I think I'm drinking more than I'm eating.....

. . . b/c I feel sick. I went running again tonight. I run about every other night. From Constitution Avenue, I'll run down 1st St, past the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. I'll hook a right on Independence, running alongside the Capitol. I'll cut onto the Capitol grounds, passing directly in front of the building. Turning left, down the steps, and past the Capitol pool and I enter the National Mall. That's one LONG mall. I choose either the left side or the right side (which doesn't smell really good). I usually take the left side, all the way through the mall, until I hit the Washington Monument/Pennsylvania Ave. I take Penn up to the White House, circle around and head back the same way I came. Overall, it takes an hour and fifteen minutes. It's a long run, but I've got a nice wind, I'm taking in the restaurants and stores, and I'm running towards the most beautiful architecture on the Eastern seaboard. I'll be worn out, but not wasted.

Last week, I attended a lecture set up as part of the Intern Lecture Series. Trent Lott spoke. He started with his background, continued by explaining his beliefs, and ended with a Q&A. Lott told us that he grew up in MS, a very blue state at the time (then again, so was every southern state). As he grew up, he chose to be a Republican. After finishing up law school at the age of 26, Lott went to Washington where he worked with the Democratic Representative from his district for a few years to gain political experience. At 31, when the representative he was working for decided not to run again, Lott announced his candidacy. The representative respected Lott greatly, but told him that he was chasing a pipedream. A few months before the election, a journalist asked the retiring Democratic Representative who the people should vote for. The representative responded, "The people of MS have chosen me as their representative for the past 20 years. I believe they are perfectly capable of choosing their next representative. But as for me, I'll be voting for Mr. Lott." At that point, Lott explained, the election was over. Lott began his political career back in the early 70s and rose to be the Senate Majority Leader before stepping down from the position a few years ago. Senator Lott took a few questions and I was lucky enough to be called upon. I asked, "You explained that you became an administrative assistant at the age of 26. At the age of 31, you were elected to represent your district in the House. During those 5 years in Washington, what made you decide to run office?" He said that young people think they can change the entire world and have the passion to do so. At that young age, he had both the dream and the passion. He wanted the chance and the people of MS gave him that chance. He said that the years have helped him realize the truth. People rarely change. He told us that over the course of the 30 years he'd been in Congress, maybe 1 or 2 speeches on the House or Senate floors changed the way he voted on an issue. Nowadays, we seem to be regurgitating things to fight over. Of course, I think that a lot of the communication is done electronically; the debate has shifted from the Senate floor to the phone lines, computers, or blackberries. Yeah, what is UP with these blackberries? They cannot be as important as people make them out to be! I know I would totally lose mine if I ever got one.

Last week, a few of us interns went over to the Senate to watch the Senators vote on Justice Brown. Whereas 90% of the time, the floor of the Senate is empty, it's packed whenever there's a vote. We saw all the big name senators - McCain, Kerry, Lieberman, Kennedy, Frist, Reid, Clinton, and Schumer. Barbara Boxer tilts whenever she talks to people. The Republicans crowd around each other like good ol' boys right there on the Senate floor. The way they're patting each other on the back and smiling back at each other, you kinda expect them to take out a few Bud Lights and throw some burgers and hot dogs on the grill. Unless there's a tie, Dick Cheney doesn't preside. We haven't seen him here yet. After the vote was through, we headed back to Russell. We took the elevator up from the basement of Russell to the 3rd floor. When it opened on the basement level for us to get in, a lady said hi and, without glancing at her face, I responded with a kind "Hi there." Around the 1st floor I looked over at the lady and realized it was Elizabeth Dole. Hah. So what am I supposed to do at this point? I kinda just looked straight ahead, didn't say a word, and exited after she did on the 3rd floor. Interesting elevator ride.

Finally for the night, I met Congressman Michaud from Maine. He's a Democrat and a very nice person. I met him in the laundry room in our apartment building. Evidently, he's staying there, too. I would expect more Congressman to be staying in my building, considering it's the closest apartment building to the Senate office buildings. Oh well. Maybe I'll see someone later.

I'm out.