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Comment by cylinder | Hacker News Reader

> "The campaign headquarters will have about a thousand people, mostly young and hardworking and enthusiastic. Its important to have a very large hiring pool (such as Chicago or NYC) from which to choose enthusiastic, smart and low paid permanent employees.

> The key is a large population of talented people who are dying to work for you. Any outer borough of NYC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston are all good examples of a large, blue state city to base in.

> Employees will relocate to participate in the campaign, and will find low cost temporary housing or live with campaign supporters on a donated basis. This worked well in Chicago and can work elsewhere."

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"... enthusiastic, smart and low paid permanent employees... dying to work for you...will relocate to participate in the campaign"

Jesus, those don't sound like campaign workers. They sound like cult members.

You've never been involved in any form of activism, I take it? It's no cult; people who want to work for a political campaign are activists like any other. They are devoted to a cause they believe in, and will happily make personal sacrifices to strengthen that cause.

The activist spirit is alive and well in campaign employees.

Maybe you've volunteered for a charity? Volunteerism is the other half of the equation. Campaign employees are part activist, part "paid volunteer". Anyone who's volunteered for their kids' school, for a neighborhood charity, or for some other cause knows the positive, almost euphoric feeling that comes from volunteering for something that is meaningful to you.

In a time where most of us go to sleep feeling existential dread because we can't do anything to stop the various runaway trains we see in our society/planet/etc, volunteering can provide a feeling that you're actually doing something to make a difference.

That spirit, too, is alive and well in campaign employees.

I've worked at a nonprofit. I've also volunteered to work at charities, schools and libraries. Yes, there is a sense of purpose and accomplishment that go along with all of these that make the work worthwhile because you feel that you're making a positive impact on the lives of people and your community.

But for a politician? At the national level? In 2016?

I think the gag reflex is more appropriate.

Actually, they sound like the people that GOOG/FB currently hire.

I was thinking the same thing!

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