University of South Florida Road to the White House 2024
This blog will cover Dr. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan's ROAD to the WHITE HOUSE 2024 course (that will study the history and politics of U.S. presidential campaigns). She and her students will travel to South Carolina for an intensive 10-day internship and political study tour leading up to the First in the Nation/First in the South primary.
Twenty-four USF students are on the ground
in South Carolina, working on presidential campaigns for the
internship/course, "Road to the White House."
by Kayla Kissel
Two dozen University of South
Florida students packed their bags and stacked into vans to travel 500
miles away for the South Carolina presidential campaigns.
The program, Road to the White House,
is an internship weaved into a course. Every four years, USF students
of any major read scholarly literature about presidential campaigns and
travel to an early primary state to get hands-on experience.
Judithanne McLauchlan
is an associate professor of political science. She started the
6-credit course in 2004 when she brought students to New Hampshire for
the first of the nation primary.
“These
students are going to have a new perspective, because they're going to
have been on the ground in South Carolina,” McLauchlan said. “They're
going to see the candidates, they're going to hear from the candidates
and take away experiences and knowledge that they could never have
learned just inside the four walls of our classroom.”
Traveling alongside her are students that she said were competitively selected and represent USF at the “highest level.”
Every morning, the students assemble for a seminar over breakfast before going into the field for the day.
Seventeen
students are working with the South Carolina Democratic Party, five
with Donald Trump’s campaign, and two with Nikki Hailey.
“I'm 100%
committed to making sure every student, regardless of political views,
has a great learning opportunity,” McLauchlan said. “I always allow the
students to select where they work, I will never tell a student that
they have to work for one candidate or another candidate. It's always
the students' choice.”
Click here to read the USFSP Road to the White House class and student blogs
Lana Sleiman is a senior political science major. Even though the
Democrats have already held their primary, the students are working with
the SCDP on the "retail politics" that states like New Hampshire and
South Carolina are known for.
“We're still phone banking, because
they do have a state convention coming up,” Sleiman said. “We're trying
to recruit people to go to the state convention and run for the open
chair position that's there."
"We'll do some data analysis work to
follow up with those people who said yes, or with those people who were
hesitant and see what we can do to get them to go.”
Sleiman said that on the trip she has been able to meet political figures in person, including U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn.
“It's
been a humbling experience, because sometimes the person you see on the
screen isn't the same person you meet," Sleiman said. "Sometimes they
are a lot nicer of a person than you realize."
Steven Brown
is a political science student. He’s also a veteran and is using his
time in South Carolina to work on vet outreach for the Trump campaign.
“I
saw the need for reform in the VA (Veterans Affairs), it's a problem
and people are struggling and killing themselves,” Brown said. “I
thought that the best way for me to serve my country again and serve my
community was to work in policy. One of the best ways to get these
things done is to work with legislators and to work with officials.”
Brown added that while working on the Trump campaign, he canvassed 93
houses in one day and that his classmates have been climbing the
leadership board for phone banking.
Both Sleiman and Brown said
they are planning to continue with campaigns through the November
general election, adding that they have gained invaluable networking
opportunities through Road to the White House.
“It's going to be
incredibly beneficial, the connections I've already made in the days
we've been here,” Brown said. “It’s one thing to be a volunteer, but
it's another thing to come from an educational angle."
"Having
productive conversations across the aisle and explaining why we believe
the way that we believe rather than just yelling at each other on social
media in all caps, has been a way to kind of bridge the gaps between
the two ideologies," he added.
Sleiman even said that finding out about this internship was meant to happen.
“It
felt like everything had lined up. It was honestly a dream come true,”
Sleiman said. “I had wanted this for so long. I knew it may have been
one of the only opportunities to be so immersed into the political field
and to learn so much about the primary process.”
McLauchlan said she’s proud of her students for their stamina and hard work as they work long hours ahead of the primary.
