When Republican Larry Ward began his state House campaign against incumbent Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, critics told him he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell against the Democrat from East Lansing.
Political science junior Jason Miller said he hoped to improve Ward’s chances.
Miller, Ward’s campaign manager, took the back roads to Hell, Mich., in the dead of winter and had himself photographed holding a snowball next to a sign that read “Welcome to Hell.”
“Hell freezes over in Michigan,” Miller said.
Until MSU students and recent graduates can begin their own political careers, they pay their dues by doing what it takes to get their elders into office.
Ward, a Republican candidate for the 69th District state House seat, found his campaign manager at an MSU College Republicans meeting.
“He came up and picked my brain after the meeting,” Ward said of Miller, chairman of the student GOP group. “I could see he enjoys what he does.”
Miller said the lack of cynicism is something that draws candidates to student workers.
“Students are idealistic,” he said. “When they really believe in something, they’re willing to work hard.”
That concept is not lost on other state office hopefuls.
Former Gov. James Blanchard snagged a political veteran to coordinate his MSU gubernatorial campaign when 2002 graduate Brandon Pollak joined his team.
Unfortunately, Blanchard’s campaign failed to pass the August primary.
While residing in Washington, D.C., and working for U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, Pollak e-mailed Blanchard in hopes of securing a Washington internship. Blanchard, a Democrat, replied the next day to let Pollak know he was announcing his candidacy for governor in the next couple of weeks and was looking for a student to head his campus campaign.
Pollak, who is back in Washington working at a lobbying firm, was no stranger to garnering student votes - the political science and pre-law major also worked on former Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign.
“Students can immediately relate to fellow students,” Pollak said. “You’re surrounded by 40,000 other students. Adults are members of communities, but they don’t have that instant connection with their other community members.”
The enthusiasm that might wane as volunteers get older can be picked up by students.
“They’re just starting to learn the ropes,” Pollak said. “The excitement of being able to see firsthand what politics are all about - it’s just something you can’t get in the classroom.”
That energy helps student workers take on the many demands of a campaign.
Miller helps with fund-raising, orders yard signs, knocks on doors and helps plan where everyone else needs to knock on doors.
“As the campaign manager, you do everything everyone else does and organize what everyone else does,” Miller said. “I might be stuffing envelopes along with the volunteers, but I probably also wrote the letter we’re putting in the envelopes.”
