Hitting the Campaign Trail
By DIANA DEGETTE '79
ate last November, my legal assistant phoned. She asked if I was sitting down. "Have you heard the news? Pat Schroeder's not running." I was stunned. Pat Schroeder, who had been my representative in Congress since I was 15, had announced that she would not seek reelection in 1996. As I hung up the phone, my five-year-old daughter Raphaela turned to me and said, "Congratulations." I took it as a good omen.
Since that time in late November, I have had a crash course in running as a candidate for federal office. I have found that there is such a thing as a "rubber chicken circuit" (I stick to salad and dessert), I have discovered what it's like to spend six hours on the phone asking different people I don't know to give me money, and I have rediscovered the diversity of the congressional district that I hope to represent in Congress.
Having served in the Colorado Legislature for two terms, and having been elected by my peers as Assistant Minority Leader, I am no stranger to politics. My introduction came gradually, and many of the opportunities I've had are due to luck. When I was at CC, I was much more involved and interested in the study of the theoretical side of politics. Tim Fuller's class on political theory (where we covered everything from Aristotle to Dworkin) was the type of class I loved; it was rigorous, and it challenged me to think. I even toyed with the idea of becoming an academic.
Sixteen years later, I find myself in a federal campaign.
My favorite part of campaigning is walking door-to-door, meeting people and exploring the different areas of the congressional district. When it's one-on-one, I can listen to their concerns and worries, and work with them to figure out what solutions are available.
During my campaign, I've fielded an absurd mix of questions on everything from the latest change in the welfare bill on the House floor to my haircut and shade of lipstick. As a candidate, I work hard with my staff to keep myself updated on as many different topics as possible.
You never know, however, if you've examined the right information until you're interviewed. If I meet with a reporter expecting to discuss Social Security and the plight of working families, I could be asked instead which CD I recently purchased or who is my favorite Republican.
I've also found that campaigning tends to skew a child's perspective. My two-year-old's favorite game is "Meeting" because, as far as she can tell, that's what all moms do every day. The other day, she was in the middle of an important meeting. I asked her who was there: "You and Dad, Raph (her sister, Raphaela), Bob Dole, Bill Clinton and Lisa (Lisa Weil, my campaign manager)." In her mind, all parents meet with their campaign manager and the president every day.
Professors at CC taught me how to think rigorously, how to analyze situations, how to work with a broad variety of people (something that's served me well in the Republican dominated legislature), and how to articulate my beliefs in a clear manner. I'm running for Congress and enduring this exhausting, exciting cycle because I believe what I learned at CC will serve me well in Congress. I'm running because I believe ( and I've seen ( that one person can make a difference.
State Representative Diana DeGette graduated from Colorado College in 1979. An attorney who practices civil rights and employment discrimination law, she is a Democratic candidate for Colorado's First Congressional District.