“They're
24 different individuals, 24 personalities, but it's really a beautiful
cohort of strong and interesting, smart students who have diverse
views,” McLauchlan said. “It’s just been a wonderful thing to watch the
students get to know each other. They are from different majors,
different campuses, different backgrounds, and we are all the Road to
the White House.”
The students will hold a public roundtable discussion about the primary and their trip on Feb. 29 from 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. at the Poynter Library on the USF St. Petersburg campus.
It has often been conjectured that if younger
voters turn out in large numbers, the odds on Donald Trump unseating Joe
Biden will drop dramatically.
The former president’s seeming dismissal toward youth-embraced issues
such as climate change, not to mention his opposition to legalized
abortion and his demeanor, the argument goes, are strong reasons that a
“youth-quake” of voters will finish him.
So, in noticing a large contingent of University of South Florida
interns for the Trump campaign at its Columbia, South Carolina
headquarters on the day of the Palmetto State’s presidential primary,
Newsmax decided to ask just what motivated them to work for the
candidate who is easily the most controversial among many of their
contemporaries.
“He has the power and influence to make the U.S. a superpower again,”
said freshman Olivia Borek. “I am most interested in international
relations and I think President Trump would know best how to deal with
the world situation.”
Borek’s fellow freshman Grace (she did not want to give her last
name) explained she was “very interested in the process and was
especially focused on the issues of border security and the economy. I
agree with his policies on those issues and I like him personally.”
“He’ll put our nation first,” said Valaria, a USF senior who also
requested we not use her last name. “He’s restored our sense of
nationality and get our priorities right.”
Ellie Barton, a junior, recalled how “in Trump’s first term, gas
prices were at $1.17 a gallon and then they shot up when Biden came in.
Trump will be good on energy and I hope he finally opens up the Keystone
XL pipeline.”
Steve Brown, who is study at USF after a stint in the U.S. Navy,
said: “I am working for Donald Trump because he made my life better when
I was in the service. He took special interest in the plight of
veterans and was in the process of overhauling the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
"Where one sometimes had to wait 30 days to get an appointment with
VA, Trump was in the process of cleaning things up. Now, under Biden,
the VA is failing veterans and veterans are killing themselves at a
higher-than-ever rate. Trump will take care of veterans.”
On our first full day in South Carolina, the students interning for the Democratic Party visited the Aiken County Democratic Party Headquarters. After a productive meeting and lunch with local Democratic leaders, the students went to the Aiken Black History Month Parade.
Here - you can see some of our students marching in the parade with the NAACP - and other students interviewed by WRDW
AIKEN,
S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Aiken held its 24th annual Black History Parade on
Saturday, “Doing it western style, riding high in the community for
unity” in honor of Corporal Sonny R Ford.
Presented
by the Black Historical Committee of Aiken, along with the city of
Aiken on February 17, people and floats came out in droves.
“It’s
like a reunion really, you know, because the community is far fetched.
You know, Aiken county is one of the larger counties geographically, and
it brings up us together from all over and the generations that are
here, you know, it’s just wonderful. I love it. I grew up in this
neighborhood,” said Alma Finnie, who attended the celebration.
People from different backgrounds, cultures, generations and even states came out to celebrate.
“My
parents are Bangladeshi, so usually I’m trying to seek out other like
people from my culture, so seeing that people are coming together here,
it makes me like, you know, really happy to see all that,” said Sasha
Hossain, who attended the celebration.
People lined the streets cheering on the parade and showing support for each other.
“Good
to see people celebrating, come together and just enjoy each other’s
time. Instead of it always being something different. It’s nice to see
people just enjoy each other,” said Kieria Evans, who attended the
celebration.
They say it’s important to lift each other up and show support, no matter where you come from.
“We
need to let everyone know, of the past because it’s been extolled that
he who does not know the past is subject to repeat it. So we’ve come to
this community to get together and share our culture, you know, the
things that are going on in the community and celebrate who we are,
where we’ve come from. And more importantly, you know, where we are
going,” said Finnie.
