Sanders’ Iowa campaign swamped by job-seekers

CEDAR RAPIDS - Even before Bernie Sanders announced he was running for president and even before he joined the campaign, Pete D'Alessandro was getting calls and resumes from people wanting to work for the Vermont senator.

'I've been swamped - in a positive, good way - with resumes,” D'Alessandro said Monday, four days after Sanders brought him on as Iowa campaign coordinator. 'Great professionals were sending me resumes even before they knew I had been brought on. They wanted to be connected to the Sanders campaign.”

D'Alessandro, who worked on campaigns for Leonard Boswell, Tom Vilsack, Bill Bradley and Chet Culver among others, described the job-seekers as 'top-notch people who want to know how they can fit in.”

For now, he's sorting through resumes to help the campaign fill key staff positions - a state director, central campaign staff and field directors.

The team and the campaign will 'be what Iowa Democrats expect from caucus campaigns,” he said.

Sanders has been in Iowa five times since the beginning of 2013, but his visit May 28-30 will be his first as a presidential candidate.

'He's dedicated to a campaign that doesn't talk at voters,” D'Alessandro said. 'Sen. Sanders wants to talk to voters. That plays so well in Iowa Democratic caucus situations.”

Sanders likes the town hall style of campaigning, 'which is the format you need when you're coming in as an underdog.”

Sanders Iowa Schedule

' May 28: 7 p.m., Rogalski Center, St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport

' May 29: 3 p.m., Bob Roach Little Theatre, Strahan Hall, Muscatine Community College, 152 Colorado St., Muscatine; 7 p.m., home of Dave Johnson and Jennie Embree, 326 N. Fourth St., West Branch

' May 30: 10 a.m., Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center, Social Hall, 220 S. Gilbert St. Iowa City; 5 p.m., Kensett Community Center, 300 Willow St., Kensett