the candidate

The office is a disaster. I'm eating a mildly unpleasant combination of microwaved soup and packaged brownie. For the campaign, I guess - I'll eat anything as long as it does not require leaving the office. Most people on the campaign eat junk, and at abnormal times. Lunch for me falls anywhere between 2:30 and 4:00. Dinner - I guess 10pm, if I remember. You'd think we'd lose weight, but because everything is packaged, we all look a bit puffy from sodium and sallow from too much time in a gray-carpeted office with florescent lighting.

The candidate breezes down the hall to my cube. "What's up, chief," I say. "Nicole!" he exclaims. He sits in the chair. We discuss the presidential race, and whether Hilary will take the VP slot. Or whether Barack will offer it to her. He says she would take it. I don't know if this is conjecture or if he actually knows. I choose to pretend that he actually knows, no matter what the issue. He is, after all, the candidate.

"What are you eating?" he says. I pick up the phone and order him a sandwich, and he starts to leave. "Turkey on wheat, lettuce, tomato, a little mustard and a little mayo. Yes... ok. 15 minutes? Can you do it in 10?"

He pops back in. "Oh, and I need two copies of that letter, printed on letterhead. Please." He says. A few minutes later, from his office, "Nicole - can you come look at my computer? It was doing this thing before when I was at the meeting..."

Being high up in the campaign seems like it would be glamorous. And I suppose it is. At events, I always have a photo with the candidate. I get to sit at the same table as him, and wear an appropriate-for-evening suit. I talk to other muckety-mucks. At other times, being high up in the campaign means I do the shit work when no one else is around to do it - because I'm never supposed to leave. When the candidate is fundraising with defense contractors, I'm in the office. When the candidate has meetings, I'm in the office. When the candidate spends time with his family, I'm in the office. When the candidate is sleeping, I'm in the office. When the candidate is in the office, I better be in the office. Once I had to take a bio break and it elicited a frown.

I'm accommodating. That's what a chief of staff for a candidate must do. I like to think of it as "managing up." The lies we tell ourselves keep us sane.

Arg.

I hate cars. Especially when THEY WON'T FREAKING START!

Just thought I'd share. Now back to waiting for the tow truck.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

The first time I read this article, someone sent me an email and I got distracted after about, the fourth paragraph.

-Sigh- He's right... but what's the alternative? Even when I read it this Sunday, the TV was on and I was talking to my boyfriend.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?: "'Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave?” So the supercomputer HAL pleads with the implacable astronaut Dave Bowman in a famous and weirdly poignant scene toward the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Bowman, having nearly been sent to a deep-space death by the malfunctioning machine, is calmly, coldly disconnecting the memory circuits that control its artificial brain. “Dave, my mind is going,” HAL says, forlornly. “I can feel it. I can feel it.”

I can feel it, too. Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory."

And another thing....

I just watched Meet the Press, and was reminded that I saw this rainbow. Tim Russert's funeral was on Wednesday, and after the memorial service at the Kennedy Center, everyone walked out and saw this rainbow over Washington. I was on Capitol Hill, looking for a new apartment with my boyfriend. I dropped him off at Union Station to catch the metro back home, and turned the corner. Right in front of me was a beautiful rainbow, the kind that takes your breath away.

It was the same rainbow everyone exiting Russert's memorial service saw, having just listened to the ukulele version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow (which also happened to be one of 'my best friend's and her husband's first dance song). A "Russert Miracle," everyone said.

I'm so glad I saw it. I couldn't go to the wake - had already left work so many times to look at apartments. Because I saw it, though, I feel like I was able to say goodbye to Tim Russert as well.

From Haddad, T. "Stumper: The Russert Miracles." Newsweek, 6/19/08: "When asked his reaction to explain the sudden appearance of the rainbow at the exact moment, Luke Russert, his sparkly smile so reminiscent of his father's, said: "Is anyone still an atheist now?"

Zimbabwe

I normally don't write about international issues - partly because I think my focus is on domestic education policy, but also because the US media doesn't tend to focus as much on international issues. Well, except for Iraq. I usually get my international news from NPR in the mornings on my way to work.

This morning, though, I saw this on the cover of the online NY Times... and what struck me was how heroic this decision was. Morgan Tsvangiari dropped out of the run-off election in Zimbabwe, saying he could not ask people to vote for him and die. On one hand, it's terrible that the situation in Zimbabwe is so dire. On the other had, Tsvangiari realized that by putting himself forward, many would die - and so chose for them to live.

I saw the movie Hotel Rwanda a few weeks ago. We got it from Netflix and it sat there for a coule of weeks - I really wanted to see it, but knew how hard it would to be to watch. And it was. The worst part was when Western countries came to pick up their foreign nationals in the country, and left all the Africans behind. The man in the movie saved so many - but so many more died because of an arbitrary tribal distinction. Well, arbitrary to me. Maybe it meant something at some point. After it was over, I just sat there and cried.

