Today 3,600 of those who applied in April and May, and were selected for the organizing fellowships, are setting out for six weeks of full-time campaign work in 17 states. The fellows, many, but not all, students or recent graduates, did not need political experience to apply or to be accepted. Buffy Wicks, the director of the Obama campaign's national volunteer program, said, "The best organizers are people who are passionate about what they're doing."