Three weeks ago, I launched the recruiting process for the new MoveOn Fellowship. (See my Sept 6 post.) My job is to find America’s best and brightest “diamond-in-the-rough” progressives — folks who want to launch a career in the movement — and get them to apply. Naturally, we want as many applicants as possible (the more applicants we get, the more GREAT applicants we get). So we did a massive outreach push, among many progressive communities. I was hoping for 1000 solid applicants.
What was I thinking?
By the time we shoved the floodgates closed, we’d gotten 3493 applicants. For four positions. I dutifully screened through all of them, and was consistenly impressed by the applicants. Single moms. Retired autoworkers. College kids. Former migrant workers. Black, white, asian, hispanic, native American, young, old, lesbian, gay, disabled, born again, socialist, military, rural, urban … all united by a passion for progressive politics.
I’ll admit it — reviewing 3493 applications is exhausting. If I have to read the phrase “MoveOn should make me a Fellow because” one more time, I’ll shoot myself.
But despite the exhaustion, it’s also totally inspiring. America is overflowing with smart, accomplished, dedicated progressives who desperately want to change our political future — and who are looking for real opportunities to get involved.
Campaigns, take note!