Trip to Alexandria

The real interns of Washington DC had another busy Wednesday. After a lively discussion about power and leadership in the House, the group braved the unusual cold and blustery weather on a trip to Alexandria, VA. We met with two Hamilton alums: Alicia Davis, Partner in Targetpoint Consulting, and Michael Dubke, Founder of Crossroads Media. The two led a fascinating discussion about modern campaigning, including "microtargeting" and paid media.

King of the Hill Power Rankings

In our seminar this morning we made a list of the Top Speakers of the House, detailed from our course reading in Cheney and Cheney's Kings of the Hill. Although this list does not include all Speakers of US History, these men were the ones we were asked to rank. Here is what we came up with, despite differing opinions and sentiments:

Kings of the Hill

1. Thomas Reed

2. Henry Clay

3. Joseph Cannon

4. Samuel Rayburn

5. James Polk

6. Nicholas Longworth

7. James Blaine

Next King of the Hill?

Boehner may one day deserve the title, but first he has to survive the next few months and the challenges described in this article. Otherwise, we'll end up with a repeat of this...

P.S. Based on her record, should Pelosi be considered a "Queen of the Hill?"

Sporcle: Can you name the U.S. presidents by the maps of their electoral college victories?

http://www.sporcle.com/games/Hejman/florida_florida_florida

DC residents packing heat

ABC news segment traces connection between climate change and extreme weather conditions

Freedom Agenda

Critique of Obama foreign policy by former official in Bush administration.

Halal Democracy

This article is an interesting follow-up to our talk on Thursday. While Egypt's events seem to be long from over, it is tremendously hopeful that they have emerged from within. Are there ways for America to encourage democratic revolutions, or is self-determination necessary to success?

RIP DLC

Who Has Most Influence Over Congress

Interesting survey of congressional staffers sent along to me by Frank Vlossak.

T.V. Drama about the Washington Political Scene!

Some of you (including myself) were curious about this....

More info...
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/gossip_girl_georgetown_josh_sc.html#comment-list

Obama: The "Worst Part" of Being President.

In a pre-superbowl conversation with Bill O'Reilley, Obama admitted some of the downfalls of being president. His comments made me think back to our class discussion of the presidency. His words seem to echo Professor Eismeier's comment that being the president may be a very isolating and frustrating job:

"the biggest problem for me is being in the bubble… and over time you feel like you are not able to have a spontaneous conversation… that’s a loss."

"Every decision that comes to my desk is one that nobody else has been able to solve, the easy stuff has already been [dealt with]"

"Obama said it was 'probably true' when O’Reilly asked him whether he had become 'more guarded' since taking office, explaining that he did, indeed, feel 'the weight of the office'"

How President Obama plays media like a fiddle

Interesting article that claims Obama is using the ideologically-centrist press combined with recent events in Washington to his advantage.

Crossroads

Website of Crossroads Media, which includes bio of Mike Dubke.

Targetpoint

Website of Targetpoint Consulting, which includes description of "microtargeting" and bio of Alicia Davis.

Little-known Misdemeanor For All Those Wine Connoiseurs Out There

Cool Washington Post article discussing how many wine drinkers have been smuggling their out-of-state wine for years and the growing support/concern of new legislation that could add Maryland to the 38 jurisdictions nationwide "that allow vineyards to ship wine directly to consumers."

Good story about Obama related to our discussion of video presidency

Registered Trademark

Let's see if we can trade rights for a chance to get on the show.....

American Egyptian Pride

A beautiful and uplifting article of the next generation in America finding pride in their culture, a culture that has been shunned by the US. And I'm jealous of the passion they feel to a country across the ocean that they barely know. Personally, I could never feel that kind of pride to Eastern European countries, which turned their backs on Jews. So instead I have pride in being Jewish. I find it very important to have pride in your own culture, so I'm glad that American Egyptians have that opportunity and the chance to fight for something greater then themselves.

