T H E P U L L O F P O L I T I C Samount of work to be done and you never feelthat you are finished,” he said. “People are sodriven; people are so excited and so passionate.”Lynn Adler ’61, another Obama supporter,voted for Bill Clinton and said she recognizesHillary’s intellect and accomplishment. “But Ihave witnessed many women political leaders inthe world, and I have no illusions that genderalone will lead to fair and just decision-making,”said Adler, who has made endless phone calls topersuade independents and others to vote forObama in state primaries. “Furthermore, I reallysee Barack as a world citizen, someone who transcendsa specific race and culture”—a point thatresonates with Adler, whose children are ofVietnamese and Mexican heritage.After Adler graduated from college, sheworked in the civil rights movement, an experiencethat led her to value Obama’s experience asa community organizer in Chicago. She alsoappreciates his detachment from traditional partymovers. “I find him a refreshing change from theestablished and connected Democratic politicalelite, which does include the Clintons,” she said.Political AspirationsSeveral CA alumnae/i have been intimatelyinvolved with politics, but are not working onthe current presidential campaign. MikeRodman ’91, who hopes to run for office someday, may have one of CA’s gutsiest stories ofpolitical tenacity.Determined to volunteer when the 1992Democratic National Convention was in NewYork, Rodman ended up delivering newspapersto delegates’ hotels and running errands. But hedidn’t land a coveted pass to attend the conventionand became frustrated watching the eventon TV. So he headed to hotels where the mediawere based and asked around for an extra presspass. His political cold-calling paid off when theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch gave him one, on thecondition that he write for them if they askedhim to (which they never did). For four days,Rodman volunteered by day and reveled in theconvention action by night.But his doggedness didn’t end there. Whenhe returned to Washington University in St.Louis, he entered a local office for the Clinton-Gore campaign looking to help out. When askedif he had any communications experience, hereplied: “I went to the convention with a presspass.” Next thing he knew he was working eightyhours a week for the local communicationsdirector, “going to classes as best I could, but mypriority was definitely the campaign.” That communicationsdirector in St. Louis eventuallyworked for Tipper Gore in the White House andbrought Rodman along as a White Houseintern. “I was doing speeches, press releases,press advisories,” he said.After graduation, Rodman headed to BostonCollege for law school. He was there five weeksand had been elected class representative whenhe decided law wasn’t right for him. “It was“I really see Barack as a worldcitizen, someone who transcends aspecific race and culture.”—Lynn Adler ’61CONCORD ACADEMY MAGAZINE SPRING 2008CA graduates behind Obama: From top, JeremyTamanini ’94; Tyler Stone ’05, far right, with thecandidate and young supporters; and MattChandler ’02 with Obama22
T H E P U L L O F P O L I T I C Sembarrassing,” he said. (Concerned that peoplewould think he quit because a big paper wasdue, he did the paper anyway.) Rodman endedup at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Governmentin 1997, a much better fit, but first did freelanceWeb design, worked for a state representative,and taught computer classes at CA.After Harvard, he worked for Rep. StenyHoyer (D-MD), learning the nuts and bolts ofhow the House worked and writing speechesfor the House Administration Committee onsubjects ranging from the Taliban to the importanceof the soap box derby to Americana. Butthe House Administration Committee also oversawcontested elections, and Rodman became anobserver in New Jersey and Minnesota duringrecounts of Congressional races. That year, hewas a guest speaker in Bill Bailey’s AmericanGovernment and Politics class at CA.Missing Boston and becoming cynical aboutthe political machinations he saw, Rodmanreturned north and worked in communicationsat Harvard, first at the law school, and currentlyat the school of education. “Some people say,‘You’ve given up on the whole political thing.’ Tome, my work is another part of my education,”he said. “I’ve really been immersed in legal andeducation policy. I’m learning so much: NoChild Left Behind, education access, the achievementgap. These are all such important policyissues.”He hopes one day to return to politics—asa candidate. “I still have a lot to learn,” he said.“I want to make sure I could do it right and doit well. I don’t want to run simply because I’vealways wanted to.”CA friend and campaign pro Alec Evans ’97has told Rodman he’s ready to help when thetime comes. It’s possible that no other CA graduateunderstands the grueling pace and personalrisks of campaign work better than Evans, whowas known as the righthand man to AdrianFenty when Fenty was running for mayor ofWash ington, DC—until he was unceremoniouslybooted by his impulsive boss.Now Evans is running Nick Leibham’scampaign for the 50th Congressional district inCalifornia, hoping to ride a Democratic waveof change against a Republican incumbent. “Outof 435 Congressional seats, there are probablytwenty that are really in play throughout thecountry, and this is one of them,” he said.Since his first political job for a DC CityCouncil member, when he worked his way upThe Other PartyConcord Academy magazinesearched for active Republicansamong the school’s alumnae/i.Tyler Stone ’05, once head of theschool’s Republican Club, seemeda good prospect, but turned outto be an Obama supporter. Thehunt continues for supporters ofJohn McCain (if you’re workingfor McCain, please let us know atmagazine@concordacademy.org).Steve Park ’99, however,worked for the Republican Partyand remains a staunch supporter.Steve Park ’99His first job was with the Mary -land Republican Party when hewas in college, then he workedfor the 2000 Bush campaign andthe National Republican Sena -torial Committee (NRSC). Beforereturning home to South Koreain 2005, he was campaignmanager for Jack McMullen’sunsuccessful Senate bid inVermont.Now a political and businessconsultant in South Korea, Parkworks closely with the govern -ment and frequently representsKorean interests in Washington.At CA, he was a minority voiceamong a mostly liberal studentbody. He recently answeredquestions for Concord Academymagazine.What was the focus of yourwork for the Republican NationalCommittee?Serving as a liaison between theNational Republican SenatorialCommittee and the RNC, my workfocused on building close networksand operational unity between eachstate’s U.S. senatorial campaignsand the overall Republican apparatusin Washington, DC. The RNC aswell as the NRSC and NRCC[National Republican CongressionalCommittee] are instrumental inproviding media, fundraising, andresearch support to each candidate’scampaign. It is also the firstbody that screens potential candidateshoping to pick up supportfrom the central Republican Party.I also worked in the researchwing of the Republican Party, whichdeals with both opposition andvulnerability research. Oppositionresearch entails checking theopposing candidate’s life, background,voting record, speeches,and other relevant information thatcould be used to point out flaws inthe opposition’s arguments.Vulnerability research is a preventivedefense research that looksinto the weakest spots of one’sown campaign and candidate.The idea here is to preempt ordeflect any potential attacks thatthe opposition may throw at one’sown campaign. So, in a broadersense, campaign research allowsa campaign to stay true to SunTzu’s maxim: “Know thy enemyand know thyself, find naught infear for one hundred battles.”Who are some of the candidateson whom you did oppositionresearch?Obviously when I managed JackMcMullen’s Senate campaign in2004, I had people doing oppositionresearch on Sen. Patrick Leahy, ashe was our opponent at the time.When I was working for theRepublican Party, I worked with ateam of researchers, so almostevery major Senate candidate’s(both Republican and Democrat)research file was on my desk atsome point or another. We definitelylooked very closely at tossupstates: in 2002 we researchedArkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, andFlorida; in 2004 we worked onFlorida, South Dakota, NorthCarolina, and South Carolina.Were you involved in any campaignsbesides Jack McMullen’s?One of the first campaigns that Igot involved in was during my years23<strong>WWW</strong>.<strong>CONCORDACADEMY</strong>.<strong>ORG</strong> SPRING 2008
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