As their plane pulled into an airport hanger in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the passengers heard a pulsating sound coming from below. What started as a murmur was getting louder and louder as the plane's engines shut down. Looking out the window, Laura Crawford saw hundreds of supporters cheering, holding signs and chanting, "Bush! Bush! Bush! Bush!" "This was our very first trip outside of Texas – the very first town in which we campaigned," she says. Waiting to exit the plane, she looked back at the man whose name was being celebrated by a group of people he'd never met.

"It was an amazing moment," she says. "Governor Bush asked, 'Are they chanting my name?'" He put his head in his hands and just sat there for a minute. I could see he was really moved, and Mrs. Bush placed her hand on his back. It was the first time I realized that this is big. This is really big."

That was June of 1999. Over the next 17 months, Crawford served as the executive producer of George W. Bush's advertising campaign, often traveling along the campaign trail to shoot her own footage. She had known Governor Bush since she and partner Mark McKinnon handled his gubernatorial re-election in 1998. "I had no idea at that time he would run for president, but by November there was lots of talk about it, so we stayed on. I feel like I've had the greatest experience of my life."

As with every political campaign, there were some bumps on the road. Crawford and Maverick Media were investigated and interrogated by the FBI after a taped copy of Governor Bush preparing for a debate ended up in the hands of Vice President Al Gore's campaign. "The other bad experience for me was when we contemplated running negative ads. I didn't like the idea because we weren't a negative campaign."

Then, of course, came election night. Crawford spent much of the evening with other Bush staffers at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel in downtown Austin. "It was a roller coaster ride, to say the least." The night began on a down note after Gore was declared the winner of three crucial swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida. When Florida was later pulled back as too close to call, Bush was back in it. By the end of the night, most of the Bush campaigners were sitting in the hotel's ballroom, exhausted and unsure of the outcome. All of the sudden, at about 1:30 a.m., the networks declared Bush the winner in Florida, Gore conceded and the election was seemingly over.

"That was the loudest room I've ever heard. It went from total silence to people jumping up and down screaming with excitement. Some of us were crying because we had worked so hard, and we did it! We won! It was like fireworks going off in the middle of the night. Everyone immediately ran down to Congress Avenue to celebrate. And we did, until about 4 a.m., when everything fell apart." That's when the networks again said Florida was too close to call, and Gore retracted his concession.

Since then, Crawford has been packing up her office and backing up computer files as she tries to figure out what lies ahead. With her work for Bush complete, she will now turn toward finding a job that she feels will move her career forward. "When I was at Southwestern, I had no idea I would have this kind of opportunity, and I love it."

A communication major and studio art minor, she was first introduced to politics during her Washington, D.C. semester in the fall of 1992, when she interned with U.S. Representative Charles Wilson, D-Texas. She also worked at the public affairs firm Powell Tate. She returned to D.C. the following summer to again work with Powell Tate, who helped her land an interview with McKinnon Media in Austin. She started working there during her last semester at Southwestern. In the spring of 1997, she went out on her own to produce television ads and do contract work on a freelance basis.

Then in January of 1998, her former boss Mark McKinnon asked her if she'd be interested in starting Maverick Media to work on Bush's gubernatorial campaign. "It all kind of fell into my lap," she says.

Five years ago, she married her high school sweetheart, Don Crawford, a custom home builder. They are the "parents" of two dogs and a cat. When she has the time, Crawford enjoys playing golf and painting. Art Professor Patrick Veerkamp was "one of my all-time favorite professors at SU."

After being a part of one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, Crawford remains positive about the process—even with the long delay to see the results. "On the campaign, I've met a lot of people who work extremely hard every day and get very little recognition. But all their individual efforts may lead to Governor Bush being our next president. You can't ask for more definite results of your work than that!"