Thursday, October 30, 2008

GOTV

Hey guys,

I am once again in my cozy campaign office, getting out the vote (GOTV) for the big day! My candidate has received two pretty sweet endorsements today, one from the State Journal Registrar, Springfield's main newspaper, and also planned parenthood of Illinois. The office is buzzing after getting that news, there is also a great energy due to a lot of volunteer response in our phone banking efforts today. Calling volunteers is always more encouraging than just generally polling people.

On a slightly different note than the campaign, I got two packages in the mail today! Mail is god's gift to college students! My aunt sent me an amazing Halloween care package, stocked with candy and rice crispy treats! Now, the Halloween package was great, but the second package...was the most amazing piece of mail I have ever received. Over the summer I was an intern for a U.S. congressman, and he sent me an official U.S. House of Representative padfolio notebook holder with a sign picture of him and I in it. Completely made my day, week, heck even month!

Ok, my boss just called and I have another list of folks to call to get out the vote!
Have a good one guys!
+ Samantha

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

On The Campaign Trail


Hey guys!

It is an insanely busy week to get this blog up and running! I am a volunteer/events coordinator for Colleen Callahan for Congress, so this last week is crunch time in the 18th district! We are calling volunteers and getting our Get Out the Vote plan running at full speed! It's a pretty exciting time to be into politics if I do say so myself!

Last week we had a pretty well attended press conference at the Old State Capitol in downtown Springfield. The candidate, Colleen Callahan was addressing her opponent's misconduct as a notary. Before this campaign I had worked solely in federal offices, so seeing larger press conferences is a pretty cool experience. I got to have some some very interesting conversations with Shelia Simon, daughter of the late US Senator from Illinois, Paul Simon. I also had a chance to speak with the Springfield Mayor, Tim Davlin, about how much a Basketball team featuring Barack Obama, Alexi Giannoulias, and Abraham Lincoln would dominate! Gotta love some Illinois politicians!


I am going to try and blog from the campaign headquarters just about everyday up until the election on Nov. 4th to give you guys a little bit of an inside look!
See ya next time!
+ Samantha

Fashionably Late First Post!

Hey guys! I am jumping on the blogger train a bit late due to some technical difficulties! Better late than never though right?

I am going to start off by taking Howard's questionnaire, it will give us all a chance to become a little more acquainted!


1) Why did you choose your major?
I think I was drawn to Political Science ever since I was little due to the area I was raised in along with my parent's political involvement. I have also has some amazing political science professors at UIS that have reinforced my decision.

2) What are your plans post-graduation?
Ah the question every college junior loves to be asked! I have just started the search for Grad Schools, George Washington University is tops, but DePaul also has a policy program that I am looking into. Graduating in '10 gives me the ability to work on a midterm election, so I am thinking that is a possibiltiy too. However, you never know what you will find!

3) What's the last non-textbook you read?
I am current reading Rise of the Vulcans. I'm not a Bush fan, but it's a pretty interesting biography of his foreign policy team.

4) What's the last movie you watched?
It's the week of Halloween so you know I had to go see Saw V! It just a tradition at this point! Following with the Halloween theme of blood and gore, the roomies and I are about to put on the remake of Prom Night.

5) What's the last thing you watched on TV?
I am not a big TV watcher, however I love my West Wing DVDs!

6) What's you favorite thing about being at UIS?
Besides the amazing grilled cheese in the PAC, I am going to have to say that the great people here are my favorite thing. We are such a tight knit community!

7) What's at the top of your iTunes playlist right now?
I went to see Death Cab for Cutie a few weeks ago, so their new CD has pretty much been on repeat since then.

8) What's one guilty pleasure you have?
Dill Dip and Rye Bread from the lovely County Market, you can pretty much see it either in my fridge or on my grocery list ever week!

9) Where's the best place you've ever traveled & why?
I love Boston, I am a city girl with a love of history and sports, so that town does it all for me!

10) Create your own question.
I always love asking people what their theme song would be if their life were made into a television show. My response to this question is usually Alanis Morissette's One Hand in My Pocket, but I heard the Beatles' Good Day Sunshine yesterday, and I might be making a switch.

I feel pretty accomplished with that first post! I will be posting again shortly!
+ Samantha