I think what Tsvangiari has done has allowed Zimbabwe to perhaps avoid worse killing, to avoid Rwanda - and maybe find another path to healing, if the world will pay attention and help.

The Associated Press: Tim Russert warmly remembered on 'Meet the Press'

Update: Thought I'd post this picture of Tim's son, Luke, with the empty chair. He took it - and says he's going to keep it forever. I'm rooting for that kid.

It was a good show. Seeing Tim Russert's chair empty, though... pretty sad.

The Associated Press: Tim Russert warmly remembered on 'Meet the Press': "Tim Russert warmly remembered on 'Meet the Press'"

Still Sad

I can't believe how sad I still feel about Tim Russert.

This morning Meet the Press will be on, but Tim won't be there. It's hard to believe how quickly heart disease can take people. The same thing happened with my first boss - a different kind of heart problem, but a similar sudden passing. He was away on a trip with our 9th grade students in the Grand Canyon, and a weakness in his artery just gave way. I think how all the folks at NBC feel must be how we felt at our school. Somone who nurtured our careers, who made a family of the place, was suddenly taken from us and we couldn't quite understand how or why. We went on teaching - I remember my face feeling tight and sad, but getting up there in front of my students and teaching them a real lesson, because I thought that was what was best for them and for me. You get up in front of the class, in front of the camera, and you work - because for some reason it calms the tight sadness in your chest and holds back the tears.

What's so strange about the modern world is how we have so many people come into our homes on a regular basis, so much so we feel like we know them. As a news junkie, Tim Russert was one of those people for me. But Keith Olbermann, Andrea Mitchell, Tom Brokaw, and Matt Lauer are too, and seeing the sadness in their faces just makes me know that they feel what we felt when we lost John at 46. Just like Tim Russert, John Cosentino was a vibrant man who loved life, and we felt at our school, loved us.

So if you can, say a little prayer for Tim Russert and his family - and say one for John Cosentino and his family. I always try to remember that at every Mass, from baptisms to weddings to funerals, the priest says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God," and we respond, "It is right to give him thanks and praise." Our time here is so short, and it is right to give Him thanks and praise that we were here at all.

Tim Russert Dead At 58: NBC's Tom Brokaw Reports - Media on The Huffington Post

Tom Brokaw, paying tribute to Tim Russert, in this video via the Huffington Post.

Tim Russert Dead At 58: NBC's Tom Brokaw Reports - Media on The Huffington Post

Shock

I can't believe how sad I feel about Tim Russert's passing.

My mom called me, to make sure I knew, because every time I come visit her I watch Tim Russert. It's rare that a Sunday goes by when I don't watch him on Meet the Press. For the past six years, I watched him every week. I feel like he's a familiar friend, even though I never met him. His enthusiasm for politics and true goodness shone through to those of us watching on TV. I think about 1/2 of the conversations my boyfriend and I have involved Tim Russert. "Well, Tim Russert said this about it." He was the authority. We trusted him, we believed him, and we knew he would always ask the right questions and tell the truth. And we always knew he would root for the Buffalo Bills and the Boston College Eagles.

I feel for his family - so many people who had never met him loved him and are terribly sad, and how awful they must feel at this sudden and shocking loss. May God take care of them, and welcome Tim to heaven. Maybe he and my Gram can have a chat.

'Meet the Press' Host Collapses at Work.

Passing my quantitative analysis class

This is what I hate - I need to live, eat, sleep, and breathe statistics in order to pass my quantitative analysis class. I guess it starts now. Notecard making, here I come.

Finally - Education!

This is why I'm excited now. I heard the future last night coming through my radio.

Obama's speech on the occasion of becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for the President of the United States: "we can't afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American. That's the change we need in America. That's why I'm running for President."

Is it really over?

Apparently, it's all over but the shoutin'... or, in this case, speechmakin'. Obama wins, Clinton concedes, life goes on. And still, is education a big issue in the race?

78% of voters call it a top priority - see the quote and link from the Pew Poll below. Maybe the candidates will start paying better attention. Obama has come out and said that everyone should be bilingual or trilingual. I agree. Let's fund it.

Overview: McCain's Negatives Mostly Political, Obama's More Personal: "The survey finds that just 18% say they are satisfied with state of the nation - the lowest percentage in two decades of People-Press polls. Reflecting the widespread unhappiness with the national economy, an overwhelming proportion of respondents say the economy (88%) and jobs (78%) will be very important in their vote. In addition, roughly three-quarters each name healthcare, education, energy and Social Security as very important."