Off to Ohio to campaign for McCain/Palin 2008

Planting signs!

When I was at the Vice Presidential debate at ESPN Zone in DC, I was introduced to several people. One of these was Marc Lampkin, who was assembling a team from DC to go to Ohio to campaign the week before the election. I got the ok with my boss and headed out to Columbus, Ohio, which I think is the most important battle ground state in this election and normally a must in order to win the presidency. Random fact, JFK is the only President who has ever won without Ohio. I flew out on Halloween night, so I wasn’t able to dress up. However, I had my hair pulled back and someone said “Hey guys look that girl over there is dressed up as Cindy McCain!” So YES I did have a costume and I didn’t even know it. She is a beautiful woman, but 30 years my senior--not exactly a compliment! It was far from a wild night because we had to be up early to begin intensive campaigning for a candidate we all knew needed a miracle.

This was my first campaign so I didn’t know exactly what to expect. When I arrived, I met Team Lampkin, and it was everyone from Senior Bush Appointees to military officers, lobbyists, and college students--a very diverse group of people. I was pretty nervous just because I know how frustrating it is having strangers calling and knocking all day before an election! We started out in Westerville, a cute quaint neighborhood that had street names like walnut and birch. It was a great first day for me because I knew a lot of doors were not going to be slammed in my face because it was suburban America, which is predominantly Republican. After going door to door, the positive reactions from the constituents there made me start to get awkwardly optimistic about the election, and as we said we “started drinking the kool-aid.” The next day we went to a Republican area, but they had low voter turnout, again signs in every yard and they came to the door with open arms. Interesting.

Door to door trying to win Ohio!

We spent the next several days canvassing until it got dark out and then we did phone banks. It’s amazing how pleasant people are to you when they can put a face to a message, but on the phone it is a different story. I had my life threatened several times! As much as people say they hate the calls and will not vote because they are annoyed, statistically they still vote. So even if they threaten your first born you have to keep on keepin on!

Phone banking's finest

What made me even more optimistic was standing outside by voter precincts and holding McCain/Palin signs. I didn’t get flipped off once, so you know campaigning that’s a good day! The worst I heard was “UGH you’re voting for Mclane?! OBAMA!” Yeah, she probably shouldn’t vote if she doesn’t know who is running against Obama. Also, the 8-12 year olds on buses were rather ruthless too, but again not our target audience and their bus driver gave us the thumbs up so that’s all that matters. We spent election night calling the West coast after the Ohio polls closed and listening to updates on the news (Fox of course, which is drinking the kool-aid even more!). The first update we heard was the Virginia exit polls, where McCain took the first lead, and that Republican voter turn-out in Pennsylvania was at 200%. It was game on from there and I’ve never gone through phone lists so fast!

Of course, we all know how the night ended up. God bless Obama and Axelrod, they ran one of the best campaigns this nation has ever seen and the historical significance of his victory is incredible. To think only four decades ago the Civil Rights Act was passed. Now, do I think this country is better off electing him? No. The people yelling “Yes we can” at Obama’s victory party still make me nervous, as I'm not sure what they're talking about. To be honest, I don’t think they even know exactly, but change is definitely going to come in the next four years with a Democratic supermajority and no checks; I can only pray it’s positive change. The election was a Bush referendum in the midst of a collapsing economy; an uphill battle would be an understatement, but there was no way I would have been able to sleep at night if I knew I didn’t do everything in my power to get McCain elected. We did what we could, but in the end it didn’t go our way. So is life. Back to work!

I shook hands with Dana Perino

TWC sent us an e-mail saying our speaker had changed. The last time this happened, it changed from a Congressman to the motivational speaker, so I groaned before I read on. BUT then it said we would be going to the Eisenhower building to hear White House Press Secretary Dana Perino speak to us! So then a lot of other people groaned, but Democrat or Republican, it was truly an honor! She spoke for several minutes and took the rest of the time for questions. I was able to ask her what advice she’d offer to the next President of the United States in regards to the first steps they need to take in the War on Terror. She had just finished talking about Bi-lateral FTA’s, so I was able to squeeze in a work related question about whether she thought the USTR would advance trade negotiations with the UAE and Oman. One of the students tried to sarcastically comment on the low approval ratings of President Bush. She shut him down and said President Bush does not wake up in the morning and ask himself what his approval ratings are; his job is to make sure Americans are safe. Since September 11, 2001 there has not been a terrorist attack. What was even better, at the end of the hour of questions she said she would take pictures with us individually. Considering she is such a busy woman, that was an amazing gesture.

Eisenhower Building

A few feet away from Secretary Perino speaking!

