Politically

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October 2015

Pieper Publishing

Pew Reseach Center

Switching between aisles and figuring it out

Coming into college Im sure you

were in 1 of 2 categories. 1. You had
your mind made up about what political
party you affiliated with, or 2. You honestly didnt care about politics, parties
or anything to do with the government
or the people who influence our way
of life. Both are fine, but neither are
perfect. Being involved in politics or at
least being in the know is very important
and as an American citizen it is highly encouraged. Siding with a political
party whether its the Republicans or
Democrats can help you pat down your
political views.
Before coming to college I identified
as a Republican because thats what my
family identified as. The more interested

In This
Issue

I got into politics the more I realized

that the Republican partys views didnt
align with mine. I sat down and reevaluated my views. I went down the list of
major issues and sorted my thoughts. I
then researched what each party thought
about the issues and identified myself
that way.
I grew up in a very Republican family
and was told at a very young age that
Democrats were dirty alcoholics that
took advantage of the government...
What!? I remember having a boyfriend in first grade and a week after we
made it official, I asked him if he was
a Democrat or Republican and he said
he was a Democrat, so I broke up with
him. I even used to get in arguments

Which side of
the Aisle do you
sit on?
Page 2

Carney Campaign Internship

Page 3

with my friends around the Kerry, Bush

election. Because of how I grew up and
was raised, I never thought on my own.
Until now.
The objective of this newsletter is to
help you, the reader do the same, or at
least confirm your loyalty to a party.
Although its great to pick a party to
affiliate with that doesnt mean that the
opposing sides views are completely
wrong or irrelevant, because its important to know how each party views
the issues. Being politically aware and
understanding is important, and being
politically interactive is part of being a
good American citizen.
Enjoy learning about poltics and finding your speciifc party along the way.

Tips to Becoming more

Aware
Page 3

Now that Ive

Picked a Party
Page 4
October 2015 1

Tips to Becoming More

Politically
Aware

Which Side of the Aisle do

you sit on?

Download
Apps such as CNN
and Fox News

Enforce the 2nd Amendment;

Americans should have the right to
bear arms

Marijuana should be legal for

medicinal purposes
Focused on helping illegal
immigrants gain citizenship rather
than deporting them
Defends the Affordable Health Care
Act and says, "Affordable health
care is a basic human right."
A woman should have the right to
choose what she does with her body
Stricter gun laws, making it harder
to buy a gun

2 Politically Speaking

Limit the role of federal government

in education and shift to community
college and tech schools
Will provide tax incentives for
energy production, are in favor of
cap-and-trade market based air
pollution reductions
Wants to make the southern border
more secure and deport illegal
immigrants
Wants to repeal the Affordable
Health Care Act because the
government should not run health
care

Carney Campaign Internship

Fall semester of my sophomore year I
had an internship with the John Patrick
Carney campaign. Carney was running
for state auditor at the time and was a
Democrat. Like I mentioned earlier,
I used to affiliate with the Republican
Party and only accepted the internship
because I desperately needed the experience working for a campaign. When
I envisioned working on a campaign I
pictured it like in the T.V. show Scandal:
nice office space with cheerful, ambitious people. Working on a campaign
is far from that fantasy. Although the
campaign crew was very ambitious
and passionate, the office space was in
the basement of an old church in the
ghetto part of downtown Columbus.
The crew worked off of card tables and
worked in a room with no windows.
The call center room was pretty big and
held a lot of other workspace for other
campaigns around the region.
I worked alongside other college
students and did a lot of voter research.
I would research Carneys main target
donors and compile facts about them;
that way when Carney called them for
money he could better relate to them.
Shady, right? Thats just a part of politics that is necessary, because everything

is strategically done for a reason. I also

made a lot of calls to voters informing
them about Carney and his goals and
basically asking them for their support
in the upcoming election.
I sat down with the campaign manager and we talked for an hour about how
he became a campaign manager and
why he was a democrat. I actually told
him that I didnt identify as a Democrat
and he was shocked that I was working
on a Democratic campaign. He was
actually the reason I decided to actually take a step back and think through
my own political views rather than just
going along with what my parents had
taught me. He was also the reason that
I decided to stick to more state-wide
politics rather than pursuing my dream
to work in D.C. He told me I could
influence more people by working at
the state wide level rather than running
around in circles in the big dog political
world.
I found my passion in educating
others about being politically aware and
involved because of my great experience
interning for the Carney campaign.
Although he lost in the election it was
a learning experience I will always remember because of the skills I learned.