And the
celebration didn’t end with the parade, many people gathered at Perry
Memorial Park to continue the festivities and enjoy time together.
Thanks reporter Dalia Dangerfield and Bay News 9 for coming to our Road to the White House class - and getting the scoop on what our students will be doing in South Carolina (First in the Nation/Democrats - First in the South/Republicans) Presidential Primary
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Students at the University of South
Florida St. Petersburg are headed to South Carolina this week to volunteer
ahead of the Republican presidential primary.
What You Need To
Know
Students at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg are
headed to South Carolina to volunteer ahead of the Republican presidential
primary
The trip is part of a course called “The Road to the White House
2024”
Each student chose to intern with Republican candidates Donald
Trump, Nikki Haley or with the South Carolina Democratic Party
The trip is part of a course called “The Road to the White
House 2024.” The students applied to be in the class. Each student chose to
intern with Republican candidates Donald Trump, Nikki Haley or with the South
Carolina Democratic Party.
“The democrats had their election, but now what?” asked USF
St. Pete professor Judithanne McLauchlan. “They’re going to be doing their
delegate selections so these students will get the behind the scenes look at
all of that process.”
The students leave for South Carolina on Friday and will
stay for 10 days.
“I really have no idea what the campaign is going to look
like,” said student Dante Rubino, who will intern with former South Carolina
governor Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign.
“I’m looking at getting on the inside track and furthering
my career,” said student and veteran Steven Brown. Brown already works with
veterans. He plans to intern with former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
While they’re in South Carolina, each student will blog
about their experience.
Bay area students head to South Carolina to volunteer for presidential primary
'Students
will get to see retail politics up close while learning about
grassroots organizing and see how presidential candidates interact with
voters.'
A
group of 24 University of South Florida (USF) students will head to
South Carolina Friday where they will work on presidential campaigns for
former President DonaldTrump, former South Carolina Gov. NikkiHaley and the Democratic Party.
The Road to the White House
course is a 10-day internship program paired with a semester-long course
learning about the history and politics of presidential campaigns and
elections.
The students will be led by Judithanne Scourfield McLauclan,
a USF political science professor who teaches the course. It’s the
sixth Road to the White House course, but the first to visit South
Carolina. Previous cohorts traveled to New Hampshire.
“Students will get to see
retail politics up close while learning about grassroots organizing and
see how presidential candidates interact with voters,” McLauchlan said.
“Just by getting a chance to be there and take part, they will learn
about elections and the excitement that comes with working on a
presidential campaign.”
As part of the 10-day
internship students will canvass, phone bank and observe overall
campaign practices. Some have chosen to work directly with the Haley or
Trump campaigns, others will assist the Democratic Party, including
helping with statewide elections and building party support.
Students will spend their
days going on morning field trips with guest speakers to places like the
South Carolina Statehouse, followed by campaign work in the afternoon
and evenings.
Some of the students have worked on campaigns before, including USF senior Political Science major Steven Brown, who is excited to gain experience on a Presidential Election.
“It’s an amazing opportunity.
The connections you can make on the campaign trail and use it as a
ladder for your future are endless,” he said.
Brown will work on the Trump
campaign during the internship. He added that he hopes the opportunity
helps him make an impression on those he works with on the trail.
Abigail Sanders
is a junior double majoring in political science and international
studies. She developed a passion for politics from her parents, who are
also politically engaged. She hopes the Road to the White House
internship will allow her to become further involved in this year’s
election cycle while also helping her determine which type of law to
study after she graduates.
“I’m hoping to see if this
experience working directly in the presidential election will make me
want to work more on domestic issues like election law or if I’d prefer
something more international, such as focusing on human rights, at law
school,” she said.
Sanders will be working with the South Carolina Democratic Party.
The class departs from USF St. Petersburg on Friday and will return on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Those interested can follow along with the class’s progress at their class blog.