Dana Perino and me

People in DC celebrate Halloween early. We started seeing costumes out several weeks before the actual weekend of Halloween!? Don’t get me wrong I think Halloween is fun, but a few weeks before is a bit ridiculous. The Senior Vice President at my internship told me about an annual Drag Queen Race they have the week of Halloween every year in DuPont. My roommate and I decided to go check it out. I don’t know what was worse, the fact that men were dressed up in heels and costumes to race or how many people turned out to watch them?! It was packed! I saw several “Sarah Palins,” one had labels all over the coat and the other was with her husband and her infant son. A group of men did the Victoria Secret fashion show, you know the one with the big wings?! Hilarious. My other favorite was Princess Diana and her bodyguards. It got really cold, so I only made it through the parade and I missed the high heel race! Nuts?! I don’t think I’ll ever need to go again, but it was definitely worth seeing once.

Drag Queen Race

Philadelphia: Only a 3 hour bus trip from DC

Philadelphia

The great thing about DC is that it is a short trip away from several other big cities, unlike where I am from in Northern Minnesota, where it’s a long trip to civilization! I took the bus to Philadelphia, and for $30 round trip, who cares it picked me up in Chinatown?! For that price it was a steal. I stayed with a friend and she took me around the city. I had no idea that the steps Rocky Balboa ran in the movies were in Philadelphia?! I know I’m a disgrace, but we made up for it and looked like tourists taking pictures running up the stairs!

Looking tough...Not so much!

The fountain in Love Park was dyed pink to represent October Breast Cancer Awareness month. There were lots of couples taking pictures by the fountain--those men were scoring points with their ladies! Soooo sweet, good job guys!

Love Park

I also experienced my first Philly Cheesesteak in Philadelphia! I’m ruined, now I’m going to be very high maintenance with my cheesesteaks. Also, I got into a big discussion with someone in a Philadelphia bar about the colonies' first capital. He said Philadelphia, I said New York; 2 hours later, we figured out I was right! Booo-ya! I will probably be making my way back there this weekend because one of the World Series games is on Saturday! Hopefully my conversations out on the town will have nothing to do with my majors this time around--just reminds me of how dorky I really am! Man!

This week began on an interesting note--“Networking for Neanderthals” with Shawne Duperon. She is a media expert and a speaker that focuses on the importance of networking and relationships. I thought it was interesting and probably helpful for people that are introverted, but boring for those of us who don’t hide at events or put on our “party mask” as she called it. A party mask is when you are nervous at an event and you either start rambling to people, stand against the wall, or run straight to the food line. I’ll be honest, most of the program she made me feel like I was in the third grade. For example, everyone had to raise their hands in order to be quiet. Really? YES REALLY! Anyway, she drove home some good points. “A conversation is not about you!” and also “Don’t just throw around your business cards.” A little elementary but everyone needs to be reminded not to be an idiot sometimes.

In addition, I was able to attend the House Financial Services Committee hearing on "The Future of Financial Services Regulation." It got pretty heated when Chairman Barney Frank and a Republican Congressman from New Jersey started arguing about the causes of the financial crisis. Considering that Frank is the Chairman he has control over he gets to speak in the hearing, so he kept giving “the Gentlemen from New Jersey” one to two minutes and after he was finished speaking he would give himself five minutes to rebut his statements, which in the House is an eternity. It’s fascinating to go to these meetings, but frustrating because I don’t feel like they are trying to find a solution. Even though the Emergency Stabilization Act passed, there is more work to be done to fix the financial crisis and I feel like Congress is still trying to blame each other for how this mess started. NOBODY IS INNOCENT, STOP FIGHTING AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM! Unfortunately, you can’t exactly stand up and say that in a meeting and if I did I’d probably get fired from my job and banned from the Hill.

Anyway, World Series tonight!!! GO PHILLIES!

Democrats vs. Republicans

For this week's programming, we were invited to watch Close-Up on C-SPAN at the Newseum. Clarence Page, syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune and David Brooks, reporter for The New York Times, discussed the media’s role in the presidential election. They asked us before the show started who wanted to ask questions, so those that raised their hands were selected for questions in specific topic areas. A few of our peers were able to introduce the show and the speakers, which aired on C-Span already. I don’t do so well in front of a camera, (I was worried I’d faint or something stupid) so I just sat back and enjoyed the show. Page and Brooks were from different sides of the aisle ideologically, so it was interesting to get to listen to their opinions. As syndicated columnists, they are full of them! Brooks, the Conservative, said he cannot watch Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly because they play for a different team?! Haha, no hard feelings, I would actually agree on that with Ann Coulter, but whether you love or hate Bill O’Reilly he is still a brilliant man. Of course this was Page's opportunity to attack Governor Palin. I’ll be the first to say she has been less than impressive in her interviews, but not everyone can be “the Messiah.” Anyway, it was a great experience to get to watch a live taping of a show and it was a nice change of pace from the other speakers.

