America's Unpaid Crusaders

A ride to the airport with U.S. Republican Party leader Jeb Bush sitting beside her was no mean feat for Alex Swisher. A 20-year-old student at the University of Tennessee, Swisher was the head of a students' volunteer group that until recently campaigned for Bush in Tennessee and beyond. She is one of hundreds of thousands of youth volunteers across the United States who are campaigning this presidential election for their favorite candidates. Volunteers traditionally are the backbone of electoral campaigning in a country where political activism runs deep among the youth.

While political activism is a common thread running through the fabric of volunteerism, there are those for whom the country's future brings them to it. "I wanted to be involved at the ground level because we are the future of the country," Swisher said.

The volunteers have a gamut of tasks to perform—from face-to-face interactions to sway political opinion among people to recruiting youth as volunteers, among other tasks. With the Internet providing a vast canvas for political discourse, it is left to a huge team of technology savvy volunteers to campaign online for the presidential aspirants.

"We use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to spread the messages of Democratic Party leader Hillary Clinton," said Tristan Smith, 19, an African American, who considers President Barack Obama his role model and heads a students' group campaigning for Hillary Clinton. Live tweeting with hashtags during presidential debates, highlighting the strengths of some while exposing the weaknesses of others takes a team of volunteers to reach out to millions of people online.

"We stood outside Republican debate venues with placards supporting Bush," Swisher said. She also campaigned door-to-door in South Carolina in a bid to get Republican supporters to vote for Bush in the primaries. The presidential aspirants, at times, arrange for food and lodging for the out-of-state volunteers during campaigning.

Working 12-hour shifts on the trot when voting for the primaries and caucuses approach, the optimism for a better future buoys the volunteers. "Knowing that I support the right candidate keeps me motivated," Smith said. On the campaign trail, the volunteers meet people with diverse expectations of the presidential aspirants. "There was this 96-year-old lady wanting to vote in the Democratic primaries with social security as her top priority," he said. "A single mother raising her kids told us she supported Hillary Clinton because she would make a difference in her kids' lives." However, low voter turnout in the Republican and Democratic primaries plays a damp squib on many volunteers.

The volunteers, while working in groups, also have to coordinate with senior staff members of the presidential aspirants they are campaigning for. "It gives us an insight into how the system functions, besides us getting to know the logistics involved in the campaign," Swisher said. The presidential aspirants, on their part, acknowledge the role the volunteers play. "Hillary Clinton thanked us on a conference call addressing several student organizations across the country," Smith said.

Being a volunteer, one has the option to choose from a range of campaign duties in accordance with one's skills. "I like talking to people. I signed up to contact over phone potential Democratic Party voters," said Maureen O'Connell, who was a volunteer supporting Obama in 2008 and 2012. However, the biggest disadvantage of being a volunteer is that one cannot shape the overall campaign strategy in elections as big as one for electing the country's president, she said. She credited Obama for having a good strategy to deploy and utilize volunteers during his campaigns.

While senior staff members of the presidential aspirants treat volunteers with respect, there are those who have had unpleasant experiences with them. "One time there was this staff member who was particularly rude towards me and saw me as a hindrance to his plans," said a 22-year-old volunteer who did not wish to be identified. Many volunteers have their own grievances with the election campaigning. "I really wish they pay the interns," Swisher said. Voter outreach is an issue that needs more attention, she said.

Many youth campaigners hope to turn their volunteerism into something more meaningful and lucrative in the near future. Experts suggest it helps the volunteers build a network of professional contacts to move ahead in their career. While some volunteers find social interactions fulfilling, there are those on the lookout for governmental contracts or jobs, said Patricia Freeland, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee.

"These opportunities will open the doors to many more," Smith said. He wants to work as a Congressional intern working on policy issues with a senator at Washington, D.C. Swisher, on the other hand, wants to work on the staff of a Republican office bearer.

It's not just outside the comfortable confines of their homes that they have to argue and sway opinions. It spills over among their own, too. "While my grandfather chides me for my youthful idealism, I point to his elderly pessimism with the system," Smith said. For Swisher, however, the political divide runs deep in her family. While she is a supporter of the Republican Party, many of her relatives are Democrats. "I try to not talk politics with them," she avers.