Reading it reminded me how much I don't miss working in government. The long hours, the days on end without a day off. The no time for friends or family. And most of all, the cell phone that constantly rings. I don't miss any of that. I do miss the rush and the feeling of actually making a difference. In my circumstance, I always felt like one never really had time to make a positive difference. I was always spending my time catering to this person or that or being sure not to make this or that person mad. Once I finally got past all that, there was very little time in left in the day to do anything that might actually be considered positive. So as much as I would love to be Reggie Love or Jon Favreau, I don't envy them at all.Another thing that had me yelling at my monitor was when it mentions these young and buff staffers are skeptical of the high level staffers that were not on the campaign trail. Parker writes:
There is real tension between those who joined the campaign on Day 1 and the perceived interlopers who came later, especially among the people who felt that they worked hard on the trail and weren’t rewarded with top posts. Jobs in the West Wing, with their close proximity to the Oval Office and “the action,” are considered the best. “They don’t make TV shows about the Department of Energy,” a young aide said.My question to them is where were you in 2003 and 2004? We turned Barack Obama into the best thing since sliced bread in Illinois back then without Eric Lesser or Herbie Ziskend. There would not have been the 2004 Boston speech at the Democratic Convention. Nor would there have been a presidential run had it not been for 2004. All I have to say is, you're welcome.
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