Advocate for the LGBT community,

believes gay marriage should be
legal

Will strive to make college

affordable, and potentially make
community college free

Listen to NPR
or the BBC podcasts
on the internet

Follow politicians on Twitter
such as H. Clinton

Wants to raise incomes and cut

taxes for hardworking Americans.

Gay marriage should be left up to

each state to decide whether it's
legal
Wants to set strict restrictions on
abortions, even making it illegal in
some states
Supports capital punishment and
keeping criminals behind bars

Carney was a state representative before he decided to run for state auditor. His
campaign sign showed his Irish heritage by having a shamrock above the text.

Tune in to both
Republican and
Democrat debates

Focused on climate control and the

effects global warming is causing.
Advocate for clean energy

Majority of
Republicans stand
for...

Check out presidential canidates
websites

Majority of Democrats
stand for...

Watch the
nightly news, such as
ABC World News

Read articles
from the NYT and
Washington Post
October 2015 3

Now that Ive picked a party what do I do?

Were you surprised to see how the
two different parties handle certain
issues? If you were, thats a good start!
Figuring out where you belong in the
political word is very important! So now
that youve seen both sides of major
issues, research a little deeper. See how
the party passes or refuses to pass legislation pertaining to certain issues. Why
does the majority of the party feel that
way? There is a reasoning behind everything, especially in politics. Find that
reasoning and apply it to the knowledge
youve taken in.
How will your party define you as a
person? Now that youve chosen to be
identified as a Democrat or Republican,
get ready to fight back against the stereotypes that come with party affiliation.
Lets start with the possible positive
stereotypes of the Republican Party.
Republicans can be seen as wealthy, put
together and old fashioned. They are
also considered a classy gentleman or
lady who loves their country. A positive
stereotype for a Democrat affiliate is
that they are open-minded and willing
to embrace change. They stand up for
human rights and are thought to be a

progressive type of person. Now for the

negative stereotypes Republicans can
be seen as stuck up, upper class snobs
that are only interested in the wealthy.
They are known for not being accepting
of change and tend to stick to what has
always been. The party and their public
officials have also been thought of as
people who are not willing to help the
lower and middle class Americans. The
Democrats can be seen as radical, or
people who are just too hipster. They
can be seen as men and women who just
take advantage of government aide and
dont work for their money; this makes
them look like a lazy, sloppy group of
people who choose not to work.
I only speak of these positive and
negative stereotypes because its a must
know. It is in no way meant to be offensive, but lets be real. It is. People can get
very defensive and mean when talking
about the opposing party. Be aware and
ready to fight back. DO NOT fight back
by just blasting them with their partys
horrible stereotypes. Fight back by
explaining all of the positives that your
party does and why you have chosen to
affiliate with them. If you love the party

enough this should come very easy, if

youre a newbie to the party, know that
the opposing party will take your inexperience and use it against you. All the
more reason to study your partys views
and aspirations.
So you want to get involved but not
too involved? Thats easy! Do things
such as voting sounds extremely simple right? It is. If you arent registered to
vote its free, easy and quick! You cannot
register to vote online but can visit the
Ohio DMV website and print out the
sign up form. After all it is your civil
duty to vote.
Picking a party is hard and it takes
time and effort. Who knows, you may
change your mind once you get older,
more involved or more aware of the
partys views. You should never feel as
though you have to stay with one party
for the rest of your life. The party will
change over the years and so will you.
Embrace politics and take advantage of
your knowledge.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
I hope it was helpful. For more information email me! Politics are tricky but
figuring them out is fun.

Mikayla Pieper
11573 Rd. 162
Paulding, OH 45879
Politically Speaking
1818 N. Durango Rd.
Denver, CO 42879
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