The Women Who Make the Sanders Campaign Run
CONCORD,NH — Carli Stevenson is an essential part of the well-oiled and organized machine of the Sanders campaign.
Her walls are covered in newspaper clippings and her desk is covered with books like “Social Security Works” and “Distribution of Lives.” Carli is temporarily spending time away from her partner in Indianapolis, emphasized by the rainbow Bernie button on her shirt. She embodies the youthful, energized, and active Sanders supporter. Mrs. Stevenson is excellent at what she does — mobilizing people below her to canvas and phonebank in New Hampshire — but she is by no means unexpected.
Perhaps more surprising is the pair of fragile elderly women, previously politically enengaged, who find themselves in a Manchester field office campaigning for Bernie Sanders, a self-identified Socialist. Joni Brennan and Kathy Urie, unlike most of Sanders’ supporters, came of age during the Cold War, when Socialism was cause for terrible fear. But there is something about this Democratic Socialist that strikes a personal chord with both Joni and Kathy: something that transcends flashbacks to duck and cover and Joseph McCarthy.
Sanders’ proposal of tuition-free public college won over Joni Brennan, who followed the wave of supporters to New Hampshire from New Jersey. “My kids are graduating with huge debt,” she said, huge pronounced with same Brooklyn affect as Sanders himself. Joni’s father was a policeman and her mother a secretary, but they were able to put away money and save for their childrens’ college tuition. “The country just doesn’t take care of its working class anymore,” said Joni, who is a cardiac ultrasound technician. Joni can’t save for her kids’ tuition — her wages have stayed flat since 2007.
Her journey to New Hampshire is a perfect example of the Sanders campaign model: seamless, energetic, and online. Joni found no trouble finding a host family in Manchester—it was provided by the Sanders website.
A lot of these hosts and volunteers, like Kathy Urie, are new to the political process. Kathy has never volunteered for a campaign before this one. She says that Sanders has brought “all of the passion out” in her, and she wants to stay politically active for the rest of her life. Kathy feels Bernie “said what everyone is thinking.”
These are the women who make the campaign run, and they are different in their demographics and roles but similar in the raw passion they have for Bernie Sanders. Carli is the boss who can energize volunteers like Joni, who spend all day going door to door, making sure New Hampshire residents know where to vote. But there are also women like Kathy, who find a niche taking care of the exhausted volunteers. Kathy said she doesn’t feel comfortable talking about politics, and she has had both her knees replaced, so canvasing is out of the question. But Kathy still wants to help the campaign, and she does in a profound way: she prepares cocoa and soup for the volunteers so they can warm up after a day out in the cold.
To glimpse into the mechanics of campaign is to understand how an Independent Socialist from Vermont has challenged Hillary Clinton. He has done so with an emotional message that pulls at the hearts of Americans, which is paramount for a grassroots campaign. Just as important, though, is the extremely seamless organization that allows for hosts to link up with hostesses, volunteers to find events, and a timid Kathy Urie to find a niche where she least expected it.
