The Hopeful Downtrodden
Ashwin Corattiyil holds his head high. The 22-year-old New York University education and politics double-major has seen the breadth of a national campaign, and trusts in America’s democracy.
“I definitely have a lot more faith in the American voters than I did before,” Corattiyil said, despite the defeat of the man he ardently championed.
Corattiyil dedicated more than a year of his life to the John Kerry campaign for president while still in school, crisscrossing the East Coast and his home state of Ohio—the election’s deciding swing state. But unlike many Democrats post-election, he is not downhearted.
“I don’t think it was all for nothing,” he insisted. “You didn’t win, and that sucks. But it’s not all for nothing because in this election, politics became a cool thing.” Corattiyil sees this past election as a turning point in the public perception of politics. An activist organization that encourages civic involvement was founded by one of hiphop’s greatest moguls, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. MTV became synonymous with its youth voting campaign Rock the Vote, and even high end clothing lines turned political, a la Marc Jacobs’ Hillary Clinton design.
“People think it doesn’t apply to them. Politics doesn’t have to be balancing the budget. Politics is everything. If you think NYU’s tuition is too expensive, that’s politics,” he said.
Corattiyil describes his canvassing days as an educational experience, and is grateful for the opportunity he had to connect with voters and see the campaign from inside the doors of election headquarters. He worked for John Kerry from the beginning of his presidential bid as an intern in the New York campaign office, because he thought that Kerry had the best chance of beating Bush.
The activist came to New York from comparably small and suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, tempted by NYU’s teaching program. He recalled growing up and being slightly more liberal than the neighborhood regulars. “That was a neat thing, to be from the deciding state,” he said, where neighbors’ views spread across the entire spectrum. The adopted New Yorker remembers six or seven commercials a day on TV in Ohio when he visited, and many candidate stopovers from both sides. His native neighborhood also played a role in his duties. “Every time I would go on a break and would go home, they’d give me a bunch of flyers, and tell me to talk to everyone you know,” he said.
The son of Indian immigrants and a first generation American, he sees his upbringing in Ohio and background as key factors in shaping his perception of the world.
“Even though you’re born and raised here, you see the outsider’s perspective. I can see a totally different viewpoint. And, I think that’s why I became more liberal,” he continued. “Everyone might get a little more liberal when they come to New York.”
Emilie Mittiga, an NYU senior, mentors at risk inner city and lower income students with Corattiyil, and describes him as honest and dynamic. He is the senior class president of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and hopes to one day teach a government class. “He’s just an all-around guy,” Mittiga said, her face brightening at the mention of Corattiyil’s name. He can take on anything, she cheered, and he chose John Kerry.
The New York Kerry team was composed of mostly college students and recent graduates, young political consultants, and a finance team to help raise money. Corattiyil gathered crowds and local bigwigs, traveled over state lines, solicited door-to-door, and attacked an endless list of phone calls.
“It was kind of like you’re committed to the thing. You want it to work and you want him to win. You’re committed to it so you’re willing to make the sacrifices to do it,” Corattiyil said.
Over the summer, Corattiyil worked 30 to 40 hours a week. During the school year, he committed a few hours a day, two days a week, and most of his weekends. He put in early mornings to set up stages and shared late night phone calls. During the primaries, Corattiyil traveled on the weekends, left at 5 a.m., worked all day, stayed overnight at a YMCA, canvassed the following day, and returned to New York for class. The group trekked across boundaries in a “rented big old tour bus” with 50 to 100 other supporters. “We really wanted to change the direction of the country in whatever way we could as college students,” Corattiyil said.
Corattiyil liked knocking door-to-door for a face-to-face with potential voters. “You always read about what people want, what issues are important. When you’re there, you actually see and hear what people want,” he explained. “And, sometimes you get doors slammed in your face, sometimes you get into deep conversations.”
Emotions during the season went up and down with the campaign for Corattiyil. “You take every little thing that happened and why it happened, and what it means for your guy, and what you should do with that.”
A few days after Kerry announced the official start of the campaign, he appeared on Good Morning America. Part of the advance team, Corattiyil arrived on set at 5:30 a.m. to help set up and prepare staff. While Kerry was interviewed, his young crew of early morning risers stood outside the morning show’s windows. When the candidate was asked about youth involvement in the election, he motioned the camera towards the window at his advance team, saying that they’d worked hard for him since the beginning and will be around for a while. After the interview, Kerry came out and chatted with Corattiyil and his coworkers, bought them coffee, and did not soon forget them.
Kerry’s next visit to New York was the day before Corattiyil’s 21st birthday on October 2. Someone mentioned the occasion to the senator, who after giving a speech to a group of supporters approached Corattiyil and wished him a very happy birthday. He expressed regret for leaving New York before the date—he wanted to by Corattiyil a drink.
On Election Day, Corattiyil worked the phones to get out the vote. As the polls closed, he attended a banquet hosted by Senators Schumer and Clinton, where guests watched the returns on oversized monitors. “Those are the last people who are going to accept that he would lose,” Corattiyil said of the attendees. And, after his first voting experience in the contested presidential race of 2000, Corattiyil wasn’t sure that Ohio was gone.
After Election Day, it all became clear.
“You’re ticked off for a while and you don’t really want to talk to anybody, just for all the work that you did. And then, after that, you’re just hoping that everything that happened, people wanted it.” Loyal to the democratic ideal, Corattiyil thinks that in politics the goal is simply for people to get what they want. “You’re vying for them. They’re the boss.”
“Even though Bush won, there still are a lot of people that need help. At the end of the day, that’s got to be the thing that motivates you. You’re really trying to do it for people. I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s true,” Corattiyil said. “You just got to keep going and dust yourself off.”
