Tuesday, June 27th
Washington, DC

Overall, an excellent day. The students spent the morning at the National Association of Manufacturers participating in a Congressional Simulation exercise. Using statistics and demographics of various congressional districts from around the country the students, in teams of 5, play the role of a freshmen Congressperson. They have to balance trying to placate the party and gain a seat on a committee that can aid their district while trying to be in tune and assessable to the people and needs of their home district. With a re-election campaign beginning almost immediately. I observed this last year and the students enjoyed and more importantly learned a great deal.

I took the morning and went to a great book store on Connecticut Ave called Politics and Prose. I spent about hour looking over the place and their fabulous selection of books. Then I went to their Coffeehouse and drank some coffee, caught up on writing, and had some lunch. It was a relaxing morning and it was quite needed.

After their lunch the students had more sessions on Economics and Public Speaking. These are essential components of the program because the students come from a wide variety of schools whose curriculum scope and sequence always vary.

Then after a quick dinner and dressing up we headed down Massachusetts Ave. to a little place called the White House. I guess the only residence that can compete for visitors is Memphis’ very own Graceland, which will be visited by Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and President Bush this weekend. (Story). They will also “Get their Rib on” at the Rendezvous BBQ place in downtown Memphis.

It was a rainy evening, the norm of late, and the trip took about an hour because there will still a great deal of road closures around downtown DC due to the flooding. We all went through security got our “A” passes, for appointments not “A list”. This took about a half an hour. We waited in the White House press room which was surprisingly small. The kids, along with yours truly, took their photo in front of the briefing podium. Once we were all in White House Chief of Staff, Josh Bolton came in and did a Q and A with the students for nearly an hour. He seemed quite impressive and detailed both the structure of the job of Chief of Staff along with how he came to have the job. After he was finished speaking with us interns then gave us small group tours of the West Wing. We saw various briefing rooms and the Oval Office itself. Overall we spent about 2 hours their and it was quite an experience for the students and myself.

Later in the evening one of my old friends from all the way back to my Prep days and I went to grab a couple of beers in Georgetown, back to J.Paul’s. Dooz is a frequent visitor to DC because of his job with a defense contractor. It was great to see him. He and his wife are expecting a second child in the fall and they are having a boy to compliment their daughter and round out the clan. We caught up on our respective families and generally shot the breeze. In the end, one of the better days of the summer.