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PoliSci students blog from the land of primaries

By David Gonnerman '90
January 2, 2008

Twenty St. Olaf students are blogging for the Star Tribune as they spend January Interim in New Hampshire and South Carolina working for a variety of presidential candidates. The students, led by faculty members Dan Hofrenning and Don Ostrom, are working phones, making signs, meeting candidates and asking questions.

Daniel Wick '09 writes about cold-calling lists of voters. "It is a long and frustrating task that entails being hung up on frequently. You can ... feel the 'contact fatigue' among voters who probably receive several calls a day."

Alex Cutler '09 notes the warnings that campaigns distributed to their staffs about "talking strategy or numbers" when dining out. "You never know when a rival campaign operative or member of the press corps could be sitting in the booth behind you."

And Kirstin Rissing '10 describes the halls of the political science institute at St. Anselm that are lined with photos of politicians who have courted New Hampshire voters over the decades. "This place has an amazing atmosphere that makes me more and more positive that politics in some form is what I personally want to do."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.