MANCHESTER, N.H. – When 20-year-old Mike Giudice of Wayland, Mass., joined Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign last year, he never thought he would be privy to conversations among such prominent figures as former Ambassador Joe Wilson, Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the highest ranking female officer in the Army, and Rand Beers, former special assistant to the president and senior director for combating terrorism. But after Giudice had done his time stuffing envelopes, knocking on doors and calling hundreds of voters, he was given the opportunity to drive around “surrogates” – the big name politicians endorsing Kerry. Giudice said one surrogate was joking with another that he locked his keys in his car during a meeting at the CIA. After a quick phone call to a high-ranking official friend inside, he was amazed when the technician sent to retrieve the keys could not break into his car – even at the CIA. As a driver, Giudice said he often listened in on “shop talk” like this – some of the country’s most important officials joking with each other on their way to another rally for Kerry. While most college students volunteering for Democratic candidates this primary season have not been lucky enough to have similar first-hand experiences with candidates and other famous figures, most said they have found their time with their campaigns rewarding. “It gives me a peace of mind,” said College of General Studies freshmen Gabe Herrero, who is volunteering with the Clark campaign. “I can say I did all I can do to get [President George W. Bush] out of the White House.” Herrero was working his first day with the Clark campaign Tuesday, posting signs around polling places. The work may seem trivial, but Herrero said it brings results. “A sign might change people’s minds,” he said. Students from Saint Olaf College in Minnesota campaigning for Clark as part of a political science class said the political environment in New Hampshire impressed them. “Contact with the candidates is the main thing,” said senior Beth Bevis. “To see the candidates is something you really don’t see in Minnesota.” The morning of the New Hampshire primary, Dave Snyder and Kyle Smiddy, students at Haverford College in Pennsylvania who had been campaigning all week for retired Gen. Wesley Clark, waved signs and chanted for Clark as he was interviewed on CNN. After his interview, Clark walked toward the boys, hearing their chants, and thanked them by buying them hot chocolate. Teddy Downy, a 21-year-old senior from Columbia University, also said New Hampshire politics are unique. He said he has worked for Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) for two weeks, both in Iowa and New Hampshire. “It seems like there are more viable candidates here,” he said. Downy said his work with the campaign included canvassing, “visibility work,” which entails holding signs on street corners, and calling potential voters. “Most people on the phone might not want to talk to you, but they won’t hang up,” he said. Mollye Hooper, another short-term Edwards volunteer, agreed. “[People] are willing to listen,” she said. Hooper, a 21-year-old senior majoring in mass communications at the University of California at Berkeley, performed many of the same duties as Downy. She said she received many phone calls from undecided voters asking about Edwards’ public appearances. Both Hooper and Downy are returning to school after Tuesday’s primary – Hooper to California, and Downy to Washington, D.C., where he is spending the semester. Both seemed more disappointed to be leaving New Hampshire than they were about Edwards’ fourth-place finish. “I’m kind of sad to leave,” Hooper said. James Troy, a 24-year-old medical student at Yale University who volunteered for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, said he was more disappointed by his candidate’s second-place finish to Kerry but was optimistic about the future. “Of course I’m disappointed, but Clinton lost in New Hampshire too,” Troy said. Sam Tobin-Hochstadt, a 22-year-old graduate student at Northeastern University who has canvassed for Dean in New Hampshire, said he was also encouraged by Dean’s performance here, considering the candidate’s third-place finish in last week’s Iowa caucuses. “Tonight’s showing is better than a lot of people thought it would be,” he said, adding that he expects Dean to win the Democratic presidential nomination. While some student volunteers said they strongly believe in the candidates they are working for, others say they just hope any Democrat will win the election in November and unseat Bush. “I’ll definitely help out for the Massachusetts primary and volunteer for the candidate when the primaries are over,” said Jonathan Feuer, a Northeastern freshman and Clark volunteer. Jesse Owen, a junior at Berkeley, also volunteered for the Clark campaign and shared a story similar to Snyder and Smiddy’s. “I was at a New Hampshire rally and talking to my dad on the phone,” she said. “Wes was coming by so I told my dad to hold on while I took a picture with him. Wes stood next to me, so I told him my dad was a big fan and on the phone.” Clark picked up Owen’s cell phone and began talking to her father. “A guy who was a general but can come down like that is awesome,” she said.
Staff writers Katherine Davidson and Clynton Namuo contributed to this report from Manchester, and Dennis Mayer reported from Merrimack.
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