My Political Immersion

Living in D.C. affords me many incredible opportunities to run up to the Hill or to various think tanks around the city to attend policy events ... and to learn (many times over!) the BIG difference between a career in policy --- and one in politics.

A few weeks ago, I attended an event at the Center for American Progress that featured Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius and Arizona governor Janet Napolitano. It was a very candid hour into the lives and experiences of being two of only nine female governors currently across the country. These women are not just smart trailblazers that have been successful at advancing a progressive agenda, they are also quite funny. Gov. Napolitano at one point related a question she once received from a reporter, "Are you going to be running as a woman candidate?" She responded, "I'm afraid I don't really have an option!" Gov. Sebelius told a story that former Texas governor Ann Richards shared with her regarding the types of relationship questions a woman should be prepared to face while campaigning, "If you're single, they'll think you can't get a man. If you're married, they'll think you abandoned your man. If you're divorced, they'll think you can't keep your man. If you're widowed, they'll think you killed your man. You can't win!"

More recently, two days after President Bush's FY08 budget was released, I attended a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Capitol Hill where HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt testified for two hours in front of Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Minority Member Chuck Grassley, along with other senators. It was perhaps two of the most intense, unfriendly hours I have ever spent! Grown men and women acted like toddlers when asking very pointed questions. It was like watching a jousting match! It's a wonder that anything ever gets done in Washington ... and when something DOES get done, what results is nothing even close to what was initially anticipated. One of my professors for my primary health care policy class is a top health policy advisor for the Senate Finance Committee. When he spotted me in the audience, he walked over and asked me if I expected to receive extra credit for showing up! Nonetheless, it was a great experience to attend a hearing, and I have since attended a Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) committee hearing on educational loans that featured Suze Orman. That one was a bit friendlier!