Washington D.C.

October 23, 2008

Christopher Anderson and the disappearing Republicans.

Senate offices, Washington, D.C.

Today I went to visit my niece, who is a staffer for a Republican Senator, at her office in the Senate building. I asked her if she and her colleagues are preparing for a mass exodus. “We don’t really like to go there,” she said uncomfortably. “There might be a lot of people out of jobs and looking, and there are just no new jobs in Washington.”

I asked her if the stereotypical image I have of the Republican staffer will be replaced by a bunch of hippies and socialists. She said, “no,” assuring me that the political hacks on both sides were equally “square and geeky.”

Change we can believe in...

Discarded files outside of the offices of Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (above). Cafeteria in the Senate office building, where lobbyists and staffers often eat lunch together (upper right). A sign in the Senate office building (right).