new faces, different challenges

So as I had mentioned earlier, the Lawyers' Committee had recently hired a new Campaign Manager for our National Campaign for Fair Elections about two weeks ago. At first, it was a little frustrating for me simply because the Campaign Manager needed to be caught up to speed. However, now that he's more adjusted, I've been working very closely with him to streamline our communications and outreach processes. For example, we've worked out systems to quickly reach all Congressional offices when needed for disseminating our publications and testimony. We recently used this system to show our support for the Deceptive Practices bill in the House I had mentioned previously (H.R. 1281). The bill was put on suspension calendar, and it was a relief that House voted in favor of it.

We've also sent out a couple of mass mailings regarding the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the FEC. Mr. von Spakovsky has a disturbing record of undermining voting rights (especially of minority voters) and of politicizing the Department of Justice (where he served for about two years). Although it is unlikely that the Senate will reject his nomination (there are three other nominees to the FEC, and they are all supposed to be voted on with an up-down vote), we're working very hard to make sure that his actions during his tenure at the Department are made widely known. Specifically, we want to emphasize his role in the larger scheme of the politicization of federal agencies under the Bush Administration.

I've also been working to collect press clips everyday of the Lawyers' Committee's activities across the country. In sum, I've been doing a lot of communications-related tasks. I'm going to try to get different tasks, but it's going to be tough given the upcoming Congressional recess.

I hope everybody else is enjoying their internships and summers too. (It's surprisingly not humid today!! Very rare for D.C. in July.)