White House peppered with Iowa influenceWashington, D.C. -
There is an affection for Iowa in the White House that goes well beyond the stuffed cartoon ear of corn on the desk of the first lady's chief of staff.
Roughly 40 new employees in President Barack Obama's White House and Cabinet have lived and worked in Iowa.They are mix of recent campaign alumni, who developed a loyalty to Iowa during Obama's winning campaign for the caucuses, and veteran Democratic politicos whose ties to the state go back further.
-snip-
"I think that there's a sense of responsibility too, having been in Iowa," said former Obama Iowa staffer Seth London. "I think that infuses us with the responsibility that we want to make good on the promises we made to people that we genuinely came to know and care about."
London spent the better part of 2007 working out of a former storefront in Burlington organizing southeast Iowa for Obama. Today, he is one of about two dozen new Obama administration staffers who worked first for him in Iowa. He reports for duty every day in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next door to the White House.
Some of his peers, who worked out of Obama's Des Moines headquarters in the former post office on East Locust Street, now come and go from the East and West wings, as well as Cabinet-level department buildings.
-snip-
Jackie Norris calls that
"the Iowa Obama spirit" now present throughout the White House.The Des Moines woman was a top adviser to Obama's caucus campaign and is now chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama. She keeps the green and white, smiling ear of corn next to the computer in her East Wing office.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090301/NEWS09/903010342/1001/NEWS 
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
