Though he says he has been involved in politics for a short time鈥攋ust two and a half years鈥擝en Krouse-Gagne has done more than some of us will do in our lifetimes. He worked on Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer鈥檚 Senate campaign, did a summer internship with the Anti-War Committee, served as a delegate to the 2008 Democratic state convention in Rochester, Minn., and spends weekends door-knocking for state congressional candidates.
Krouse-Gagne, a second-year political science major who grew up in the Minneapolis鈥� progressive Seward neighborhood, said he was really always involved in politics because his family, neighbors, and church community were politically active. Then in high school, he traveled to the School of the Americas in Georgia, a military combat training school and the site of frequent anti-war protests. 鈥淚t really hit me when they read the names of those killed in the war,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd one of the names was 鈥榦ne-month old baby.鈥欌��
That experience fueled Krouse-Gagne鈥檚 desire to become active and led him eventually to a summer job at TakeAction Minnesota, where he worked to educate voters about political issues. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 understand how state politics affects them,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 even know who their state representatives are.鈥�
His RNC field placement was with the Bloomberg News Service. On the first day of the convention, he covered the protests outside Xcel Center. 鈥淚 knew a lot of the people and organizations protesting,鈥� he said, which gave him an opportunity to get close to the action. Protestors told him their goal was to slow down the convention. 鈥淚nside, they didn鈥檛 even know what was happening out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 slow down the convention at all.鈥�
Another assignment was to cover a press conference with former Massachusetts governor and former Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. After the conference, Krouse-Gagne walked with Romney to his next appointment and was able to have a one-on-one conversation. He asked what Romney thought about McCain鈥檚 choice for a running mate.
鈥淗e said he wouldn鈥檛 have picked her, but he thought she would bring energy to the campaign.鈥� Krouse-Gagne, who aspires to be a campaign manager, also asked Romney what it was like running for president. 鈥淗e said it was non-stop鈥othing like running for governor.鈥�
Through conversations with delegates, Krouse-Gagne learned that he had more in common with Republicans than he thought. 鈥淩epublicans are just the same as us,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey want what we want, just in a different way.鈥�
Krouse-Gagne also became friends with Eric Franzen, another intern who is currently the president of the Augsburg College Republicans. The two are working with the Sabo Center for Citizenship and Learning, with the help of Augsburg Sabo Professor Garry Hesser, to bring speakers to campus to further the 鈥淕et Political鈥� civic engagement events. Their goal is to ensure that the Augsburg community is exposed to multiple perspectives on political issues.
Being at the RNC made Krouse-Gagne want to be a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention and to become even more involved in politics. A lot can happen in four years.
(Ben Krouse-Gagne 鈥�11)
(Mai Lee 鈥�11)
(Eric Franzen MAE 鈥�10)