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I don't fully understand who you're refering to by the staff jobs in DC. One of the things that makes this process much more complex is that there are multiple positions on campaigns, in multiple departments filled by many different types of people who do a multiple amount of things after campaigns end and all this stuff overlaps.
I'll take your last question first.
The reason no one from your district is "on the campaign staff calling the shots" is, quite frankly, because you don't know what you're doing. I've worked on 6 campaigns in 5 years and I still don't know what I'm doing. Running a campaign is just a little harder than driving a semi, blindfolded down a curvy road while doing calculus in your head. That being said, it is critical to a campaign to have locals on it in a volunteer capacity to help spread the message. It is invaluable for neighbors to talk to neighbors about the candidate and so forth. But campaigns are run in an extremely heirarchial fashion and there are very set plans dictated from the very top down. Good campaigns usually have a field department which can aggregate local concerns up to the top, but very rarely, I'm willing to say never, is a local Democratic Party official ever "calling the shots".
There are usually 3 separate, yet equally important, parts of a campaign.
Finance - They raise the money Communications - They help create and disseminate the message through mass media Field - They're the "boots on the ground", running voter contact (phone calls, canvassing) and ultimately, running the GOTV
There are also smaller positions which are usually filled by one person.
IT - They run the databases and make sure all that technogizmo stuff works right Opposition Research - They see what the opposition is saying, dig up dirt, track the other candidate(s) Office Manager - They run the office Legal - Is this getting self explanatory yet??
Outside of this, are the consultants, who consult on whatever their specialty is. That usually encompasses people for all 3 departments I listed up top.
As I said before, everyone comes onto a campaign in a different way, and goes on to something different. Some people are professional campaign hands who work a campaign, then move back to DC and bartend until the next one. Others are recent college grads looking for an "in" for a job on the Hill. Some are taking a break before law school, some are taking a break after law school. It all depends. The life is complicated, it is difficult to really convey how it works to someone who has not experienced it. I have a very hard time telling my girlfriend why I'm not working for months at a time, and then will one day get a phone call, move across the country, and work for 9 straight months, 100 hours a week.
I hope this has at least answered some of your questions. I would like more people to understand how much time, committment and energy goes into these campaigns and how truly dedicated and sacrificial the people who work on them are. Let me know if you have any more questions.
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