The Portrait of a Junior in the American Congress

There is a trend now in Turkey: the race to have younger party administrators. It’s true, every country’s political balance is different. The laws and systems are different. And it is not possible for the profiles that arise [from each of them] to be the same. But I will convey a portrait of it to give an idea — Washington, the American Congress, Democrat or Republican — a general definition of a junior [staffer] entering this world, so that you see who runs the capital that is said to run the world …

His school is not very good. If he graduated from Harvard or Yale, he would first go out and gain experience … then rise up … and enter Washington from the top. But because he does not have that chance, he has to begin from the bottom. The best place for that is Congress.

He has to be partisan on the outside! But no matter who he works with, he can be a Democrat on the inside or a Republican. It does not matter. He could work with a senator or a House representative. As long as he is in, he is a member of the political class …

There is a high possibility that this person is male. There are a lot of women who follow this career path as well, but the majority is still male.

Law, foreign policy, the media … what area he advises on depends. If you ask how it is determined which one he will do, there is no standard. He could have gone to law school and be a press advisor, or studied international affairs and be a legislative advisor. It is quite a mockery.

He starts at age 21-22, right after he graduates. In a short period of time, he takes on the entire weight of the office. When I was talking to a group the other day, they were talking about a 26-year-old advisor to a senator. “He has the authority to kill,” said someone. He has the authority to attack the State Department … the Pentagon … and even the White House!

He is always dressed up. He always has to look sharp. But because his yearly income ranges from $60,000 to $70,000, he has to go to discount stores: Syms, Filene’s Basement, Macy’s sales. Or he will find an outlet in Leesburg or Woodbridge and go there.

His circle depends on the politics of his boss. Some congressmen focus more on foreign policy. In that case, his circle will also mostly be foreign policy advisors of other politicians that focus on foreign policy. Some focus on domestic policy. Then he too is buried in domestic politics. If you are wondering whether there is any partisan separation, after 6 p.m., the Republican junior staff are at Morton’s. Democrats are at Brasserie Beck. He usually drinks beer, so that when they all go to the bar, the checks do not mix. Budweiser, Blue Moon, whichever …

His house is in Capitol Hill, right behind Congress — both close and not too expensive. And it is one of the most festive areas of the city.

He does not have any guarantees. He rose up in a very short amount of time. Let us just say that he became the prompter for a congressman who did not have much of an idea about most things. He may lose his job at the first election that is lost. But his advantage is that he can always find another congressman without having to move.

If he gets promoted, he could end up in the White House. Yes, the White House collects [people] from everywhere. They comb through everywhere, from the State Department to intelligence agencies. But the main common trait among them … being young! Jon Favreau, who writes Obama’s speeches, was born in 1981. Foreign policy speechwriter Ben Rhodes is 33. Representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Rashad Hussain was born in 1978. The head of the Turkey desk who left a few weeks ago is 40 years old.

The logic is this: “Bureaucrats are there anyway. We need creative thoughts, not molded ideas.” I am saying this for you to compare. The CHP* sent a team to Washington: retired ambassadors, retired bureaucrats. I accept that they all did very valuable things in the past. But …

He may leave to run his own campaign one day. Or enter the Washington rotation and work at a think tank. His biggest opportunity is to become a lobbyist — like financial inspectors called “auditors.” It is the equivalent of graduating from college, working nonstop until the late hours for 5 to 10 years and then becoming a CFO. This is his starting ground. He is paying his dues by suffering.

If you are wondering what else there is: a political animal who uses his BlackBerry like one of his organs, overly social, only reads the latest memoirs. His habitat: the ring road that surrounds Washington, the Capital Beltway …

Who Would You Have Wanted by Your Side During the Crisis??

The portrait may have confused you, because there are also things that are not good. But since we’re analyzing a profile, here is another detail that may push you away. Now look at this photograph. And if you are the leader of a country, think about who you would want by your side during critical moments: a retired bureaucrat who is experienced, has the government’s traditions ingrained and a perfect record … or one of these fast-laners who throws parties and takes off their clothes at a restaurant in Georgetown?

This is an inclination, one that is gaining importance. It is a big shift — the clearing out of what is old. But if, like some, you ask, “Is this the fascism of youth?” the answer is no. Because first of all, if there is fascism at all, the primary victim is the younger generation, not just in politics but in every field. From everything that has been written about youth — such as the saying “if the young only knew, if the old only could execute” — it has been ingrained that the youth know nothing. But what is happening now is a hard reality that cannot be pushed aside with words.

They use technology better and get information quicker. They act faster. Thanks to that BlackBerry that they are buried in, they miss less. Because they get accustomed to everything more easily. From the White House to Facebook … from Google to the White House … from Twitter to the State Department … they recently created a table of who goes from where to where. If you look at that table, it reinforces this profile that I have been describing.

If we return to those in the photograph, we are in the era of a president who was elected because of his use of the Internet — the man who conducted the first YouTube press conference … the first Facebook meeting … the first Twitter interview. If you look at the photograph and, after consideration, think them to be bureaucrats, let me tell you, one of those people is Obama’s speech writer, Jon Favreau. Another is the National Security Council Spokesman, Tommy Vietor.

Will Someone Who Goes to School in the U.S. Become a U.S. Admirer?

Since we are talking about administrations and the youth … when I was talking to former congressman Robert Wexler, he said, “Do you know why I trust President Erdogan? Because he sent his children to the U.S. to go to school.”** Around the same time, there was another debate. The daughter of China’s future president, Xi Jinping, had also started studying in the U.S. under an alias. And would this positively affect China’s politics?

The reason I conveyed what Wexler said and the China debate is because I find it important for two reasons, and because it is possible to interpret it in two different ways:

1) We are so liberal that we support a free education system. It is important for us to raise individuals who have these values.

2) If someone sends their child here [the U.S.], he is an American sympathizer. And the child who comes here will also become one, and it does not matter.

There are people who think both. There are people who would buy into both. But I should say … thinking that children who go here [to the U.S.] for education will return to their countries as American sympathizers is so misleading. You will not be assessing the current youth correctly! Nor will you have an accurate understanding of the future. Put aside the strongest criticism emerging about the U.S. universities … You will miss the prototype of youth that, with each passing day, increasingly moves away from executing new ideas.

*Editor’s note: CHP refers to Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi or the Republican People’s Party of Turkey.

**Editor’s note: This quote, while accurately translated, could not be verified.