Jesse recruited me to run early vote and caucus locations in 2020. He was bright and a hard worker. It was my second time volunteering for a campaign, and the c

Jesse recruited me to run early vote and caucus locations in 2020. He was bright and a hard worker. It was my second time volunteering for a campaign, and the chaos and workload he describes are accurate. Campaigns are organized chaos—like setting up a large event full of unknowns, which makes things more reactionary than I’d expected. Each cycle, most of the field organizers are young, passionate, and inexperienced; some inevitably wash out. Many see it as a rite of passage to a political career and tolerate the frenzy. Those looking to advance politically often aim for a role with more responsibility in the next cycle. This was the state party in a relatively small state, which mostly shuts down between elections. Twice, I saw them scale up to an impressively large organization, rally an army of volunteers, and then dissolve it all after the campaign—everyone exhausted but with a real sense of accomplishment. Campaign work seems less like a job and more like a military campaign. Or a startup.