by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Helping political campaigns is like being part of a sports team, said student Billy Gupton.
"You get very invested in the candidates," he said. "You get to meet the candidates, and you really begin to personally hope that they win."
Gupton has helped with several Republican campaigns in New Mexico and other Western states.
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For the past week, he has worked more than 12 hours per day answering phones and going door to door to promote
candidates.
"There are long hours and little pay," he said. "Actually, it's long hours and no pay, but it's a really valuable thing to do."
Student Stephanie Schwartz, an intern for Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman's campaign, said she liked the opportunity to see politics from the inside.
"You get to see the other side of the campaign, not just what's on TV," she said. "I had no idea how much went into a campaign. It's kind of like a little war."
Schwartz spends most of her time organizing newspaper articles and researching Bingaman's opponent, Republican Alan McCulloch.
"You're basically just spying on each other," she said. "You have to keep an eye on your opponent, and they do the
same thing."
Schwartz said she applied for the unpaid internship because she was trying to decide whether she wanted to go into politics.
"You find yourself getting really involved," she said. "When people don't vote, it really annoys me now."
Gupton said it's important for young people to help with
campaigns.
"The most important part is to get people excited about politics," he said. "The youth are able to do some things that elderly people can't, like work really long hours going door to door."
It can be difficult to balance the campaign with school work, he said.
"During the 2004 elections, my grades definitely slipped," he said. "Fortunately, since I'm a political science major, most of my professors are just really glad to see someone getting involved with politics."
One of Gupton's goals is getting young people to vote,
he said.
"Politicians are taking youth out of elections, because we don't really vote, and we don't really get excited about it," he said. "We need to get people to start voting. If they vote now, they'll vote later in life."
