BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Emily Spain, chief of staff for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.)
How/where are you celebrating your birthday and with whom? “I’ll be celebrating at home with my husband and two kids. My kids are 5 and 2 and have been talking about my birthday for several weeks, specifically about how they are very excited to make my birthday cake and ‘help’ me open my presents.”
How did you get your start in politics? “As a high school volunteer on Walter Capps’ (D-Santa Barbara) first congressional campaign in 1994. He lost by 1,600 votes in what was a terrible year for congressional Democrats and then won when he ran again in 1996. Unfortunately he passed away 10 months into his first term. His wife, Lois Capps, then ran for and won his seat in a special election in 1998 when I was a high school senior. I volunteered on her campaigns and interned in her Santa Barbara and Washington, D.C., offices. When I graduated from college in 2002 she gave me my first political job on her reelection campaign, and when I later moved to Washington, D.C., she gave me my first Capitol Hill job as her press secretary in 2006.”
What’s an interesting book/article you’re reading during coronavirus social distancing? And why? “I just finished ‘The Guest Book’ by Sarah Blake, which is a beautifully written novel about three generations of a privileged American family grappling with their history. My husband had read it and highly recommended it. I began reading it at the very beginning of the pandemic, and I deliberately chose a work of fiction because I needed a distraction from the craziness of daily life that I didn’t think I could get from nonfiction.”
What’s a trend going on in the U.S. or abroad that doesn’t get enough attention? “Over the last several years there’s been an increase in the number of women chiefs of staff in the House and the Senate on both sides of the aisle. At a time when it can be challenging to foster bipartisan relationships, the women chiefs of staff have been able to form friendships and working relationships that are more important than ever as we grapple with a pandemic that has been particularly devastating to women.”
How’s the Trump presidency going? “To say that it’s going poorly is an understatement, but as someone who desperately wants Vice President Biden to be our next president I expect the race to be a hard-fought battle that will be close in the end. Thankfully I know that the Biden team will take nothing for granted and leave everything on the field.”
What’s a fun fact that people in Washington might not know about you? “I worked as a student-athlete recruiter when I was in college at UCLA.”
