Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Election Day! #FITN Primary!

Road to the White House: Day 9
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Merrimack/Nashua/Concord, NH


Knowing the rough day we had yesterday, we had a slow morning and went to Dunkin with Dr. JSM where her and I split a donut and I got an iced coffee even though it was snowing outside.

We went to the Nashua field office where we were driven to different polling locations to do visibility for Amy. I was the only one doing vis at this location and it was raining outside so a lot of voters were giving me props for being out in this weather!


We went back to the field office to warm up a bit, and were treated by Alice to a delicious lunch. Jazzy and I went back out (to the same poll this time) and got to do visibility together!


We were then picked up by another wonderful volunteer who drove us to Concord for the campaign party. Dr. JSM was on her way to join us, so we were really excited! They had fancy finger foods including brie and a charcuterie board so I was in heaven. Little did I know we would end up on the stage with Amy as she was giving her victory speech, coming in 3rd place in New Hampshire! I could be seen on tv! I was the first person Amy hugged when she walked on stage to speak. Such a whirlwind of a moment.



We took some selfies with Sondra, who was in charge of us the whole trip, and Karen, who we made the Win Big letters with!


Such a crazy night and a victory for Amy and she comes in third behind Bernie and Mayor Pete!

They also Brought us back to the boiler room with the rest of the campaign staff, where Amy came in, celebrated anyone, took time to thank every single person in the room (including Jazzy and I!) and made the whole room fill up with laughter and excitement. We discussed the boiler room in class -- to actually be brought in to see it all in action was such a cool experience.

A victory for Amy. We played a small part of that. Wow. <3

Monday, February 10, 2020

Hillary Clinton: Monday Motivation

Road to the White House: Day 8
Monday, February 10, 2020
Merrimack/Manchester, NH


We spent the day in the Manchester field office sending out Hustles about a last minute event happening in downtown Manchester with Amy that night. There were over 3,000 text messages to send out, so it was plenty work for Jazzy and I.

We got to go to the Chinese restaurant next door for lunch.


The Amy team made new placards for the upcoming states, and the field office got a couple to hang up on the wall. They were so cute!


We were then tasked with making totem polls that would be used at polling locations tomorrow. This was fun!


I then noticed this picture of Hillary Clinton hung up and it made me stop, pause, and smile. A reminder of why we're doing this. 


We then went to help out with the event in downtown Manchester. Tonight served as a reminder that you should always be as kind as you possibly can to those around you, no matter how stressful the situation may be.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Nashua Event ft. Amy's Green Bus!

Road to the White House: Day 7
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Merrimack/Nashua, NH

We went to the Nashua field office early this morning to see how we could help out before working an event with Amy! We met a wonderful woman named Alice, from New York, who was in town to help with the campaign. We would learn about Alice's family, some about her career and past experiences in campaigns, why she was so passionate about being involved in Amy's campaign, and also received some incredible advice along the way. I'm so looking forward to spending more time with her throughout the next few days.

We were given Amy hoodies by Karen -- which were perfect given the weather!

We spent a few hours calling around the area to get out the vote for Amy and encourage voters to come out to Amy's upcoming events, like the one we would we working later! Volunteers brought in snacks, sandwiches, had coffee made and ready to go. The Nashua field office made us feel comfortable at a time when we were feeling pretty exhausted.


Alice then drove us to the middle school down the street where Amy would be speaking! We immediately got to work hanging up placards everywhere and setting up the clipboards for check in. We were anticipating a lot of people, but the amount that showed up made us all speechless. We were outside walking down the road in the snow checking in nearly a thousand people to come and see Amy speak. She pulled up on the green Amy bus and we got to see her walk in! This gave me the energy I needed to take on the new few days.


We then actually had enough time to hang out. Noah, Jazzy and I got to lay in bed, watch the Oscars, and take a much needed break from it all for a bit.


Saturday, February 8, 2020

Chris Pappas & Shaheen 100 Club Dinner!

Road to the White House: Day 6
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Merrimack/Manchester, NH

We started the day with Representative Chris Pappas coming to speak to us!

His story and the impact he is making in New Hampshire politics was honestly so inspiring. As a lot of us are somewhat considering running for office one day, so it was nice hearing from someone who did it while they were young! 

I thanked him for his work on raising awareness on gun violence and being committed to passing common sense gun legislation. 


We then made our way to the Concord field office to help Karen finish up the ~secret~ surprise for the Shaeen 100 Club Dinner that night that we were attending with Amy's campaign. We then made our way to the Manchester headquarters and then to the SNHU Arena!

We spent the hours before the dinner started hanging up placards in our section, decorating Amy's private box with placards, and I helped work one of the tables that was giving out t-shirts and pins and the sorts. When the event started, we were tased with keeping the crowd excited and pumped up. It was so fun seeing our Win Big signs come to life and know Amy could see them from the stage -- I'm so happy Karen had us help make those happen! 



Warren's team also held up signs! Noah was the U in Courage!



Friday, February 7, 2020

Debate Vis & Attending the Date!

Road to the White House: Day 5
Friday, February 7, 2020
Merrimack/Manchester/Concord, NH
The Day of the New Hampshire Democratic Primary Presidential Debate


OMG. What a day.

We made our way out to Manchester to early this morning to make sure everything was ready to go for debate visibility and to make some phone calls/send out Hustles for upcoming events with Amy around the state. It was a gloomy, cold day and we were unsure of how to feel knowing we would be doing debate vis later! The thing getting us through it was knowing we would leave when the doors opened so we could get as good of a seat as possible for the debate. 





We had some time to grab coffee and a sandwich from The Bookery. They had this cute display of books that made me feel inspired and motivated for the rest of the day! So cute!



A guy who was in town from Iowa working for the campaign gave us a ride to St. Anselm where everyone was standing outside representing their candidate. The mood was tense but also full of excitement. Rain turned to sleet and eventually it was literally snowing outside! Standing there, in the snow, holding up Amy signs, I had a moment of woah... This is seriously a once in a lifetime experience. Debate vis in the snow! 



A few hours later, Jazzy and I made our way across St. A's to make it to the hockey arena on campus (!!!) where the debate was! It was soooo beautiful and picturesque. I could absolutely see myself somewhere up north one day (given I have proper clothing/books and not my fake Floridian winter clothes).





We made our way into the coat check arena (first time ever being in a coat check), finally gained some feeling back in our toes, and finally made it inside! Walking in and seeing the stage... It all felt so real so suddenly. Jazzy and I were speechless as we figured out we could sit anywhere in the section ON THE FLOOR just a few feet away from the stage and moderators and sitting amongst some of the most important people in New Hampshire and the campaigns. We got to FaceTime Dr. JSM to show her where we were sitting and anxiously waited for the candidates to come out!



We were so close to the stage!


Seeing how they transformed St. A's hockey arena into what we would normally see on tv brought tears to my eyes.



The moderators come out and say hello! OMG! David Muir, Linsey Davis, and George Stephanopoulos!!!





The candidates take their place! We were so close and I was absolutely speechless being in the same room as Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Warren, Senator Klobuchar and all of the other candidates. What an incredible moment. I felt it was so important to soak it all in as this may the only time I experience something like this.



Ahh!!! It's really happening! I think I was holding my breath at this point.


Asking questions even closer to us!





We went down to the stage at the end of the debate where we saw Biden and Yang taking selfies with other attendees and taking some time to mingle with supporters before getting off the stage. I was so sad to be leaving!



An absolutely once in a lifetime experience and an incredible night for Amy, who really made a statement on the debate stage tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing how her debate performance impacts the primary on Tuesday!