Hello Politico!

There couldn't have been a better way to begin our time in Washington than to be immersed in the heart of our nation's politics.

We started our day at the Republican National Committee (RNC) where we learned about the decision-making processes involved in presenting the party's unified stance on different issues. The two representatives talked about the importance of state elected officials because the state’s decisions are ultimately what drive their national decisions. The representatives focused a lot on the importance of state elections, probably because they don’t currently have a republican president in the White House.

One thing that surprised me about the RNC was a comment made about all press being good press, in regards to a question about Sarah Palin. I believe bad press is bad press and I think it’s easy for most people to see that the actions of Sarah Palin, and other members of the party, haven’t always had a positive effect on the party as a whole. I was also surprised by the way the representatives sidestepped though questions. Unfortunately, I left the RNC with lingering questions, one of which is about the lack of a missions statement and goals on the RNC website. It could be because of the party is currently a minority, but there may be another reason. I would like to visit both committees when their roles are reversed (ex: democrats as the minority party) because I think the committees’ similarities would be much more evident.

We finished our day at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) where we learned much more about the new media involved in presenting their party's unified stance. A representative from the new media department told us about the ways their department gets their message across in many different forms in order to reach out to as many people as possible. It was interesting to hear how much their department has grown just since the 2008 election. I think that shows what an important role new media now plays in politics all over the country, not just in Washington, D.C.

I was surprised to learn about the importance of fundraising. I thought it was interesting when one of the representatives commented that messages to their constituents always include a request for donations, volunteer time, or event attendance. I found this somewhat concerning because I believe support through voting should be enough. However, I do understand that this happens in both parties because money helps win elections.

Where there was sidestepping at the RNC on tough questions, representatives at the DNC were almost too honest. I appreciated that we received truthful responses about questions regarding damage control, for example. But I also learned just how often insignificant things in the world of politics are completely blown out of proportion, in the hopes of hurting the opposing party. I think if both parties focused more on their own strengths, rather than each others’ weaknesses, everyone would be better off.