Plenty of volunteers have crappy experiences in campaign offices, because that's just how it goes. Once you agree to volunteer, campaigns don't put as much effort into making friends with you because they assume you have already drunk the Kool-Aid. Unfortunately, when there are few clear distinctions between candidates and a long, contentious primary, staff can't take volunteers' support for granted. Case in point, this Des Moines Register letter to the editor: "I came to Iowa as a die-hard Hillary Clinton supporter/volunteer, who was ready to help elect the first woman president of the United States... Within the first couple of days of arriving, I had seen three field workers cry because of the abuse they took..." I have trouble with the idea that the way campaign staff on the ground in Iowa treat volunteers has any bearing on how good a president a candidate will be; but, if Clinton staff is being driven to tears on a regular basis, there are going to be bigger problems for them to deal with.

Labels: Hillary_Clinton