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November 2008
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ALUMNI PROFILE |
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Alumna Reflects on the Fun and Pace of Campaigns – From AU to Congressional Races For Anne Caprara, SPA/BA ’01, the campaign trail was a long and thrilling road that winded along the Front Range mountains of eastern Colorado. Caprara, who grew up in Pennsylvania, began calling the Rocky Mountain state home in October 2007, when she began managing the Congressional campaign of fellow alumna Betsy Markey, SPA/MPA ’83, in the hotly contested race for the 4th district of Colorado. Surely, the two AU alumnae are still beaming at their victory earlier this month, though Alumni Update spoke with Caprara before the election results were in. “2008 is not a year you sit out if you’re involved in campaigns,” says Caprara, who left her post as chief of staff to Representative Betty Sutton (D-OH) to manage Markey’s campaign. Although Caprara had helped Sutton win her seat in Ohio’s 13th district, the thrill of the upcoming election enticed her to rejoin a campaign. “I heard about the race in the Colorado Fourth,” she says, recalling her decision to move west. “So I visited, and I loved Fort Collins. And Betsy went to AU for graduate school, so we hit it off talking about that.” The frenzied, nonstop pace of campaigning comes naturally to Caprara, who spent the 2004 and 2006 election cycles on campaigns across the country as part of Emily’s List, an organization which supports pro-choice, democratic women candidates. She was responsible for a range of tasks, from communications and research to debate preparation, and she loved every minute. “The days are pure pandemonium, but it’s fun,” she says. Caprara has always had a taste for political races. She was a member of the American University Senate and was the featured student speaker at SPA’s commencement. She also ran for president of Student Government her sophomore year. “I still have the buttons from my campaign,” she admits with a laugh. In addition to Markey, Caprara also works with Dan Greeley, SPA/BA ’07, who is the campaign’s deputy finance director, and one of their interns is also a current AU student. Caprara states unequivocally that she hired them because of her confidence that AU has prepared them for the rigors of a campaign, much like it tested her own limits when she was a student at the Campaign Management Institute (CMI). “CMI is the best training program I’ve ever been on,” she says. “And I’ve been to trainings hosted by the Democratic Party and Emily’s List.” She has high praise for SPA Professors Candice Nelson and James Thurber, who lead CMI. As part of the training program, Caprara remembers not sleeping for two weeks, and being told by Professor Nelson that it was all a part of simulating a real campaign. Caprara laughs at the memory. “She was 1000 percent right,” she says. Now, in the wake of Tuesday’s election and Markey’s victory in Colorado, Caprara counts another successful campaign to her credit. More than just a campaign, she acknowledges the 2008 election cycle also allowed her to take part in history. “I was at Invesco Field the first night,” she says of Barack Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech in Denver in August. “It was unbelievable. It completely blew me away.” Although her next steps are not yet finalized, Caprara says this campaign has left a deep impression on her, and she particularly enjoyed working with Markey, whose enthusiasm, sincerity, and dedication have been infectious. “In this business, of politicians who want to win, I wanted to work for someone who I could get up every day for and get excited about,” Caprara says. “Betsy is exactly that kind of candidate.” - Josephine Sanchez
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