Whomever let this article through the Sun-Times.
$100 is about the going rate. While grassroots campaigns tend to rely upon volunteers, it’s very common for campaigns to pay people–it’s a burgeoning business for some political consultants.
Who else gets paid $100 a day for election work? Election judges in the City of Chicago
Mayor Daley’s campaign is paying college students $100 apiece to get out the vote for the mayor on Election Day — and replace an army of precinct workers diminished by the City Hall hiring scandal.
Mayoral challenger Bill Walls accused the mayor of “buying” student support. He likened the $100 stipends to employment promises made to members of the Hispanic Democratic Organization and other pro-Daley armies at the center of the scandal. The mayor’s former patronage chief and three others were convicted last summer of rigging city hiring.
Look, you are asking people to give up part of their day. Many work for 10-12 hours making the going rate around $10 hour. It’s great that there are volunteers to do this in some campaigns, but in municipal elections it’s especially tough to find as many as the Mayor is going to want.
It should be taken as a good sign that the Mayor can no longer call upon the patronage machine. If anything the quotes by Walls and Brown show how bad of candidates they really are.
Recruiting college students is pretty standard for any campaign. Move along, nothing to see here.