It's a Wrap!

A part of my JCCC Independent Study was to make a video about my Internship. While I had a wide variety of experiences, I wanted to create something that could help others who might be thinking about an Internship, gain some insight into what such an experience is like.

If the video helps, or doesn't, please leave me a comment to tell me what you think.

Thanks and enjoy!

--Paul

My Summer Experience - Wrap Up

Ten weeks, 47 days, hundreds of miles walked, thousands of letters and phone calls and many of the most important issues facing our Country and I've wrapped up my summer of service.

This post will be longer than my usual reports as I share some thoughts about my entire experience.

It was a fantastic opportunity to serve and learn about how Congress really works. I was able to contribute to Congressman Moore's staff efforts to fulfill his responsibilities and act on his agenda. I helped in the process of moving forward the communications with constituents. I saw, and participated in, ongoing discussions about such important issues as energy policy (Cap and Trade), health care, and many others. I could see firsthand the many conversations, interactions, research and even distractions that factor into a Member of Congress executing their duties. I was on the front lines of a summer of history and I was able to learn what the normal (non-elected/staff) people of our legislative branch do day-in and out to help our government work.

My experiences were aided by the guidance of Marilyn Gaar, the Professor coordinating my Independent Study at JCCC, who asked me to think more acutely about the 'why' of my experience and how they are influenced by the things I was seeing and doing. Along the way I discovered, and even grew, my interest in public policy. How it's written, what happens to it as it moves along the process, what are the challenges and opportunities to it along the way and ultimately, what it means for Americans.

I don't think that I mentioned one of the resources that Professor Gaar shared with me, but it provided me with an important point of reference. A television series from PBS hosted by the journalist Hedrick Smith (The People & the Power Game) documented a behind the scenes view of the political processs, of the unelected (the media and lobbyists) as well as the elected (Congress and the Presidency), albeit from the mid 1990's.

Many of the fundamental forces at work then, are still present today, but have evolved into more sophisticated and at other times, more subtle, ways of influencing the legislative process. The media and it's role have undergone a radical transformation due to technological advancements such as the Internet, but the outcome is the same, to impact the legislative process by those who use and control those media.

Being in the thick of things and then seeing how people react when 'informed' by the media, be it television news, web sites or traditional 'journalism' frequently resulted in a quite different perspective. It kind of reminds me of the old game 'pass it along' where a message is repeated by whispering in the ear of the person next to you, and then on to the next person. By the time multiple people have heard, interpreted and repeated the message multiple times, the details and even the meaning can get quite mangled. This seems to happen to the news as it gets circulated among audiences with their own agendas, perspectives and expectations.

The power of the media then, is quite significant because it is the primary method of how the people, the consitutents who elect their representatives hear, or don't hear what is happening in Congress. That power then, has an important place in our government. In fact, the news, or today, the media, has actually been called 'the fourth estate' of our government (with the legislative, executive and judicial being the other three estates).

I also had first hand experience with one of the organizations that you hear so much about in the legislative process, the political action committee or PAC. While the specific one I interacted with, the American-Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) used a summer forum for Interns as an approach to reach the future generation of leaders and government participants. However put though, their goal is to impact the legislative process and it's actions towards/on Israel. Rather than overtly influence a current elected official as many PAC's do by funding a campaign, PAC's today use more complex techniques to influence and lobby.

All of these issues surround (or may be due to) the most significant change in our system of representative government, that is the shift away from the emphasis on the political party's position and platform, to those of the individual elected officials. And because of this shift, it seems to have fueled these alternative ways to communicate with/from the elected officials and their constituents and those (like PAC's) who have an interest in the issues before the government. In this sense, Representative Moore seems to be more responsive to the policy issues that come before him. On the otherhand, it also means that for the Democrats, they have a harder time coming to consensus on important legislation because they have so many different constitutent groups they respond/relate to.

I also found that the Blue Dog Democrats, while theoretcially joined
around fiscally responsible approaches to government, are challenged from being a diverse group of individual Representatives. As such they too seem to struggle executing on a consensus approach. I think that the examples portrayed in the episodes from The People and the Power Game, albeit from when the Republicans held the majority, has given me another perspective into how mechanisms like the media, PAC's and other influences foster and support this spirit of candidate centric politics which feeds into each Representative in an ongoing subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) state of 'campaining' to show their worth to the folks back home.

The programs in this series do a good job of exploring how Congress works and you should be able to pick them up at your local library.

As far as highlights of my experience, there were many. From the first 'rush' of being in the Capitol and passing a recognizable Member of Congress, to visiting the White House with Representative Moore, to taking my first call from a Constituent, to researching and learning an important fact of historical relevance to a position that the Representative was considering, each moment gave me a sense of pride, responsibility and appreciation.

I know that I have a lot of people to thank for the chance to have gained this insight and benefit from these opportunities. As I've already mentioned, Professor Gaar was instrumental in helping me figure out the meaning of much of what I encountered. Equally important were the staff in the office of Representative Moore, who were patient, helpful, supportive and fun to be around. Helping me to get the opportunity in the first place was Roberta Eveslage, a long time family friend and colleague of my mothers. Our Chief of Staff, Mr. Howard Baukele, gave me the chance to try new things and the guidance to improve when I needed direction. He also was extremely supportive by giving all of us interns information and the opportunity to attend special events directed at, and intended to serve newcomers to the Hill. I also want to thank Brandon Naylor, Communications Director for his help throughout my internship, and in supporting this blog to be public.

Finally a few words about the Representative himself. I went into this experience only knowing about Dennis Moore as a public figure. Basically that was what I had read or seen about him in the news and one time at an event. Getting to know him, in person, the first thing you're struck with is how smart he is and what an easy person he is to talk to. He is very comfortable in his role as one of our nation's leaders, yet he is a regular person. He listens when you speak to him; he is very funny when he's not talking about official matters and he cares alot about doing the right thing. I know from firsthand experience that he listens to and works for his constituents. The people of the 3rd District, and the Country, are well served by him.

OK so I think I've written enough for my last posting of my summer experience. This process of writing has been interesting, a bit of a challenge at times, and now, fun to look back on. I'll be watching for comments so that if anyone who reads this in the future has questions or feedback, I'll get back to you.

Thanks for joining me in my Summer experience.

--Paul