Sam Dubke (SFS ’21), like many other GU Politics Campaign Bootcamp alums, is still in touch today with friends he made that pre-orientation week in 2017 and credits the program with teaching him skills that helped shape his political career, in which he currently serves as Communications Director for Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“I still think back to the lessons we learned at Campaign Bootcamp,” Sam said. “I mean, I put together memos today that look similar to the memos I was putting together as an 18-year-old or 19-year-old. So it shows you how much work goes into it, how complicated it is. It was very hands-on.”
Unlike other GU Politics students, Sam’s father, Mike Dubke, was a Fellow his freshman year in the Fall of 2017. “I tried to avoid him,” he joked, but Campaign Bootcamp “just sucks you into the whole GU Politics world.”
Sam was involved with GU Politics programming throughout his time at Georgetown, attending events with former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Sen. Mark Warner, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. After his sophomore year, he became an intern at the White House, and later on the Trump 2020 campaign. He also remained involved with GU Politics as a Campaign Bootcamp student leader after being a bootcamper himself.
“Campaign Bootcamp was one of the rare experiences where you actually felt like a practitioner, and that, I think, was the most beneficial” Sam said. “I also think being able to rub shoulders with very impressive and cool people, see them in the flesh … I’m kind of a junkie for that, I just get a kick out of seeing a United States Senator in real life.”
These experiences helped Sam navigate internships in the White House, on the Hill with Sen. Rob Portman, R-OH, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, on Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s campaign, and now as communications director for Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“When I thought about my career, I wanted something that would make stories 30 years down the line,” he said. “Well, I was there! I was in the White House on election night 2020.”
Sam said with GU Politics, “the most beneficial thing was seeing other kids go through the same process” of building a career. “Politics, just by nature, is so scattered and thrown together. Being able to compare notes with other kids who are going through the same professional challenges and opportunities was very helpful.”
Sam said young people can really make change in politics, and those who care about government should get involved and advocate for what they believe in.
“A career in politics is very fun because they give an almost alarming amount of responsibility to incredibly young, inexperienced people,” Sam said. “Government is not something that needs to just happen to you. We live in a democracy. You have the right to vote. You have the right to volunteer.”