Have you ever volunteered for a political campaign?

[Hoosier_Nick]

Today was my first day working for Senator Donnelly (I'm only 16, so yeah). Out of curiosity, who here has and for what campaigns? Kinda curious to see how engaged people actually are.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Yes. The best year of my life was spent working on a congressional campaign in FL-22. The dividends are still paying off for me, five years later.

[This account no longer in use.]

No, but I plan to at some point

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Yes, Obama 2008 (was 14), Ron Paul 2012, Charlie Crist 2014 and Hillary Clinton 2016

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I highly recommend finding a more local race, Congressional preferably. When you volunteer for a presidential campaign or even a gubernatorial race, you have little access to the core staff and the inner-circle.

[Neo-JacobitefromNewYork]

No, anarcho-Monarchism is opposed to voting.

[diptheriadan]

So, does volunteering for campaigns really pay off in the end?

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Volunteered, interned, been employed.

State senate campaign back in CT and (though I was sorta cagey about it since the campaign was still on when I joined here and I wanted to vent) Bernie 2016. It's my post college plan next year, too!

[Technocracy Timmy]

So, does volunteering for campaigns really pay off in the end?

I'd imagine it's most fun when it's competitive and of course if your candidate is the victory. I've never been more excited to volunteer since my district was up until last year seen as safe R. Now even the DCCC is investing in it.

[Anna Komnene]

So, does volunteering for campaigns really pay off in the end?

If you look at it as a team effort, yeah definitely.  Unless the race is super local, you're probably not going to be the difference between a win or loss, but if everyone decided not to volunteer because of that, it would make a huge difference.  Plus, there's just the nice feeling of being a part of something that you care about.

[NOVA Green]

Sure, but never working directly for a Dem nor Pub candidate.

Some 25 year back when I was in High School, I volunteered  for an environmental Non-Profit organization that was focusing in on our local Rep in (OR-05).

At that time the Pubs held 2/5 CDs in Oregon, and CD-05 was targeted because "Reagan's Robot" Denny Smith was starting to take some major hits, especially around the wealthy 'burbs of Portland, Salem and surrounding areas, not to mention Mill Towns like Albany, as well as fairly traditional Dem strongholds like Corvallis and Monmouth/Independence.

So as a Teenage Kid, I went daily to the local HQ of the Environmental Non-Profit, found out really quickly I wasn't great at knocking on doors and asking for money, but instead shifted to providing my precinct level data and targeting to areas where there were the greatest opportunities based upon '88 Election Results, to take out an incumbent 'Pub in what was considered to be a reliably Republican CD up to that time....

Needless to say, although some might consider (OR-05) to be a potential swing district in the future, it's not looking that way anytime in the future, despite swings towards Trump in places like Keizer and Albany.

We held a victory party after the election in a "Hippie" Hot Spring resort, and although my Mom insisted on accompanying me on my overnight stay, it still worked out really well when we were all hiking through the Old Growth forests the next day, after a pretty awesome and dank veggie meal the night before.

Now, I have had family members in subsequent years that have volunteered for political campaigns, but quite frankly other than giving money to those that I support, it would take a pretty impressive candidate at the local or Presidential Level (GE) to get me to volunteer directly vs volunteering for Civil Society/Popular Organizations at this time.

[Lachi]

No, but I do want to volunteer for the independent incumbent in my district for Victoria's state election next year.

[Classic Conservative]

Yes, Tisei (2012+2014), Brown (2012), Romney (2012), Lamontange (2012), Marilinda Garcia (2014), Cruz (2016) and Trump (2016)

[Virginiá]

Some stuff in 2010 and I volunteered for Clinton in 2016 (ge only)

[The Other Castro]

Yes: First Selectman, State Rep., Congress, Senate

[The Dowager Mod]

Yes.

[FairBol]

I've been a GOP volunteer since the early 2000s. 

[RI]

Yes, and it was a mistake. I'll never again volunteer for a candidate whom I don't truly believe in.

[RFayette]

Yes: I've canvassed for state assemblywoman Katherine Baker and have done phone banking for Ted Cruz and Karen Handel with the college Republicans.

[windjammer]

No (rational)

[TDAS04]

Yes, first time was stuffing envelopes for Senator Tim Johnson.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

No (rational)

You like not having an impact on politics?

[Green Line]

I walked in a parade.  Does that count?

[MarkD]

I can't count how many different kinds of campaigns I volunteered for back in the 1990s, or how many different offices the candidates that I helped ran for.
But after 2000, my participation in politics became very much defunct for over a dozen years. Then, about 3 years ago, my brother-in-law ran for the office of County Executive, and I voluntarily lent him some campaign advice -- specifically, I informed him which of the precincts in the county were predominantly Republican, predominantly Democratic, and by what margin. The point of the info I gave him was to try to "win over" as many voters as possible in the precincts that leaned a little Republican, since he ran as a Democrat. (He lost by a 68% to 32% margin, 2014 being such a bad year for Democrats, with there being much lower voter turnout than I had predicted, and far too much of that low turnout was among the Democrats' base.)

[Lambsbread]

In my Libertarian/Conservative years, I volunteered for Ron Paul and Mitt Romney for President in 2012, Pat Toomey for Senate in 2010, Bob Barr for President in 2008, and Tom Smith for Senate in 2012.