IU students take to campaign trail

In the MTV generation, it is a common misconception that America's youth is apathetic to all things politics. This year, a high percentage of young people, including IU students and graduates, are oaring the Indiana gubernatorial candidates' ships.\nAbout 75 percent of the campaign staff is under the age of 30, said Tina Noel, communications director for the Joe Kernan campaign.\n"We have a very capable staff that happens to have some youth," she said.\nThis summer, the Mitch Daniels campaign employed a bevy of young students, including several from IU, to organize tour stops and visit each region of the state to spread Daniels' message.\nMike Trevino was one of the IU students involved in the summer campaign. \n"I traveled to the north and east side of the state, and one of the goals was to try to hit all the nursing homes in the state," he said. "Those people at the nursing homes feel left out, like people don't look at them when election time comes."\nAmong other duties, Trevino was also responsible for organizing "a slew of volunteers" and arranging for vehicles to display in parades.\nGraduate student Katie McCauley worked Her Man Mitch's campaign in the southeast portion of the state while living in Bloomington. \n"The best part about it was getting out in the community," she said. "I visited nursing homes in the southeast, playing bingo with them and answered questions about Mitch."\nOn the other side of the campaign trail, recent IU graduate Michelle Stevens has been performing similar works for the Kernan campaign since June, recruiting volunteers and pulling in crowds.\n"We're coming in to these places to start a grass roots organization," she said.\nThese positions, while generally low-paying, are vital to the success of their respective candidates. They represent pillars on which the campaigns are positioned. Without such field organizers, there would be no volunteers, there would be no audiences, perhaps even no candidates.\nBut why do students get so involved in a job with no security? For most, it's less a love of politics and more a love of their candidate.\n"When I think of Mitch, I say to myself 'I think that's who I am,'" McCauley said. \nTrevino echoed those comments, saying, "I only get involved when I feel strongly about a candidate."\nStevens expressed equal and opposite sentiments of his involvement in Kernan's campaign.\n"I thought the things Joe Kernan said were the coolest things," said Stevens. "His issues struck a chord with me."\nThe 2000 election also influenced the young staffers.\n"The close race sent a message that every vote counts," McCauley said. "I think maybe that message resonated and spurred people to support a candidate that has the same beliefs or values or hopes that they do."\nThere are advantages, Noel said, to having staffers so young -- namely enthusiasm and the willingness to work long hours.\nLong hours are common among staffers -- McCauley was accustomed to 15-hour days and Trevino said he sometimes worked until 4 a.m.\nWith youth also comes the ability to interact with other youths.\n"I can go on campus and start campaigning in a way an 84-year-old woman can't," Stevens said. "Politics is about finding your niche. There's a whole sector in politics that hasn't been touched and young people can put their finger on it and understand it."\n-- Contact senior writer Rick Newkirk at renewkir@indiana.edu .