DC: Center of the Pie Edition

I’ve concluded that the District is a very crowded center of a pie. Pick your favorite flavor; I’m going to have to go with a warm, still-gooey toll house pie on this one, just because I’m craving that right now. But anyway: hundreds of thousands of interests, from businesses to sovereign nations to associations and clubs, they all send whatever resources they can (usually money) to Washington in an effort to go through the center and influence other sides of the pie.

Washington should be about managing that pie and not letting any interests get out of control. Whether or not anyone here is really successful at that is up for debate.

This past Monday, the Washington Center arranged for their annual tour/speaker events at the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC). I went into Monday afternoon interested in the superficial differences between the two, because we all know the larger issues at stake. So, I went hoping to see a culture shock and I was not disappointed.

Although the two buildings are a five minute walk away from each other, they could well be on opposite ends of the country. The RNC belongs deep in Virginia, with its heavy, staid atmosphere. The DNC belongs somewhere in California, with its hipster, dressed-down staff and its modern, sterile building.

At the RNC, we heard from Paris Dennard, who works in the RNC’s coalition and outreach office. Dennard was an animated speaker, expectedly aggressive when discussing the DNC. Ronald Reagan, the modern prophet for the Republican Party, was mentioned (in hushed, reverent tones) more than anyone else. Reagan’s big tent theory of politics for the party was also brought up and placed front and center. Dennard discussed that, while it is difficult to have (for example) moderate New England Republicans working with conservative Southern Republicans, the Republican party does what it can to manage the different parties under the big tent. At the end of the day, he told us, all that matters is that the Republicans have that majority.

After a walk to the DNC (again, only five minutes away but in a completely different atmosphere, a much more gritty neighborhood), we sat down in a larger but more sterile and blank presentation room and heard from Gillian Bergeron, who works for Organizing for America (OFA), the out-of-campaign-season version of President Obama’s vast 2008 network of campaign organizers, field workers and volunteers.

OFA bills itself as “a project of the DNC” and still seems to be looking for its footing. Bergeron, who has been with the project from the beginning, seemed emblematic of OFA and the DNC. Dressed casually in jeans, she spoke of how, ever after Obama’s election, there was no real plan for what would happen to his vast, well-organizing network of campaign volunteers and organizers. While OFA has asserted itself within the DNC, there still seems to be little vision for the future. Great potential, though.

At KSCW, I’ve been lucky enough to see how lobbying truly works. I was ridiculously fortunate to go along on a luncheon between a senior member of the firm and a client, as well as witness several other lobbyist-client interactions. It is true that a great deal is said and done over lunch, or dinner, or drinks and not always in the office by email or telephone. Such lunches are the real output of the mover-and-shaker Washingtonian class: they are where connections are revived and created, where names, allies and opponents are identified, where plans are made. In addition (or more importantly), there’s usually great food involved.

Washington is a city of titles, a city of power and connections. For the most part, it’s a humble town. Even if you are a sophisticated, well-connected Washingtonian with a law degree under your belt: chances are, a sizable swath of people around you are equally or better connected.

For an intern who is normally at school in Manchester, N.H., the city is a refreshing social experience. Rather than being isolated in a small New England city, on a small campus with limited options, the Metropolitan area offers choices exponentially more attractive. There are more places to go, and each new place attracts interesting people who clearly have an interest common with you, and each one of those people with a common interest usually knows more people. It’s just a refreshing change of place from ol’ Manchvegas.

For a policy and politics nerd like myself, D.C. is a place of overwhelming opportunity and choices. Starting from the basic blue/red division in Congress (and perpetuated by the RNC and DNC) and extending through nonprofits, businesses, embassies, state and regional interests, and advocacy groups, D.C. is the center where lots of tiny little slivers of a pie meet.