03/21/2008 -- DC Trip (Part 4) (updated)

The final full day in DC...
again, too late to blog, but here are the pics. I'll update the text later. NOTE--forgot the bring the good camera, so these were all taken with my phone on "ok" setting so that I wouldn't run out of space...



g'nite...

Slept in today. Well, relatively speaking. I had been getting up between 6:30 and 7:00am this week, getting ready, planning my day each morning, checking weather and directions and subway stops, etc. I set my alarm for 7:00am today and crawled out of bed sometime after that. I decided just to head downtown and fly by the seat of my pants. I wandered around town quite a bit, which is unusual for me, since I didn't really have a plan, and I didn't map out the trip before. I just knew where I needed to be for my Lunch and afternoon meetings.

On my commute in this morning, I received an email from Julie T. that said her friend in Congressman Hoekstra's office was willing to speak with me. I called her once I got in town, and ended up making a small loop on the metro because when I finally got in touch with her, she said she was willing to sit down with me for a few minutes. I arrived around 11:00am, I think and met with Amy P., COS. She was great and had some ideas for me. Too bad their office didn't have any openings... Got some more people to contact, a glass of water, and another name to add to my rolodex.

Took a little longer to catch the next metro and was going to be late walking the 1/2 mile or so that I expected to get to my lunch appointment, so I flagged a cab on the corner. Went to the Henley Park Hotel, where I met Tom I. for lunch. It was a very, very fun lunch. The restaurant staff all knew him (I imagine he frequents the establishment often, with its close proximity to his office), with the exception of our new waiter. Started out with sparkling water and some bread, got to know a little bit about each other, and finally decided what to order (well, Tom was excited about the specials, so he was ready right from the start. I ended up trying the cajun linguine, and also the soup d'jour). Whatever the soup was (I want to say a lentil-something?), it was excellent, hearty--but not too filling, with a "clean" taste. The waiter accidentally re-filled our glasses with regular water; rough (first?) day...

Tom and I talked about all sorts of stuff. He and his wife had just adopted their second child, and had flown down to Guatemala to do so; I guess she was a little older, but no one was wanting to adopt her, so they did. He has 5 or 8 natural children, the youngest of which just returned from her mission, and now two adopted children. He was very interested in my background and future plans. We talked a lot of politics, his involvement this cycle with fundraising and volunteering, and stuff like that. He is an incredibly good-natured, generous, and funny man. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch with him. Despite the large age- and experience-gap, we spoke as friends and equals.

One of the funny things from our conversation: He mentioned that he couldn't be too helpful in the political spectrum (but passed along some names to try), but said he'd be willing to help in other ways. I asked about places to live, and he said that he has a townhome in the Falls Church, VA-area that he'd love to rent to us. Unfortunately, he has a few guys renting it right now; their lease is due up in February 2009, unless he "can think of something annoying about them and kick them out early for us" -- LOL!

Sadly, lunch ended and we went back to our days, the restaurant staff saying good-bye by name and wishing us to come back again soon. I was running a little behind for my next meeting, and spent some time on the phone as I walked to my next stop, the infamous

K Street.

Thankfully, the person I was meeting was also running late, so I wasn't keeping him waiting. I read the National Review's article about Mitt suspending his campaign; some lukewarm words for him after their strong endorsement not too many months earlier...

Met with Bill N. at Policy Impact. While he had some contacts to suggest, he was very helpful in the realm of helping (strongly asking for, really) me think about my career path. Basically, it all starts on the Hill. He said that if he were in my shoes and with my experience, he would:

1. Get "in" on the Hill -- find an opportunity and "burrow in"
-----A. Spend no more than 5 years there
-----B. Consider going to law school at night (Georgetown Law)
-----C. Build a rolodex, include pictures if you need to
-----D. Don't burn any bridges
2. Leave the Hill
3. Find a new place to work
-----A. Lobbying: start $250 to $400k/year, depending on the firm
-----B. Something in the industry that my policy area dealt with / trade association, etc.
4. Consider what I want to do next...
-----A. Keep lobbying, rotate in and out of administrations, retire
-----B. Lobby for 5-10 years, save money, move back to a "home" state, get settled, and consider running for office [Note: the law degree could really help for this; go into private practice in the "new" town]
5. See where I end up then...

While I don't like the "uncertainty" aspects of career planning (what if I change my mind about what I want to do? what will happen once I get to point "B"?), I think the path that I discussed with Bill makes the most sense for me, and leaves me with the most options. If I think that I want to be involved in politics, then NOW is the time to get involved; not LATER.

For example--short story--one of the guys I met with spent 4 years in a business environment, working his B.A. in Business or Econ or something. Then, he decided he was interested in politics, his old Deacon's Quorum advisor got elected to the House, and he had an "in" on the Hill. He skipped a level or two (Staff Assistant, Legislative Correspondent), but took a 50% pay cut, and now, 7 years later, he still isn't making what he did in his previous employment. I suppose I could be something like that -- returning to work at a business consulting company, or looking for something around here in Boston. However, I'm pretty sure that--in the back of my mind--I'll always be thinking about looking for opportunities in the capital. And, if I decide to go later, I won't be much further ahead, if at all, then where I'd start right now.

Therefore, logic (at least mine) would appear to imply that the jump should be made now.

I understand that, but am still a little hesitant about the unknown. Jill and I spoke last night about "setting a date" for our move, and taking some forward action of our own to get things moving. She's such a trooper. As I told someone just the other day:

Behind every good man is a better woman, prodding him along to success. ;-)
* Someone else told me it should be: Behind every good man is a surprised woman. OR, a woman, rolling her eyes.

Anyway -- I'm excited for what I learned this trip, and hope to be able to piece some things together (and quickly!).