Megan and Naveed Introducing Close-Up

As for my internship, it’s been pretty slow since Congress is out of session. If we aren’t attending hearings, we are researching for our clients. Even though Congress is out of session, they are starting meetings important to our clients next week involving the economic situation. Should be interesting! I actually meant that in a non-sarcastic tone, I love going to these meetings.

Have I mentioned that I am taking a class? I didn’t find out that the Washington Center involves a class before I got here. It was a pleasant surprise (supposed to sound sarcastic) one day a week for three hours. I’m sure it said it in the literature, but let’s be honest, who can read everything? My class, "Presidential Leadership and Transition," has about six people in it, so it definitely encourages class participation and discussion. We just finished up analyzing the Constitution, especially focusing on the Executive branch in Article II. Since election day is so close, we have been getting into several discussions about the race. I don’t know how this happened, but before the class started the class naturally divided itself--3 on one side of the aisle and 3 on the other. It only takes one political discussion to figure out where people factor in ideologically-speaking and we found that we'd already divided ourselves by liberals and conservatives. It was really funny when we figured it out. I don’t know what physics law that is, but there has to be something that draws you to similar like-minded people? Who knows, that’s why I study History.

A Perk to Being in DC, Getting invited to California!

Did I say last week was the best week of my life? Hands down this week topped it off! I’ve been talking a lot about my time in DC but this is a great time to tell you about opportunities that may arise while you’re living in DC. I was invited to attend the Young America’s Foundation in Santa Barbara California for the Enemies of Freedom Seminar. My senior thesis is Reagan’s impact on ending the Cold War, so I really lucked out being able to attend and hear both sides of the story during the Cold War. We also got 7 books about this subject so I barely need to check out additional sources at the library! I was apprehensive about the seminar because for the first time in my college career I had someone paying for my flight and all of my expenses to hear amazing speakers, and on a minor detail it was in California! I wondered to myself is this a vacation or a seminar? I’m so confused!

When I arrived there was a group of students waiting to be picked up by the organization. We made small talk and I came to realize that the majority of the people there were from elite institutions like Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, Pepperdine, etc. I was immediately intimidated. Not because I’m ashamed to go to the University of Wisconsin, but Harvard has a much nicer ring to it! In one word it tells everyone how hard you’ve worked which is well deserved for the few thousand students that get to attend there each year.

Group Dinner at the Center with John Aquilla

We started out the weekend taking a tour of Ronald Reagan’s ranch. You’d be so surprised how humbly the Reagan’s lived. Especially considering how much heat Reagan got about him corrupted by greed. Gorbachev made it up the winding mountain once to meet with Reagan and he even didn’t understand why a President would live so simply. Random fact: he has a liberty bell as a shower head. A fascinating thing about going to a persons home is getting to see their reading materials. Reagan was such a well rounded person and it showed with his book collection. My favorites were books by Barry Goldwater and Whittaker Chambers. We also got to see Reagan’s rides, not just cars but his horses too. There were tons of trails for him and Nancy to go riding on around the land. Apparently it drove the Secret Service nuts because they couldn’t keep up with them.

Entrance to Reagan's ranch

We had several speakers throughout the weekend from very diverse backgrounds. We had every one from former General of the KGB Oleg Kalugin to Chief speech writer in the Reagan administration Tony Dolan. In my pictures you’ll see a picture of me and these two gentlemen having lunch together in the airport because both of them live in the greater DC area so we were on the same flight home! We all exchanged information, so I can ask them more questions for my research paper. Dolan invited me to two upcoming events with Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich! I’m already predicting that that day may be the best day of my life. Tell me I didn’t land a Royal Flush?! We also heard from several other speakers such as Michael Reagan, Tomas Pompowski, John Aquilla, Nonnie Darwish, and Peter Schweizer. If I went through their credentials this blog would be 5 pages long!

The speakers

After this long exciting weekend, I’m headed back to DC. I loved California, but I definitely didn’t need to be pulled out kicking and screaming because DC is more my speed. And we have off of work tomorrow for COLUMBUS DAY??? We acknowledge Columbus Day in the Midwest but I’ve never had a day off because of it. I’ll be the first to say I don’t think he’s worthy of a holiday, but if it means I can walk around DC and be a tourist again I’m all for it!

Always making time for fun...

