Campaign-In-A-Day Student Profile: Kyle Hermann

In 2016 American Majority held our first Campaign-In-A-Day event in July in Ohio with 70 students. Join us in 2021. We have now trained over 2,000 students and adults through the Campaign-In-A-Day program. This profile series of blog posts are to highlight this summer’s attendees’ experiences with the event.

 

Name: Kyle Hermann

Where are you from: San Diego, CA

School or Occupation: I am a graduate student at Liberty University online; I am also teaching high school history/ government, and I serve on an elected board in my neighborhood.

Campaign-In-A-Day Attended: Forge 2020 & 2021, Patriot Academy NW 2021

 

I served as the candidate for two Campaign-In-A-Day races, and I was the Political Director for one. As the candidate, I had to do the messaging for social media, the radio soundbites, make high level executive decisions, and stand before the judges to deliver our message clearly and confidently. As Political Director, I supported the team by helping to make decisions and advising everyone on wise courses of action for our candidate.

I found that it is quite impressive to see how people use their specific skill set when they get their campaign job. The social media person often came up with an incredible logo in a short time, the Campaign Manager led the team and delegated tasks, and the candidate built off that teamwork to effectively communicate the message directly to the voters and judges.

The biggest strength I personally used during CIAD is communication and persuasion. I had the privilege of being the candidate twice, and the first thing that helped me was being able to communicate well with the team. Secondly, being able to communicate to the judges and being able to think on my toes were definitely assets. From these experiences, I learned how little issues can become much bigger in the long run, as well as how important each and every decision is in the campaign. CIAD is useful for students because it helps them break out of their comfort zones and convey a message with confidence and work on team building skills. Campaign-In-A-Day is useful for people in politics because being a representative of the people takes skill and excellence, so people who wish to be in politics should work to refine their skills to be the absolute best they can be.

The biggest challenges in CIAD is the time frame and keeping everyone on task and engaged. As group projects go, some people find themselves without something to do, so it is imperative to make sure that they are engaged and actively working for the goal. 

My advice for future attendees is to work to the best of their abilities. The little details can make or break the campaign. Sometimes, not turning in a paper could lose you the election, and conversely, a moment in the last debate can give the campaign the boost it needs. Make sure your message is done well, and make sure everyone is on the same page.