Camp Wellstone a program designed to teach aspiring politicians more about campaigning, held one of its programs on the Ohio State campus last weekend.
“Camp Wellstone is a three day program that trains participants in the philosophy, strategy, and tactics for winning grassroots political and electoral campaigns,” said Jeff Blodgette, executive director of the camp.
The program takes a distinctive approach that integrates electoral politics, advocacy, community organizing and leadership development.
Camp Wellstone is just one part of Wellstone Action, a non-profit organization started in memory of former Minnesota senator, Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila. The Wellstones were killed on Dec. 27, 2002 when their plane crashed near Eleventh, Minn.
One of the workshops offered at the OSU camp, Working on a Campaign, taught students important aspects of campaigning, such as organizing, fundraising, scheduling and working with the media. There were also a few sessions that all participants attended, such as message developing and how to get out the vote.
Sarah Topy, a recent OSU graduate learned about the camp through the Wellstone Action’s e-mail list.
“After Paul Wellstone died, I was devastated. I read about him voraciously and learned they were beginning Camp Wellstone in his memory. I think I was the first person in Columbus to sign up.”
Josh Garcia, who helped plan the event, said he considered it to be a huge success. More than 110 people, including 20 OSU students and a few retired OSU professors, attended the camp.
There is another Camp Wellstone scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 7th in Cincinnati. Anyone interested in attending the camp can visit the Web site at www.wellstoneaction.org.
