Eyes on the prize

Campaign managers ‘live, sleep and die’ for their candidates as the last days of the ASG elections draw near

By Angela Tablac

The Daily Northwestern

When Andrew Proksel wanted to go see a movie Friday night, his girlfriend opted for another activity — taping posters to the ground.

Proksel, who serves as the campaign manager for Associated Student Government academic vice presidential candidate Jenna Carls, also happens to be Carls’ boyfriend.

“Jenna was like, ‘No, let’s go flier,'” he said.

Proksel, a Weinberg sophomore, said he doesn’t think Carls chose him just because they’re dating. He cited his work with ASG’s Academic Committee and his knowledge of last year’s race as reasons for his appointment.

Like Proksel many campaign managers of ASG hopefuls are gearing up for a busy week. They’ve created Web sites, organized events and spent hours on their knees ensuring flyers blanket the sidewalk. But all said the campaigns were well worth their time.

Troy Appel, manager for academic vice president Prajwal Ciryam and political columnist for The Daily, said he has worked on clever poster themes such as “Office Space (I have people skills!).”

Appel, a Medill sophomore, also attended debates and collaborated on speech ideas.

“We were going to do the Howard Dean speech but Northwestern-ize it,” Appel said. “We were going to have an audio file and a Web site but we scrapped that.”

For presidential candidate Jane Lee’s manager, Sarah Isgur, even graduation doesn’t stop devotion to the job. Isgur, a Weinberg senior, graduated after Winter Quarter but wanted to help Lee plan her campaign schedule.

“Basically Jane handed her life over to me,” Isgur said. “I gave her assignments every day.”

But being a campaign manager also comes with benefits. Isgur said that two of the managers for Andy Kaufman — Lee’s opponent — bought her a cranberry juice and vodka at The 1800 Club, 1800 Sherman Ave.

Stephen Koenig, one of Kaufman’s managers, said he has been busy leading the campaign staff.

“We live, sleep and die Kaufman,” Koenig said.

Ambition and nerves reach a peak at this point in the campaign, said Jacob Reitan, campaign manager for student services vice president candidate Alex Lurie.

“Now is when you’re glad you signed on,” said Reitan, a Communication senior.

But a campaign manager’s job extends beyond fliers, posters and debate preparation. For many campaign managers, the position includes more personal relationships. Executive vice president candidate Howie Buffett’s campaign manager, Jenn McQuiston, said she makes sure Buffett remains healthy.

“I’m part his secretary, part labor, part his mom,” McQuiston said. “I’ll come see him at 4 in the afternoon and he still hasn’t eaten breakfast.”

Candidates like Karla Diaz, who is running for executive vice president, chose a friend — Weinberg junior Janine Fletcher — as her campaign leader.

“It definitely eases my mind,” Diaz said. “We’ve spent literally every second together last weekend.”

Some managerial situations are more complicated. Medill senior Mike Blake now works for student services vice presidential candidate Sara Whitaker, but he ran against Whitaker’s friend, Communication senior Tamara Kagel, in last year’s presidential race.

Blake said he’s enjoyed the experience, in spite of it being “extremely chaotic.”

Blake said a manager’s job requires talking about someone other than yourself — and getting the job often relies on a bit of fate.

“It’s funny how things play out,” Blake said. “A hundred votes and I wouldn’t be in this position to help Sara out.”