LW: You began your political career as an intern on Hillary Clinton's first campaign. Do you feel like you have an insider's view of how she operates?
KG: I was an intern. I'm very clear about the extent of my role, but I did work with Patty Solis, her campaign manager who was replaced. I respected and liked her, and she was nice to me. I would say in some ways I'm not surprised by the problems that Sen. Clinton is having. And the reason I would say that is because her campaign apparatus, one of the biggest strengths of it, is that it tends to run with military precision. It runs like a military operation. But in a year of change that's also going to be one of your biggest weaknesses. Because people don't want to see things being run with military precision. It's not something I think they anticipated. Who knew that this was going to be the year of change? And the thing is Barack Obama came along and he seemd to be the antithesis of that, and it's really hard to change your game and change your strategy when it's not inherently wrong. The plan was to be the frontrunner but run a traditional, really solid campaign.
When people ask me about that experience, I say, look, interning on that campaign was sort of like going to a really competitive college. Countless people have gone on to successful political careers after working with the Clintons. So I think, again, they were stumped that the clog in the well-oiled machine would be something that was the antithesis of that. That someone would come along that was more go-with-the-flow and inspirational. That was what tripped them up. It's sort of like, how do you compete with that?
Editor
Lauren Williams Editor-at-Large
Cord Jefferson Editorial Director
David Hauslaib Managing Editor
Andrew Belonsky Publisher
Jossip Initiatives
All Hip Hop
The Assimilated Negro
The B Life
Black Agenda Report
Black Male Appreciation
Black Prof
Black Voices
Bossip
Cake & Ice Cream
Clips and Kisses
Clutch Magazine
Concrete Loop
Crunk & Disorderly
Essence
EUR Web
The Fashion Bomb
Giant
Greasy Guide
Hip Candy
HipHopDX
Hip & Pop
Juicy News
King
Miss Info
Mollygood
My Urban Report
Nah Right
Necole Bitchie
Nova Slim
Panache Report
Racialicious
The Rap Up
Rhymes With Snitch
Sandra Rose
Shake Your Beauty
Straight Outta NYC
SOHH
TMZ
Vibe
Wendy Williams
XXL
Young, Black, Fabulous
Well, as a Black registered independent, I will definitely look forward to reading this book.
I tell you Lauren, you are one heck of a journalist. I enjoy reading your entries daily and cannot wait for the next one. You inspire me both as a writer and as a Black woman who knows who she is and where she comes from. I appreciate your candid reporting. Keep up the magnificent work!
I am a 46 year old Black woman (who graduated from UVa in '83, Lauren) who first registered as an independent when I moved to Milwaukee from Baltimore 20 years ago. When I moved back east 11 years ago I again registered as an independent although in Baltimore, it means that I cannot vote in primaries. When we got together for Christmas, my 45 year old sister and 40 year old brother announced that they too were registered as independents. We had separately come to the conclusion that we didn't want to be taken for granted by the Democratic party. This in spite of the fact that our cousin (now 43) was one of the youngest people ever elected to the Maryland state senate.
Perhaps my siblings and I were destined to be contrarians. Our father is a registered Democrat, while our mother is a registered Republican. We spent most of the 1960s in Puerto Rico and therefore experienced the civil rights movement through a television set. We were raised Catholic - in the suburbs. We've all travelled to Africa multiple times. We all struggled with what it meant to grow up black and middle class in the 1970s (and 80s in the case of my brother). In the end, although we embrace our African American heritage, we don't let other people define what we should do or think as Black folks.
I will admit that I intend to vote for Obama - partly because of our mutual ages, experience growing up on tropical islands and attendance at Columbia U in the 1980s - but mostly because he doesn't expect that I'll vote for him just because I'm Black.
Another great read, Lauren. Hadn't seen that video before. How ridiculous is that man>?
they're contrarian but are they registered?
Yea, we're registered in Baltimore, DC and Oakland.