Internships with State Parties Put Students on the Frontlines of Small-Scale Democracy
Campaign season is in full force. For many, the spectacle of the presidential election will always overshadow local elections, but for Meaghan Burke ’16 of Acton, Mass., and Thomas McGrath ’17 of Boston, Mass., those races signify the importance of small-scale democracy and the results of their internships spent with Massachusetts’s Democratic and Republican parties.
Burke landed an internship with the Massachusetts Democratic Party last summer while McGrath interned with the Massachusetts Republican Party. The two History and Political Studies majors capitalized on Colby-Sawyer’s internship requirement as an opportunity to explore an aspect of their major with which they had little experience. “I wanted to go behind the scenes and see what upholds the party, the things you don’t see on TV,” says Burke.
Behind the Scenes with the Democrats
For Burke and a dozen other summer interns from across the country, upholding the MDP meant entering data from local elections into voter and fundraising databases, filing and scanning paperwork and mail, and takings shifts at the front desk of the office on Summer Street in Downtown Boston. Burke also researched stories of the Democratic Party in the news and compiled the press to keep staff members informed.
“They gave us a variety of projects to see what we were good at and what we were interested in,” says Burke. “The internship exposed me to many types of politics and all the facets of what the party does.”
Of special interest to Burke were grassroots efforts like the summer barbecues held by supporters of the MDP to fundraise for year-round projects, including town and ward committee support, outreach and voter registration efforts.
The internship ended up being a crash course in local politics for Burke. Though she has always been interested in history and politics — she cites PBS’s “Liberty’s Kids” and her family’s ritual of watching the seven o’clock news as formative experiences — Burke planned to study nursing. She switched majors halfway through her second semester after an introductory history course with Assistant Professor of Social Sciences and Education Malachy Flynn. “I had more fun in that class than all my science classes,” says Burke.
The fun turned into passion at her internship. “There are 90 year-old people who are still running for local offices, and also 20 year-old delegates,” says Burke. Observing passionate people made her realize she holds stronger opinions than she thought. “I didn’t think I would feel so connected to certain issues, but my internship really showed me how people in a room debating issues can affect people on the ground,” she says.
Across the Aisle
From Summer Street, it is a 20-minute subway ride across Fort Point Channel to Merrimac Street, where McGrath was an intern with the Massachusetts Republican Party.
Like Burke, much of McGrath’s work focused on working with data. On his first day, he and other interns were introduced to software that records election history, donor history and campaign donations. McGrath also conducted research to find the best Republican candidates for districts in which the party can compete by synthesizing sets of data.
McGrath’s favorite task, however, was writing political updates. Working closely with the communications director, McGrath assisted with monthly e-letters to party supporters. A tutor with Colby-Sawyer’s Student Learning Collaborative, McGrath has long considered writing his strongest skill, but his internship helped hone his ability to shape what he calls the party’s language. “If someone picks something up in the mail, you have three or four seconds before they throw it away,” he says, “so we need to tell people our message in the most direct way possible.”
After McGrath’s first political update was sent to important party leaders, McGrath showed his parents and kept a copy for himself. “That was my language,” he says with pride. “It was something I wrote.” Seeing his writing formatted and officiated was evidence for McGrath that his internship was taking skills he’d learned at Colby-Sawyer and applying them in an effective way outside of class.
Interning with his state’s Republican party was the logical first step in launching a political career, says McGrath. He developed a passion for government when he took Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Education Eric Boyer’s course The American Presidency as a sophomore and was inspired to start building the foundations and connections that would help him achieve his new objective of running for office. “I don’t know what office I want to run for yet,” says McGrath, “but electoral politics fascinate me.”
Grassroots Victories
At the MDP, interns take shifts managing the front desk, which often means answering the phones. It was a challenge for Burke, who fought shyness to provide constituents with information in response to a wide range of questions.
Part of McGrath’s internship also included calling party members and asking for their time or potential contribution. “It’s important and necessary work, but it’s not fun,” he confides.
Yet poll calling resulted in McGrath’s most memorable internship experience. For three weeks, he and his fellow interns solicited supporters for the party’s annual Lincoln-Reagan Reception, an evening dedicated to recognizing Republican state leaders. Many of their first calls were successful, but then more and more people hung up on them. McGrath had a goal, though: to meet Governor Charlie Baker at the Lincoln-Reagan Reception. He kept calling.
“I told the other interns I was going to quit once I met the governor,” jokes McGrath. When he finally did meet the man he describes as down-to-earth at the reception, the experience exceeded McGrath’s expectations. “The best and hardest parts of my internship were intertwined. At Lincoln-Reagan, we got to see our work come to fruition.”
Burke had a similar long-term task. In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the MDP launched a campaign to register 1,965 new voters. Burke and other interns participated in the “1965 Project” in typical grassroots fashion by approaching people in public spaces like Boston City Hall Plaza. Clipboard in hand, she would ask if they wanted to register or needed to update their voter information.
“It definitely wasn’t in my comfort zone, which is good, because it helped build interpersonal skills,” says Burke. “It was also an amazing project that honors something worth remembering, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to participate.”
Looking Forward
Back on campus this fall, Burke and McGrath brought with them their new skills gained from their internships, including stronger research and analytical skills as well an ability to express themselves more effectively through both written and oral communications.
Their summer experiences also contributed to more focused career goals and a greater respect for their chosen discipline. Burke was once unsure about what she would do with her degree. Now, she feels reassured. “There are definitely opportunities out there for careers in both history and political studies,” says Burke.
McGrath hints that law school might be in his future, but he, like Burke, is keeping all his options open.
-Jaclyn Goddette ’16
Jaclyn Goddette ’16 is a student employee in the Office of College Communications.
