On the basement level of a run-down charter school, Connie Lee listens as a guy in a uniform updates her on the latest phone system glitches. Her workplace is what you might call a fixer-upper. Splatters of dried-up paint cover the hallway floors. The lights make a weird buzzing sound.  

“It’s basically a sh-t hole,” she explains, unapologetically. “We’ve been having the hardest time trying to get cable support. Time Warner won’t even touch this place.”

Banners made of white butcher paper remind visitors where they are: Hillary Clinton’s Los Angeles campaign offices. Connie, 24, works as the campaign’s deputy field director for California, overseeing a variety of outreach projects aimed at getting people out to vote. 

The job can be tough. Days consist of fielding phone calls, coordinating events and training volunteers. The pay isn’t great when she considers her exhausting schedule — she works seven days a week with no set clock-out time. (“Once the primaries roll around, that couch will be my bed,” she says, pointing to a beige sofa donated by a Hillary supporter.) In setting up the offices, she’s had to get down and dirty, painting the walls and laying out the carpet.

Yet she loves every minute of it.

“This job is a dream come true,” says Connie, clad in jeans and sneakers. (She keeps a suit in her trunk in case a last-minute event pops up.) “It’s a roller coaster, but it’s the best ride ever. I’m working for something I really believe in. I wake up in the morning and think, ‘Yes! Another day.’”  

The road to the 2008 presidential elections is shaping up to be a historic one. For the first time, the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination are a woman and an African American. More attention is being directed at the minority vote than ever before.

Margaret Fung, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, says that in this changing political climate, policymakers are keeping watch on the fast-growing Asian American community, which has traditionally lagged behind other groups in civic participation. Young Asian Americans can make an imprint in this election simply by supporting the candidate they believe in.

“It’s important for Asian Americans to have a voice in the political process and have an influence over the issues that are important to them,” Fung says. “Right now, it’s an open race.” 

Connie says she didn’t think much about politics while growing up in La Cañada, Calif. Her parents, both immigrants, didn’t take on a strong political stance, but always stressed the importance of serving others. Oftentimes, they would whip up Korean comfort dishes and invite other immigrant families over for dinner. In doing so, they hoped to ease the transition to America for everyone. 

“The way my parents lived to help people is what motivated me to stay in public sector,” she says.