Kernan, Daniels campaigns filled with young staffers

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- Michelle Stevens was a fresh graduate of IU when she began running Gov. Joe Kernan's campaign office for Porter and LaPorte counties a few months ago.\nThe 23-year-old is hardly unique in this year's highly competitive governor's race, as many of those working for Kernan and Republican challenger Mitch Daniels are younger than 30.\nStevens has been pouring so many hours into Kernan's campaign that she says going home before midnight has become a rare occurrence, even on weekends.\n"I really was so green when I came on," Stevens told The Times of Munster for a story Monday. "I kind of sold my soul until November. It's like years of job experience crammed into six months."\nDespite the low percentage of young adults who vote, the political campaigns are filled with those willing to work long hours for little pay and no job security.\nStevens said Kernan's efforts to make college more affordable caught her notice. The Oklahoma native had studied international relations and taught English in Russia. Now, she said she wanted a chance to take a personal role in American politics.\n"If I wanted a good-paying job, I would have kept waitressing," she said.\nRashina Viverette, 24, said she always felt strongly about politics. Her family, growing up in Gary, was Democratic, but she had different ideas, she said.\nViverette, a Purdue University graduate who lives in Hammond, now volunteers a few nights a week for the Daniels campaign.\n"These people are passionate about what they're doing," Viverette said. "It's a blast. It gave me a firmer belief that switching parties was right for me."\nTina Noel, a spokeswoman for Kernan's campaign, said the young workers bring "extraordinary enthusiasm" to the campaign staff. Even though there's no guarantee of a job past the Nov. 2 election, the workers can learn plenty, she said.\n"For everyone who works on a campaign, it's a risk, but a risk young people are willing to take for something they believe in," Noel said.\nCrown Point native Mike Stanek, 20, said he volunteered at the Republican National Convention in New York last week because he believed it was important for young people to be involved in politics regardless of their beliefs.\nHe said his professors at DePauw University in Greencastle agreed he could miss a week of classes for the firsthand participation.\nWorking out of the Republican National Committee's "war room," Stanek attended to a variety of details, such as making sure donors had credentials and attention, running errands all over Manhattan and hosting receptions at the RNC suite.\n"Even if I don't end up in politics, it's amazing seeing how much organization is put into planning something of this magnitude," Stanek said. "For me, it's the people. They are into the political arena and they're role models and people I hope to work with in the future"