The Great Divide

The Case for Democracy

Interesting op-ed related to our recent debate.

Politico Already Talking About 2016... Is this a joke?

While many of us probably find Politico as a good way pass time on the metro or at work (it doesn't hurt that it's free,) this article goes too far for me. At first glance, I honestly thought it was a joke. Do you think it is at all constructive for publications to be talking about an election 3 cycles away?

Palin and Obama both channeling the Gipper

Newest lobby shop

White House Chief of Staff: No Leverage Over Egypt

I found this Washington Post article, which covers many of the same issues we discussed in our debate last night. I asserted that the U.S. had very little leverage over Egypt, which several of you disagreed with. This article quotes Bill Daley, the White House Chief of Staff, as saying "We don't control this. And even though we like to think at times that we can control everything in the world...it truly is not up to us." Most dictators ally with the U.S. because it is in their best interests. One of the main problems with supporting dictators therefore, is that they will almost always place their personal interests ahead of the U.S.'s. This phenomenon can be seen in Pakistan, Iraq and, now, Egypt. The U.S. foreign policy of unconditionally supporting friendly Dictators has failed. It is time we shift our support to democratic movements.

Bonfire of American Vanities

Sound familiar??? Egan brings up many points that we discussed during last nights debate.

Pop Quiz: Assessing Americans' Familiarity with the Health Care Law

We questioned how well American citizens understood President Obama's Patient and Protection Affordable Care Act during our class on last Wednesday. Here is a pop quiz the Kaiser Family Foundation created to find out! Results are organized by party, support for the bill, etc. It would be interesting to create a quiz for members of the House and Senate as well....

David Brooks: "The Quest for Dignity"

New York times Op-ed columnist David Brooks eloquently touches on many of the issues we discussed in last night's debate: the "realist" approach to foreign policy, the United States' influence, concern over the outcome of democratic elections, and the mistakes that the Obama administration has made over the past few weeks in dealing with Egypt. His piece seems to suggest that this is the beginning of a wave of democratic revolutions in the Middle East that will ultimately bring more stability and freedom to the region.

A TV Star is Born!

Today at work I was assigned to watch the Senate Budget Committe hearing on the economic recovery. While the event itself was extremely interesting, the highlight of the event for me personally was seeing one of my fellow Hamilton interns be transformed into an instant tv celebrity- courtesy of C-SPAN. Appearing over Mark Zandi's shoulder while standing in the back taking notes is Potomac Fever's own Megan Cairns. And yes, I will be getting an autograph.

This certainly isn't Heaven, Iowa

Click the title and watch a 19 year old student from Iowa address the issue of Gay parenting. Its a shame, the Proposal to amend the Iowa consititution to ban civil unions still passed 62-37 .

Hayward video

We'll be meeting with Mr. Hayward on March 16. He is the author of an excellent two volume history of Ronald Reagan and his presidency.

Sudden Split Recasts U.S. Foreign Policy

If you want even more up-to-date preparation for the debate...

Anderson Cooper in Cairo

This video really shocked me. It's hard to really grasp the severity of a conflict going on halfway around the world just from reading the paper. But this video gave me a glimpse of what's going on throughout Egypt.

Fred Upton leads the charge

A little insight from some of our neighbors upstairs

The Canadian perspective: "The very first fact every American must reconcile with is the fact that 'lobbying' elected representatives, like other forms of prostitution, is as old as the constitutional republic itself."

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4077

Visit to Williams and Jensen

Our group had a fascinating meeting with Hamilton alums George Baker and Frank Vlossak at their firm, Williams and Jensen. The discussion ranged from the changing landscape of power in Washington to strategies of lobbying to careers in politics and public affairs. Many thanks to these linchpins of the Hamilton network.

Who said law grads can't find jobs

Tester to be tested

Earmarks

Good topic for future debate.

Is high speed rail our "sputnik moment?"