Campaigning at a polling station in Columbia, S.C., last February, Joel Rubin '93 realized he had more in common with a group of students from the historically black Morehouse College than he might have imagined."One can go anywhere in the country and can establish camaraderie with anyone if you talk about what you want to achieve in this country," he said, remembering his conversation with the Morehouse students who agreed that having Barack Obama as president would repair the United States' reputation around the world.

Rubin, who has volunteered for Obama's campaign since the primaries and now works as the political director for J Street-an organization that advocates for an end to the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflict-is one of several Brandeis alumni who were involved in Obama's election.

Some volunteered their time during election season; others now serve on his transition-to-the-White House team.

Rubin said it was "amazing" to volunteer in South Carolina as a "clearly Jewish and white person . telling people to vote for Barack," especially in light of Obama's visit to a black church during the South Carolina primaries, where he spoke about the need to combat anti-Semitism.

Rubin explained that the slew of Brandeis Obama supporters is not necessarily a coincidence given the values Brandeis nurtures.

"I think Brandeis is the kind of school that fosters openness and debate, . and Brandeis students are attracted in the political world to leaders who can try to match that vision," he said.

On the same note, Warner Macklin III '98, a corporate manager at PNC Bank who served on the Midwest finance committee for the Obama for America campaign, said he met many volunteers and donors with Brandeis connections.

"I think just for a lot of us, the country can do better and actually live up to its ideals. . Brandeis teaches us how to cultivate those feelings [of wanting political change]," Macklin said.

While Macklin has spent a lot of his spare time serving on finance and policy committees for candidates and local officials in Pittsburgh, PA., his passion for political campaigns goes back to his time at Brandeis, when he volunteered with other students on Sen. Ted Kennedy's re-election campaign in 1994.

In his student campaigning, he ran into some of the same issues he did over the past year and a half, when he was looking for people to call for support for the Obama campaign.

"We did all sorts of grunt work, had people yelling at us and praising us," Macklin said of the Kennedy campaign, which closely aligned with his description of himself as "king of dial-tone" while campaigning for Obama.

As a group, Macklin said, the Midwest finance committee ultimately raised close to $1 million for Obama.

In addition to his Pittsburgh fundraisers, Macklin also knocked on doors all around the Midwest for Obama. In Youngstown, Ohio he reconnected with Rubin after Rubin noticed Macklin's Brandeis sweatshirt. The two have remained in touch since.

Like Macklin, Rubin began his political career as a Brandeis student with an internship for Sen. John Kerry in 1991, during Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' Senate confirmation hearing.

Rubin remembers fielding phone calls from constituents telling Kerry how to vote about Thomas' appointment in light of Prof. Anita Hill's (HELLER) accusations that Thomas had made sexually provocative statements while she was his attorney-adviser.

Working as a Senate staffer for Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Tom Harkin later in life, Rubin said he felt the same excitement seeing Obama's "energy and his clarity of vision" while watching him speak and interact on the Senate floor.

Rubin expressed confidence in Obama's ability to help facilitate a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, a view that Rubin said was not common among some in the Jewish community whom he remembered saying Obama "would be bad for Israel."

His organization is working with Congress to push ideas about the peace process and "make sure Congress is sending those signals to Obama."

The right-wing claims that Obama was a danger or threat to Israel's security were out of step with the 78 percent of Jews who voted for Obama nationally, according to Alexander Heckler '98, a South Florida-based government law attorney who worked on Obama's National Finance Committee after serving as Sen. Hillary Clinton's Florida campaign chair.

The Obama campaign also appointed Daniel Shapiro '91 as a senior policy adviser and Jewish outreach coordinator in August, according to the Jerusalem Post.

He is now a member of Obama's transition team as part of the national security policy working group, which works to prepare high-ranking administration members, including Obama, on national security issues, according to Change.gov.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Shapiro saying, "Senator Obama is the candidate who best represents the Jewish community's values and ideals, and he will pursue the policies in the Middle East that will best serve U.S. interests and protect Israel's security."

Heckler called Obama a "genuine person" who is surrounding himself "with the most qualified people in our country to help our nation."

Heckler's own political career began when he was working for former President Bill Clinton's press secretary in 1996. But Heckler said he really got involved in politics after serving as former Texas Gov. Ann Richards' student liaison while she was a visiting professor at Brandeis in 1998. Heckler said he developed a "very good relationship and friendship" with her during this time.

Richards helped secure Heckler a job at a law firm that creates lobbying strategies for federal agencies and congressional committees before he joined Shutts Bowen. On the side, Heckler helped fundraise for Kerry before working on Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Heckler said he committed to raise at least $250,000 when he joined the Obama National Finance Committee, and that Obama raised most of his campaign money from donations of $50 to $100.

While at Obama's acceptance speech in Grant Park, Chicago, Heckler said he realized how "people will sacrifice and wait in line eight hours to vote on election day. That's why I believe for the first time in years American people picked the president-not corporations, special interests, big businesses."

"He was . so intelligent and clean and sharp, . and his approach . is very consensus-oriented," Rubin said, justifying his vote for Obama. "That to me was the kind of attitude that I wanted to see at the top.