BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Jake Perry, founder and principal of Jake Perry + Partners
How/where are you celebrating your birthday and with whom? “In my hometown of Las Vegas with my family. It will be a very un-Vegas birthday this year -- a round of golf followed by a Baskin Robbins mint chip ice cream cake.”
How did you get your start in your career? “My first job out of college was working on Sen. Harry Reid’s 1998 campaign as a field staffer in Las Vegas. The big issue on the campaign was the future of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste site. I found a silver hazmat suit at an army surplus store and rigged it up with glow sticks. I got a trash can full of dry ice and followed then-Rep. John Ensign (who was running against Sen. Reid) to campaign stops around Las Vegas. I was dubbed ‘Yucca Man.’ Sen. Reid loved it! We ended up winning that race by 428 votes after a recount. I was offered a job in the senator’s D.C. office as a legislative correspondent. After about nine months of writing letters, I moved over to the senator’s leadership PAC, which led to a 15-year career in political fundraising. To this day, Sen. Reid still calls me Yucca Man.”
What’s an interesting book/article you’re reading during coronavirus social distancing? And why? “I have a 5-month-old daughter, so my leisure reading these days mostly involves picture books.”
What’s a trend going on in the U.S. or abroad that doesn’t get enough attention? “I just recently started focusing on the issue of unidentified aerial phenomena -- formerly known as unidentified flying objects or UFOs. People automatically associate the latter with E.T. and aliens, but the paradigm of this topic has changed remarkably. When Sen. Reid focused on this issue 12 years ago it was very secretive and hush-hush. Now it’s becoming more mainstream: There was language included in the FY 21 Intelligence Authorization bill setting up a new task force to study these phenomena.”
What are you watching for in the Biden presidency? “I’m looking forward to a little less noise coming out of the White House. I’ve been a Biden supporter from the start and I’m loving the team he is assembling: workhorses instead of show horses; competent people who understand how government can work. With such a narrow majority in the House, and with the Georgia race and the future of the Senate still uncertain, getting anything done will require bipartisan effort. I’m an optimist -- I think President-elect Biden is the right guy for these times.”
What’s a fun fact that people in Washington might not know about you? “I love karaoke. Several years ago my Canadian in-laws bought a karaoke machine on a whim. I took it upon myself to load it up with songs and coaxed all of the extended family to participate. Every year since then I’ve emceed an epic post-Boxing Day dinner karaoke session. It’s one of the traditions I’ll miss most this year. For now, I just drive my wife crazy with my constant singing, especially because I make up the words to all the songs. The great thing about having a 5-month-old baby is that she doesn’t seem to mind how bad my singing is!”
