Helping hands for politics

Like many students at UCLA, Jesse Melgar has strong political
convictions. But unlike many, he volunteers for a political
campaign to make those convictions heard.

Melgar, a second-year political science student, works for
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides’ campaign.
As part of his work, Melgar organizes bus trips to the California
Democratic Party headquarters in West Los Angeles in order to push
student involvement in the upcoming campaign.

As midterm elections approach and the gubernatorial race reaches
a fever pitch, students like Melgar are taking a more active role
in the 2006 elections by participating in their parties’
campaigns.

Melgar said he works for the Democratic Party and works
specifically to support Angelides’ candidacy.

Volunteers in Angelides’ campaign do work such as voter
registration campaigns and cold-calling trips. Melgar’s work
often takes him to the West Los Angeles branch, where he contacts
registered party members to encourage them to vote for
Angelides.

Angelides has made several trips to UCLA and other California
universities in the last months, and Melgar said his platform for
education, which includes rolling back fees at California public
colleges and universities, speaks to students.

These education proposals were an important factor in
Melgar’s decision to devote time to Angelides’
campaign.

But it was also Angelides’ character that attracted Melgar
to work for the candidate, as he said he found Angelides to be very
personal and easily accessible, qualities which he said he
respects.

“(Angelides is) a very passionate and articulate
politician,” Melgar said.

After spending time in the campaign office of a gubernatorial
candidate, Melgar said he got a real sense of what it meant to run
for office.

Though Melgar said he has not yet decided whether he will go
into politics, he does note that volunteering for the campaign has
been a good way to integrate what he learns in his political
science classes with first-hand experience.

“Working with people who know their way around politics
… definitely gives you an upper hand in understanding the
political system,” he said. “It’s helpful to
learn the material we’ve been taught in class but it’s
even more helpful when you get a chance to apply it to the real
world.”

And, he said, smiling, “Yeah, it does help to build
connections.”

Toren Mushovic, a third-year student at the UCLA School of Law,
has also become involved in a gubernatorial campaign, working in
support of Angelides’ rival, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger’s environmental policies and his platform
to raise the minimum wage, as well as what Mushovic describes as
Schwarzenegger’s interest in working across party lines, were
some of the main factors that drew him to campaign for the current
governor.

Mushovic volunteers as the outreach coordinator for the Los
Angeles Victory ’06 center, one of 53 centers throughout
California designed to motivate people to get out the vote and
promote the Republican ticket.

He said he has found student participation in the campaign
encouraging but not overwhelming.

“(There are) a lot of young people getting involved, maybe
not as much people as you would hope. There’s still a lot of
apathy in our generation, but there was a good deal of young people
every time I went into the office,” Mushovic said.

Given his interest in politics, Mushovic said he has also
enjoyed the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes of an
election campaign.

Though some students are campaigning for Schwarzenegger in the
race against Angelides, Bruin Republicans Marketing Director
Jennifer Propper said most students in her organization have been
campaigning for propositions rather than for the governor because
they are confident Schwarzenegger will be re-elected.

“Most of us don’t really feel it’s a contested
race so we’re focusing our energy on propositions and other
things we care about,” Propper said.

Second-year law student Jamison Power, also interested in
politics, said he finds involvement with Angelides’ campaign
interesting.

Jeff Millman, press secretary for the California Democratic
Party, said student activists play an integral role in the success
of political campaigns.

“The Democratic party relies on energetic and motivated
college students, especially from politically active campuses like
UCLA … in order to push Democratic candidates ahead, across the
finish line on election day,” Millman said.