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Obama volunteer hopes to be youngest delegate from North Shore

By Chris Cassidy
Staff writer
Published: April 4, 2008

SALEM — They include popular mayors, state representatives, high-powered attorneys, longtime political insiders — and a 22-year-old college student from Salem.

Hundreds of Democrats across the state are hoping their fellow party members will pick them today as delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

Some of the names are familiar. Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, Beverly City Councilor Patricia Grimes and District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett are all vying for spots and have their own loyal groups of followers.

Then there's Morgan Day Harris, a senior at The George Washington University who has never campaigned for elected office and was barely old enough to vote in the last presidential election.

Harris is among a handful of college students across the state — and the youngest on the North Shore — to attempt to be named a delegate to the 2008 DNC.

She's running to become the one female Barack Obama delegate from the 6th Congressional District against seven other female candidates, many old enough to be her mother — and, in at least one case, someone nearly three times her age.

"You realize you are up against the party structure, and trying to tap into that has been the biggest challenge," Harris said. "But it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility because people do get excited about a young person running."

How young?

The last time a Democrat occupied the White House, Harris was 14 years old.

She has her own Web site and her own blog, and she's sent campaign mailings out to 400 registered Democrats.

Already, she has an impressive political résumé.

As a Marblehead High School student (her parents moved to Chestnut Street in Salem after she graduated), Harris interned at U.S. Sen. John Kerry's Boston office, then transferred to his Washington office as a college freshman when he ran for president in the fall of 2004.

On the road for Obama

In December, she started volunteering for the Obama campaign in Manchester, N.H., and has traveled to Delaware, Ohio and South Carolina, while balancing college classes during the week.

For anyone who thinks politics is glamorous, try volunteering on a presidential campaign.

"The January before the South Carolina primary, they sent a busload of us from Washington, D.C., down to South Carolina, and we stayed at YMCAs, sleeping on floors," Harris said.

But that did lead to a chance encounter with the Illinois senator at a YMCA gym. As she walked in to grab her suitcase, Harris ran into Obama playing a pickup basketball game against members of his Secret Service detail and a flock of reporters standing nearby. The presidential hopeful stopped to talk and pose for a photo with Harris.

"It was such a surreal experience," she said. "He was sort of surprised to hear we were sleeping on the floor."

The rest of her time on the campaign trail has included driving voters to the polls, armed with little more than a van and a map, and going door to door to talk up Obama in South Carolina neighborhoods.

"You're given these lists, and they're not always accurate," Harris said. "Sometimes you're knocking on a Republican's door that absolutely hates what you're doing."

But there are plenty of positive encounters, including the time a neighbor gave her Girl Scout cookies when she knocked on the front door.

On the day of the South Carolina primary, she was one of dozens of campaign supporters from both the Clinton and Obama camps trying to cram into the background of live "Today" show reports while waving political signs.

"It was a true battle for space and camera time between the Hillary and Obama crowds," Harris said.

Plus for the party

It's impossible to know just what Harris' chances are of being tapped as a delegate today. But some party officials said they're excited to see someone so young who is willing to get involved in the delegate process.

"This obviously bodes well for the Democratic Party when you start getting wonderful people like Morgan Harris trying to become a national delegate at 22 years old," said Kevin Harvey, the chairman of Salem's Democratic City Committee. "I don't recall anyone running or being elected at 22. This could be a record."

"I don't recall anyone that young on the North Shore," said Agnes Ricko of Lynn, who, at age 70, estimates she's the oldest candidate seeking to become a delegate.

"It's a campaign, so if you sit there waiting for the votes to come to you, it doesn't happen," she said. "But if you go out and aggressively seek the votes, you may be rewarded."

Harris may be at a bit of a disadvantage because many of her friends are at colleges of their own, spread out across the country. But she's still optimistic that her campaign will bring out other young people who wouldn't normally participate in politics.

"It's about bringing people you know and who are invested in you and want to see you pursue this opportunity," Harris said. "It's a case of me saying, 'Hi, I'm new to this process, and I want to be involved.'"

Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at 978-338-2526 or by e-mail at ccassidy@salemnews.com.

HOW IT WORKS

The 6th Congressional District will send six delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Because Hillary Clinton won the district in the February presidential primary, four of the delegates (two men and two women) will be for Clinton, and two (one man, one woman) for Barack Obama.

Today at 1 p.m., registered Democrats will meet at two separate locations (Clinton supporters at North Shore Community College, Obama supporters at Masconomet High School) to determine who will make the trip to the convention in Colorado.

Any registered Democrat can vote by showing up and filling out a paper ballot, similar to the ones used during a normal election. After the voting, the ballots are tabulated and the winning delegates are rewarded with a ticket to the convention.

Republicans, too, will select their delegates for the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis today at Lynnfield Middle School, starting at 10 a.m.

RUNNING TO BE AN OBAMA DELEGATE

Two Obama delegates — one man, one woman — will be selected today among the following:

Linda Billows, Marblehead

Donna Corbett, Reading

Gina Grandberry, Lynn

Morgan Day Harris, Salem

Maureen Oliver, Reading

Marianne Rutter, Boxford

Teresa Walker, Lynn

Heidi Zander, Rockport

David Rall, Reading

D. Wesley Slate Jr., Beverly

William Tinti, Salem

Stephen Viegas, Reading

Michael Allen Wheeler, Gloucester

Alexander Zora, Salem

RUNNING TO BE A CLINTON DELEGATE

Four Clinton delegates — two men, two women (plus one female alternate) — will be selected today among the following:

Marisa DeFranco, Middleton

Karla De Steuben, Saugus

Kim Driscoll, Salem

Patricia Grimes, Beverly

Marilyn Hazel, Danvers

Ellen Herlihy, West Newbury

Patricia Melvin, North Andover

Fannie Minot, South Hamilton

Agnes Ricko, Lynn

Marcia Sweeney, Marblehead

Jonathan Blodgett, Peabody

J. Paul Brownridge, Swampscott

Mickey Northcutt, Salem

Arthur Powell, Beverly

Stanley Slepoy, Rowley

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