MINNEAPOLIS—One measure of the excitement being generated by the two presidential candidates might be the number of people lining up to volunteer at the national conventions.
In Denver, the host committee for the Democratic National Convention has up to 23,000 people on its volunteer list—more than twice the number it sought. In the Twin Cities, organizers just barely met their own deadline last week to sign up 10,000 volunteers for the Republican National Convention.
With thousands of people arriving in an unfamiliar place and hundreds of events packed into one tight week, volunteers are essential in making things run smoothly. Each host committee promises the political parties that they’ll recruit enough.
Wearing clothing that marks them as volunteers, many will be posted in hotels, airports and on streets to help delegates and visitors find their way; others will help with events, security and transportation. Only a small number will end up inside the convention halls.
The timing of the conventions, the location and different recruiting strategies partly explain the vast difference in volunteers. But the biggest reason could be politics.
Denver began signing up volunteers more than a year ago, and enthusiasm was strong because of the historic nature of both Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns, host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said.
Obama pulled in huge crowds throughout the nomination fight—one reason his acceptance speech has been moved outside the convention arena to Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver’s pro football stadium.
“There is a lot of anticipation and buzz about him coming in here at the end of August,” Lopez said.
The host committee in Minnesota isn’t ready to concede that the candidates’ popularity has meant fewer volunteers on the Republican side. They pointed out they didn’t post an online volunteer application form until late April, and many recruiting events didn’t happen until early summer.
They also point out the timing of the GOP affair, which starts on Labor Day—when many Minnesotans are enjoying their last day of summer vacation.
“We got advice not to launch (volunteer recruiting) too soon, because then you can get too many people,” committee spokeswoman Teresa McFarland said. “We knew we were going to get there, I don’t think that was ever a question, but it is nice to have reached that milestone.”
To make their goal, they turned to pitches from the Democratic mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a public service announcement featuring the Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl center, Matt Birk, and World Wrestling Entertainment star Mr. Kennedy. The committee also held several volunteer sign-up events, including one in western Wisconsin that coincided with a McCain town hall meeting.
To Tom Knecht, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver, Obama is a big reason for the difference in volunteer numbers.
“There’s just a mystique and a buzz around Obama that there isn’t around Sen. McCain,” Knecht said. And volunteering “takes another level of emotional attachment” than simply liking a candidate, he said.
Both host committees have downplayed the politics of their events, instead telling potential volunteers about the importance of showing off their cities and welcoming visitors.
“It was over 100 years ago that we last had a convention here,” said Susie Mulcahy, a volunteer from the Twin Cities suburb of Edina who has been helping the host committee since March. “It’s just something I’ll never be able to do again.”
Charlotte McDermott, a Republican from Grand Rapids three hours north of the Twin Cities, said she would have volunteered even if the Democrats held their convention in her state. And Laura Peterson, a St. Paul Democrat, said her party preference didn’t stop her from signing up as a volunteer.
“I didn’t have to think about it very long,” Peterson said. “I’m thinking of it as a bipartisan thing.”
Lisa Cotter Metwaly, who owns the Q Kindness Cafe in downtown St. Paul and plans to volunteer, says it’s logical that Republican signup would be slower because St. Paul and Minneapolis are left-leaning cities.
“But all of a sudden you take the blinders off and realize, ‘Oh, this is about showcasing our city,'” she said.
