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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 years23WWW.CONCORDACADEMY.ORG SPRING 2008