Day 6: Where in the world is John McCain?

I’ll tell you where…hanging out at the Russell Senate Building on Capital Hill. We had our meeting with Senator Burr today, so we had leave our morning seminars earlier to get to the Capital building on time.

The Senators offices are surprisingly free of too much security. Once you get past the initial screening you are pretty much left to your own devices to roam the hallways and go into Senator’s offices. We got there pretty early and as we strolled down the hallway towards Senator Burr’s office, we past one door that read: Senator John McCain, Arizona.

The interesting thing is that the Senator’s offices are technically tax-payer property and therefore owned by you. Obviously, you can make that argument about any public good, but your Senator is specifically supposed to represent their local constituents, so you can walk into their office at anytime. Crystal and I snooped around John McCain’s office and looked at his family portraits etc.

We had some time to kill, so we just hung around the lobby of the building and wouldn’t you know it, the man himself, that’s right, John McCain comes strolling through the building accompanied by his staffer.

You know how I told you guys I live by the rule, ”If you don’t ask the answer is NO?” Well, keep following…

Crystal is the first to spot him, “That’s John McCain!, Yeeka, Yeeka, it’s John McCain!” Suddenly, we all notice and start running after the Senator, as he comes to a stop to wait for the elevator. At this point, Jessica blurted out with “Hey, Senator McCain!” and he gives a gracious wave back, while frantically pushing the button for the elevator.

Guess what I did?

Nothing.

I stood there, heart pounding. (Which was later explained to me as the feeling of being awe-struck.)

In what seemed like an eternity but probably for only a couple of seconds, John McCain stood there waiting for the elevator.

Then he got on, and left.

We looked at each other, all thinking, “THAT WAS JOHN MCCAIN! WHY DIDN’T WE ASK FOR A PICTURE!”

I hated myself for a while after that, but there was no time to be disappointed. We met Senator Burr, whom was very gracious to invite us into his office for a picture and a short chat before he ran off for a vote. His staff gave us passes to sit in on the Senate vote in the Capital building.

Man, that was an experience. One by one, they started rolling in, all the big names, John McCain, Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Kay Hagan…I was acting like a 12 year old girl at a Miley Cyrus concert.

To add to the significance of the whole thing, today was the last day that Hilary Clinton and Joe Biden would vote in the Senate. We truly are experiencing history.

In the afternoon, we took a quick tour of the Capital building and witnessed the last vote of the day, a motion to NOT release the funds allocated to the economic stimulus plan early. The democrat Senators ended up defeating the bill. It’s hard to describe the emotions of really experiencing Washington. Usually we feel so distant from what happens in Government, but to be there first hand, and see a decision made, makes it so real and absolutely awe-inspiring. We can make things happen! The decisions these individuals make, set the course of history. The decisions we make too, set the course of history.

The last thing we did was attend a performance by Mark Russell, a comedian and musician whom combines his talents for a show. He was fantastic, and said a few things that really inspired me. He said that this whole process is “the first inspiration” for us, the students. He said that his generation screwed up, but now it’s on us.

This trip has been very inspiring to me and even though its not over yet, it has undoubtedly been one of the best experiences of my life. Even if you are not interested in Politics, work hard in something you love and make a positive impact with it. In this day and age, we have more power and opportunity to do anything we want. Even the biggest things done in the history of this country, start off small.