{"id":11159,"date":"2020-02-03T13:32:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T18:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/federal\/?p=11159"},"modified":"2020-02-10T13:33:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T18:33:33","slug":"pete-buttigiegs-first-hire-in-iowa-a-bu-alum-is-ready-for-long-haul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/federal\/2020\/02\/03\/pete-buttigiegs-first-hire-in-iowa-a-bu-alum-is-ready-for-long-haul\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Buttigieg\u2019s First Hire in Iowa, a BU Alum, Is Ready for Long Haul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney Throop\u2019s months of work for Democratic presidential candidate comes to a head tonight with caucuses<\/h4>\n

\"\"Sydney Throop (far left, in gray sweater) and Pete Buttigieg at Pete for America headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, for a national staff conference call in early January. Photo by campaign staff photographer Chuck Kennedy.<\/em><\/p>\n

The late stages of a political campaign feel like a finals week that goes on for months, says Sydney Throop.<\/p>\n

For Throop (CGS\u201914, COM\u201916), the deputy organizing director for the Pete Buttigieg presidential campaign <\/a>in Iowa, the work has been\u00a0 all-consuming, especially in the last weeks before Monday night\u2019s Iowa caucuses.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old\u2019s day starts by 8:15 am, with texts and email at campaign headquarters\u2014she rolls out of bed and comes straight to work, before she even has coffee\u2014and usually ends after midnight, after many rounds of meetings and phone calls and strategizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard, but I\u2019m just like this,\u201d she says a couple of weeks before the caucuses. \u201cIt\u2019s the perfect job for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been too busy to go to the grocery store in months. \u201cI fully rely on Uber Eats and the Grubhub app,\u201d says Throop. \u201cSometimes we have supporters bring food to our HQ, which is lovely and really, really kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The candidate himself recently broke the culinary monotony.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday Mayor Pete brought in some Dunkin\u2019 Donuts, so shout-out to Massachusetts there, which was really exciting,\u201d she says. \u201cWe had Munchkins in the office, which was a staple when I was working in Massachusetts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buttigieg has lately been polling in the top tier of Democratic presidential hopefuls, mixing it up with former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Not bad for the 38-year-old Harvard graduate and former Naval intelligence officer, whose previous electoral post was the mayoralty of South Bend, Ind. Some of the credit for his surprising longevity in the race has to go to hard-working staffers like Throop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work with our organizing team and our amazing volunteers to help get the word out about Pete here in Iowa,\u201d she says. \u201cThe day in and day out is thinking about the best ways our team can reach out to caucus-goers. We\u2019ve been on the ground for many months building authentic relationships and spreading the word about Mayor Pete and figuring out how we can do that in the most effective way.\u201d<\/p>\n

She builds strategy for the organizers and volunteers: where are they needed, where does the campaign need to focus, where do they put their resources, where do they need more boots on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to talk to people they know,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s really effective. How do we encourage our supporters to talk to their friends and neighbors to get them out to caucus? How do we help get more people out there?\u201d<\/p>\n

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My brother is autistic, and I grew up being really passionate about making sure that everyone\u2019s voice is heard.<\/div>\n