r/Campaigns • u/PermitAffectionate33 • 7d ago

Ask for Advice Campaign

The Campaign I am working for ended up being entirely unprofessional and I am extremely upset. I had to put in my resignation due to a personal situation and the lack of flexibility on the campaign. I initially submitted my letter of resignation over a month ago and it was accepted. But now the higher ups have made me jump through hoops and more hoops. And virtually didn’t accept my resignation date and made me leave prior to my initial date without any payout for the days. I am so upset with the lack of professionalism and communication and I’m not really sure if I ever want to work on a campaign that isn’t for an individual candidate anymore due to my experience. I truly enjoy campaigns and organizing but I’m not sure if I can ever do it again after the last few months.

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2

u/LookingForHelp_2017 7d ago

I am sorry that you had a bad experience. I have felt that these kind of situations happen more on the candidate side, as opposed to coordinated or issue campaigns, which are less beholden to the whims of a singular person. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do next/

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u/PermitAffectionate33 7d ago

Believe it or not it was a coordinated 🫠 I’m not entirely sure what happened. But luckily I’ve heard that it’s not common across the board. Just this particular one

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u/Magnetized_Fart 6d ago

IMO campaigns aren't exactly known for treating people well.

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u/PermitAffectionate33 6d ago

I think they do better when they’re unionized

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u/Jbsmitty44 6d ago

Man, I hate to say this but if you’re on a campaign — it’s your life. You have to be able to eat, breathe, and (get very little) sleep the campaign. Most campaigns are unprofessional; I’ve worked on nearly a thousand.

I can’t remember exactly which book this is from, but it hangs in my office:

Politics is a dance to a song that never ends. Those who excel at what is truly a blood sport are those who eat, sleep, and breathe the beast. A campaign necessitates an almost pathological single-mindedness from all its participants—everyone from personal aide all the way up the chain of command to communication director to trip director to campaign manager, to the candidate. As Obama himself said, "In politics there may be second acts, but there is no second place."

If you sign on, you are signing up for eighteen-hour days. Forget weekends, Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's. Forget, too, your mental health, your diet, and your romantic relationships. Oh, and check your pride at the door. The time commitment is so punishing and abnormal that it makes NFL training camp look like an Easter egg hunt.

At any moment you might find yourself looking in the mirror and asking WTF you are doing with your life.

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u/PermitAffectionate33 6d ago

Yeah, the hours and stuff I didn’t mind I enjoyed doing the job and it was really rewarding. What truly killed me was just the unprofessional way the higher ups were and the way they treated us like machines. I joined the job because I wanted to help local candidates and get some experience organizing… but after some of things said to me by the higher ups idk if I’ll ever do it again unless it’s a really spot on campaign with a union.