Day 4: The Geek in the Pink

First off I have to apologize about the lack of photos and video that is supposed to accompany this blog. The internet here is brutally difficult to connect to. Each night I am connected to an unsecured network with about 1 bar of reception. I believe Trent Lassiter has been posting his photos on facebook, so just search him and add him as a friend. He’s a nice guy, he’ll accept.

Moving on…

The other night Crystal and I had decided to take a little visit to Chinatown on the way back to the apartments and we found this fantastic tie in one of the stores, a pink Obama tie. I thought it was pretty neat, but I wasn’t going to get it (lets just say I am fiscally conservative), but at Crystal’s insistence I picked it up. It proved worthwhile…

Today C-SPAN conducted our morning sessions, broadcasting their program “Washington Journal Live” with Juan Williams from National Public Radio and Bret Baier of Fox News. Again we got there early and was able to sit right at the front on the 2nd row. The second program was a new interview series hosted by Brian Lamb, CEO and founder of C-SPAN and the show included two guests Tom and Carol Wheeler, both of the Obama transition team. At the end of each interview, the hosts fielded questions from the audience. So as soon as they finish talking, there is a mad rush to the microphones, usually located at the front, but today was located about 8 rows back. After the first two interviews I rushed to get in line but each time ended up being about 10 positions back. I would wait the entire segment and just sit back down. However, the last show of the day was a new interview series on C-SPAN, again hosted by Brian Lamb. This time, between the intermission and the start of the show, I already waited in line.

Brian surprised us this time, by turning the questions onto us, and asked us questions, asking the students the focus of the show. He asked our name, where we were from and how our experienced had been so far. I won’t go into my response now (hopefully we can see it when it airs, which at this point is unknown, it should also be available online), but Brian noticed my pink tie and asked me about it. I told him it was $5 down at the Metro center.

I particularly enjoyed that show because the focus was on us; the latest generation of young people. I am really very interested in finding out how this Presidential campaign has impacted the young people of the country and what this campaign symbolizes about our generation. The answers our fellow students gave, really gave me a sense of optimism about the new President and administration. In the current economic and social circumstance, I don’t think we have a choice.

After that, I became “the guy with the tie.” Everyone started asking me where I got it and I heard a few comments like “Oh, that’s the guy with the tie” and “Let’s beat him up for his tie!” Kidding about the last one.

After our morning session we headed over to Dupont Circle to visit the advocacy group Oceania, a non-profit organization focused on disclosing important information regarding marine life, climate change, energy, even seafood. Jessica was pretty pumped about this one. Oceania was pretty excited about the new President given that President-elect Barack Obama had sponsored a few of their bills while a Senator. Besides that it was just nice to see people being passionate about something, and trying to make a positive impact. Everyday, I am here I feel more optimistic and confident that Washington is still a place that will get things done, be that Congress, or non-profits like Oceania. If everyone just worked on something small to better the world, together we have done something big.

After the visit we headed over to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for a reception and a short address by Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington correspondent and moderator of Face the Nation. We enjoyed the food and when Bob came out I just happened to be at the right place at the right time to ask him a question. I asked him how he thought this campaign reflected the characteristics of the Millennial generation. He told us in Ghandi-eske fashion not to give up on government and that if we wanted change, we had to be it.

Another day has gone by.