Simon still counts herself a foot soldier in Edward’s second attempt for the presidency. She amassed more credibility this time. Through a connection from the candidate’s 2004 campaign, Simon received invitations to volunteer at several high profile Atlanta events including the Jefferson Jackson dinner, fundraisers at the Capital City Club and a private fundraiser. Volunteering is not a thankless task for her. After compiling prayers written on a website for Elizabeth Edwards’ breast cancer battle into a book, Simon received mention in the potential first lady’s book.
Volunteerism in presidential campaigns typically extends to civic involvement in local and state government making the biggest beneficiaries the volunteers and their community. After enjoying the excesses that accompany life as the lead singer of Princess and Starbreeze, Michael Tyler’s life was going a dark path until Stanley Wise and John Lewis recruited him to work on Andrew Young’s 1980 Mayoral bid. “They saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Tyler admits. His years of commitment paid off. Tyler recently had a street named after himself in the Vine City neighborhood.
McCauley hopes that same thirst for involvement spreads to the entire city. “If you come out here for the Atlanta Jazz Festival and see this place with 100,000 thousand people, it is very inspiring. If all of those people are willing to come out for a country that is a little bit more like we want it to be, believe it should be, that could be incredible.”
Dawn S. Smith is a writer whose work has garnered critical acclaim for its ability to integrate issues of business, politics and popular culture into unique hybrid narrative forms. Her choreoplay, “Sunshine for a Midnight Weary,” was commended by the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly. The piece also received a nomination for an NAACP Theater Award for Best Choreography and was mounted, in part, in New York. She has authored two books, “Cries of a Young Girl” and “the dawning,” on the market. A former video-journalist, she also uses her expertise to orchestrate communications campaigns for the corporate sector.
The speech thrust the self-employed Decatur resident into the world of grassroots campaigning. Simon and her husband became full-fledged volunteers – canvassing neighborhoods, writing letters, soliciting support by phone and attending volunteer meetings. Their commitment even took them on the road to South Carolina and Tennessee. “I was a John Edwards machine,” she laughs.
Canvassing and phone banks have long been a mainstay of the elections process. The instantaneous nature of the Internet has given rise to a new breed of political volunteer. Heavily used by Howard Dean in his 2004 White House quest, the World Wide Web enables organizations like MoveOn.org and ONE to mobilize the masses to communicate with their representatives, fellow citizens and the media on a variety of issues.
Volunteers once disconnected from a campaign’s leadership, now receive personalized correspondence on a daily basis. Campaigns allow potential voters to track their activities through Twitter, view videos on YouTube and organize volunteer meetings via social networks like MySpace and FaceBook. Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, who boasts a FaceBook cofounder on its staff, offers cell phone ring tones and text messages.
The unprecedented connection gives rise to the super volunteer – super informed and super connected. When Edmund McAfee sought to encourage former Senator Fred Thompson to throw his hat into the ring, he did not rely on his position as a City of Atlanta legislative liaison. Baptized into politics as a volunteer with Mark Warner’s successful Virginia gubernatorial race, McAfee returned to Atlanta to pursue a graduate degree from Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Public Policy. An undeclared dark horse candidate intrigued him in the crop of Commander-in-Chief contenders. “It seemed like it was a free-for-all with every Tom, Dick, Rudy and Mitt throwing their hats into the ring and I wasn’t sure it was for the right reason. I attended an event with Fred and it went from there,” states McAfee.
The Atlanta native became part of a grassroots campaign involving political insiders and average citizens – all working to encourage the senator turned actor to run. He spoke with Georgia elected officials to gauge support for Thompson. His efforts spilled over to the Internet with email marketing and an underground website. McAfee’s efforts were not in vain. Despite only filing a presidential exploratory committee in June, Thompson places ahead many Republican candidates in polls in key primary states.
The Obama campaign promises Atlanta volunteers the opportunity to take part in something bigger than them. Volunteers meeting resemble church revival meetings. Rallies, like the one on Georgia Tech’s campus, resemble rock concerts with crowds soaring to 20,000 in attendance. The campaign hosted a nationwide canvassing initiative in June. For some, the event also served as an opportunity to galvanize the state’s democratic citizens. “Atlanta has the potential to become player nationally,” says Marika McCauley. The Hawaii-born corporate professional’s familiarity with civic involvement spans a lifetime. The daughter of a political activist and feminist, McCauley frequented rallies and marches as a child. She counts the Illinois senator as a family friend.
Critics warn that candidates must tighten the reins that volunteers have to raise funds, organize events and communicate with the public. In May, the Obama campaign received unwanted press when it took over the MySpace page originally developed and maintained by California-based volunteer, Joe Anthony. While its concern for accuracy was justified, the campaign lost creditability in the blogosphere and had to rebuild its massive friends list. John Edwards’ camp had a recent gaffe when members of his own staff referred to Christian evangelicals as ‘Christofascists’ on the candidate’s blog. The need to disseminate information far outweighs the risk of erroneous information according to City of Atlanta engineer, Michael Tyler. “The biggest risk is not getting the information out there,” states Tyler.
Meanwhile, Simon still counts herself a foot soldier in Edward’s second attempt for the presidency. She amassed more credibility this time. Through a connection from the candidate’s 2004 campaign, Simon received invitations to volunteer at several high profile Atlanta events including the Jefferson Jackson dinner, fundraisers at the Capital City Club and a private fundraiser. Volunteering is not a thankless task for her. After compiling prayers written on a website for Elizabeth Edwards’ breast cancer battle into a book, Simon received mention in the potential first lady’s book.
Volunteerism in presidential campaigns typically extends to civic involvement in local and state government making the biggest beneficiaries the volunteers and their community. After enjoying the excesses that accompany life as the lead singer of Princess and Starbreeze, Michael Tyler’s life was going a dark path until Stanley Wise and John Lewis recruited him to work on Andrew Young’s 1980 Mayoral bid. “They saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Tyler admits. His years of commitment paid off. Tyler recently had a street named after himself in the Vine City neighborhood.
McCauley hopes that same thirst for involvement spreads to the entire city. “If you come out here for the Atlanta Jazz Festival and see this place with 100,000 thousand people, it is very inspiring. If all of those people are willing to come out for a country that is a little bit more like we want it to be, believe it should be, that could be incredible.”
Dawn S. Smith is a writer whose work has garnered critical acclaim for its ability to integrate issues of business, politics and popular culture into unique hybrid narrative forms. Her choreoplay, “Sunshine for a Midnight Weary,” was commended by the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly. The piece also received a nomination for an NAACP Theater Award for Best Choreography and was mounted, in part, in New York. She has authored two books, “Cries of a Young Girl” and “the dawning,” on the market. A former video-journalist, she also uses her expertise to orchestrate communications campaigns for the corporate sector.
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