One of the best weeks of my life

How many times can you say you’ve had the best day of your life in one week? I’ve had several this week and every day I think that it can’t get any better another amazing event happens.
One of my main political issues is reducing the United States dependency on foreign oil. I had the opportunity to attend a seminar at the Newseum with several high ranking officials that discussed what needed to happen in order for this to be practical. They discussed the need for funding advanced battery technologies, among wind, solar, and other alternative forms of energy. As much as I love reading, it’s much more entertaining and informative to hear it directly from the experts!

Securing America's Future Energy Seminar

We had the Presidential lecture series on Monday and Majority Whip Congressman Clybourn came to speak with us. This isn’t included in the best days of my life, but he was very funny and informative. He started out the lecture with “when I was in jail” which normally captures college student’s attention very quickly. His advice, stay in contact with every person you meet, be humble, and don’t try to work hard only to get credit for everything that you do.

Presidential Lecture Series: Majority Whip Congressman Clybourn

Another amazing day was when my boss took the other intern and I out to dinner at the Capitol Hill Club. My boss is the President of the Capitol Hill Club, which is a Republican bar and restaurant near the Capitol. He was concerned that nobody would be there because it was the night before the bail-out, but he wanted us to have the chance to go there before Congress went out of session. He was mistaken. We were among Minority Leader John Boehner and several other Congressman who I had the pleasure of meeting. Watching the Congressman and staffers interact with each other in the restaurant was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. They greeted us with the utmost respect and were very interested with what we were doing with our lives.

New fan of Senator Lieberman

How do you top a room full of Republicans? An even larger room full of Republicans to watch the VP debate on big screens at ESPN zone. The Republican National Committee threw the event and we were able to watch Sarah Palin get “all mavericky” on Joe Biden. We were invited through our internship to go and it was amazing to be surrounded by a room of people cheering. Which lets be honest, lately it hasn’t really been the case for the GOP ticket. Its like watching my Green Bay Packers at a Maryland bar, if its even playing on a T.V! There were several high level people in attendance, but among my favorites was John McCain’s mother, Roberta! I also met George Bush’s Chief speech writer John McConnell! When I thought the night couldn’t get any better, I was recruited by the RNC for a victory deployment to campaign in the final days of the election in Ohio! So I am definitely looking forward to spending my Halloween through the election in Columbus. More word on that at the end of the month!

What an exciting time to be in Washington DC!

I feel bad because I get to blog to you all about this semester but there is no way of knowing the events that will take place during your semester. Who knew that the election was going to be so hotly contested? How about the failures of several banks and other institutions on Wall Street and bearing witness to the bail-out package? And it’s failure to pass the House! Or how about protesting Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Then again, I would never have imagined that my semester was going to be so unpredictable before I left home, Amazing!

As you can tell it’s been an exciting week and it only seems to get better. This week we had a former TWC Alum, who is currently the mayor of Santa Cruz, speak to us about how he got to where he is today. I wasn’t all that enthused about meeting him only because his bio said that he was the vice president of a bookstore (yawn) and a mayor (yaaay). There are a lot of mayors in the U.S but what made him interesting is that he was once sitting in our seats and going through the same motions that we do here as interns through TWC. Not to mention, he ended up being hilarious explaining the crazy requests he gets from his constituents. He also mentioned something that had already been on my mind for a while, and re-assured me that going to law school without the desire to become a lawyer is an expensive bad idea and tax law isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Thankfully the Mayor of Santa Cruz didn’t come right after our next speaker: MR. ROBERT MCFARLANE. I didn’t put it in caps because I think you can’t read, but to make sure that you didn’t skim this paragraph. Lets see here, National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, among many other accomplishments, speaking to us about national security, foreign policy, and the election?! I know this is going to sound so cliché, but it was one of the best days of my life! I’m a political junky, what more can I say?! Our contact doesn’t stop there; he said we can e-mail him if we have any further questions about anything. This man is a legend, what an honor to have him speak to us! Well I can’t say everybody had the privilege because he only spoke to Senator McCain’s civic engagement group. Every group had a speaker, but it’s safe to say that we lucked out. It seemed to me like bad karma for Senator Obama’s group, who were next door laughing at the fact that they had more students than we did. It’s a basic fact that college students are typically Democrats; not rocket science, so no hard feelings :)

In addition, the annual Black Caucus was held last Friday. Since one of our clients from my internship was speaking, they sent me to attend the conference. One of our speakers was actor/activist Danny Glover! They should have waited to have him speak last, because the second his speech ended half of the room cleared out! Bad logistical planning! It was great though because as I was leaving I came within an arms length from controversial Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, not your average American citizens!

As for this week, I have no idea what to expect! All I know is that I am cautiously excited for the VP debate on Thursday. Godspeed Sarah Palin!

Washington Monument and Iwo Jima Memorial