Kate Maloney
Staff Reporter
Ten thousand people applied to become an Obama Organizing Fellow last spring. Thirteen hundred were accepted ? only 150 from Michigan. Our own Amelia Vance was one of them, a junior Political Science major from Michigan. Walking in the steps of Obama who was once a Community Organizer, Obama Organizing Fellows served as the initial campaign staff in each state. From June to August 2008, Vance worked 30 ? 40 hours a week in an unpaid internship in Macomb County, Michigan contacting local political leaders, registering voters (Michigan doubled the number of registered voters), organizing political picnics, running meetings, knocking on doors, and making countless phone calls.
She was so well-respected among fellow staff members and volunteers that she was offered a formal job offer in mid-July for the position of Field Organizer in Clinton Township, where Vance calls home. Accepting the position meant missing a semester of college ? a decision that came with sacrifices including dropping her theatre minor, putting of a Washington semester at American University, pressure to complete graduation requirements on time, and the possibility of losing all of her student loans if she didn’t maintain a full-time student course load (12 credits at McDaniel). One thing she is sure of though ?going to a college like McDaniel made it an easy decision to make.
Her professors were supportive, especially Dr. Christiana Leahy who was so enthusiastic about Vance’s opportunity that she typed all of her e-mails in capital letters for the next two weeks after the offer. Vance says, “She was so encouraging and helped me figure out all the logistics of staying a full-time student away from campus so that I wouldn’t have to re-apply for my loans in these difficult economic times. I don’t think this opportunity would have been as easy to take advantage of at a larger school.”
As field organizer, Vance continued her recruiting and campaigning activities with increasing responsibilities and in addition started visiting local high schools talking to students about how they can become politically active and arranging house parties in the homes of supporters. She was working 80 ? 90 hours a week, getting into the office around 9am and not leaving until 10pm, sometimes as late as 1am ? 7 days a week with only 2 days off before the election. She says it was her full identity for several months ? Amelia Vance, Field Organizer for Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change.
“We were the faces of the campaign. We had daily goals of making so many phone calls, knocking on so many doors each day. We couldn’t afford to ask for days off. It was so overwhelming. People were having panic attacks all around me and I thought about quitting every day.” She says being in the position to inspire others kept her going ? that and lots of coffee.
Vance and her team of volunteers didn’t have it easy in Clinton Township up against intense resistance. Vance describes the area as “steeped in discreet racism”. “People would give any excuse not to vote for a black man except ‘because he’s black'”. The most common “excuse”? “So many people that we talked to believed that he was or still is a Muslim which is just absolutely not true in any way,” says Vance. Another popular reason Vance heard for opposing Obama’s candidacy was the “celebrity factor” ? the idea that he got to where he was because of popularity and fame rather than well-deserved merit.
One of the highlights of her Field Organizer gig was when Michelle Obama visited a local high school in Vance’s precinct. “I got to invite my top four volunteers, but I didn’t get to personally meet her. I was too busy running the event and giving a speech on stage, but it was great to be able to recognize those working so hard under me.” Vance did get to meet and shake Obama’s hand when she volunteered at a rally in Detroit. “My impression meeting and hearing them talk was just how genuine they both are.”
Halfway through October, Vance was asked to relocate to North Carolina to oversee 300 volunteers. She was given a day and a half to pack and train somebody else to do her job. She drove down on a Thursday afternoon and started working Friday night in Greensboro, NC where she would be working until Election Day ? an area with a lot of support for Obama but with a population not known for actually getting out the vote. Vance got an entire office up and running in a matter of hours and went to work implementing weekly e-mails to local supporters recruiting new volunteers and letting people know how they could get involved. As far as she knows, she was the only one doing that in the country.
On Election night at a victory party for North Carolina Senator, Kay Hagan, Vance’s focus was not on the newly elected senator. Her eyes were glues to a jumbo TV screen watching the states’ electoral votes come in one by one. Obama won Michigan, but it wasn’t until California came in that the election was called. “That singular moment made it all worth it. It made up for every second I wanted to scream and give up. We all had this shocked look on our face and everyone started crying. We actually did it. We did it. We did it. We had to keep telling ourselves that just so we would believe it.”
Vance says that Obama ran an incredibly cheap campaign which she believes was brilliant but aggravating at times. She estimates she spent anywhere from $500 to $1,000 on office supplies that the campaign didn’t provide. But they sure took good care of their staff when it was all said and done. They got to keep the laptops they were given and an extra month’s salary. Vance also found out right before Christmas that she would be receiving two tickets to the Inauguration as well as two tickets to the Staff Ball and the opportunity to purchase tickets to one of the other balls. She also got to volunteer in the ticketed section of the star-studded opening concert the Sunday before the Inauguration, featuring music legends like Bruce Springsteen, Josh Groban, Beyonce, Usher, Bon Jovi, and U2.
On January 20, Vance was in D.C. and in line at the infamous purple gate (Google it) by 4:15am. After a jaunt to Starbucks for some caffeine, Vance found herself separated from her father whom she had given her second ticket by a mob blocking an entire intersection. Over 5 hours later, she finally made it back to the gate and realized that there was no way she was going to make it into the Inauguration. Her and her father made it back to the car in time to hear the swearing in over the radio. Vance says, “Compared to the campaign, Inauguration Day was horribly executed. But then again, the Senate organizes Inauguration Day not the winning campaign staff. Had it been run by the Obama camp, I guarantee it would have gone a lot smoother.”
That evening, Vance and her boyfriend, Stephen Hardy, attended the Eastern Inaugural Ball ? one of the 10 official Inaugural balls. After a long and exhausting day, they left at midnight before the First Couple arrived for their last dance of the evening, but Vance describes the atmosphere as a “step back in time”. The following day, the two went to the Staff Ball where Vance was reunited with her staff from Michigan. There was an open bar and good food ? Vance raves about the fried macaroni and cheese squares but ? but they weren’t sure if they would get to hear from the newly elected Obama or not. But after a series of introductions ? the band Arcade Fire introduced Joe Biden ? Joe Biden introduced David Plouffe, Obama’s Chief Campaign Manager, and finally Plouffe introduced the President and First Lady.
“I just started crying. I hadn’t seen him in person since June. He got up there and just talked off the cuff, thanking us for all of our hard work. He’s so larger than life, but when you’re in the room with him, it’s like he’s talking right to you.” And the introductions weren’t over yet ? Obama introduced Jay-Z.
“Working on the campaign, I learned what I can handle and what I’m good at. I realized I could handle working in a high-pressure environment; I can plan events on a moment’s notice; and I can pack and move to another state in under 48 hours.” Vance is currently in the process of applying for a White House internship and plans to attend Law school after graduation.