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> Obama's Youth Brigade Burns Out > > by Dayo Olopade <http://www.thedailybeast.com/author/dayo-olopade/> > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > [image: Dayo Olopade] > > - > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > - > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/full/> > - > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > > > > - > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > - > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > - > <http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/2/> > - > > The central challenge for the twentysomethings is converting campaign > skills into the realm of government. On the trail, “we got accustomed to > marching orders: ‘You’re going to Iowa, you’re going to South Carolina, > you’re going to New Hampshire,’” says the former agency staffer. “And in the > real career world, you’re supposed to navigate this on your own.” For some > of the wunderkind campaigners, who coordinated overseas trips, managed > hundreds of volunteers, or oversaw multimillion-dollar budgets at Chicago > headquarters, setting up the East Room for a bill signing, conducting West > Wing tours or getting coffee for bull sessions in the Executive Office > Building was a frustrating letdown. “We wanted change and we got it,” says > Orrin Evans, who began working for Obama at the age of 21. “But we’re now > hit with a new set of challenges.” > > Of course, this White House is hardly the first to draft young and > idealistic staffers, only to burn them out. “You become an adrenaline junkie > and you don’t even know it,” says Heather Hurlburt, a White House and State > Department speechwriter in her 20s during Bill Clinton’s administration. > “People talk about first year Clinton as being a soccer team of > preschoolers, where people just run for the ball—and there was a lot of > fatigue and burnout and exhaustion as a result.” > > Still, there is something poignant about the exodus among the “Yes, We Can” > crowd. Key senior staffers such as Daniel Meltzer, Neera Tanden, Linda > Douglass, and Sarah Feinberg have all left the White House in recent weeks, > expressing a desire for a new direction—or relief from the punishing pace of > the Executive Branch. The full-throttle Obama campaign—and the > administration’s ambitious agenda since taking office—have clearly taken a > toll. “We worked a 22-month campaign where you had to be perfect every > single day… and now the stakes are even higher,” says the former agency > staffer. “We all celebrated the inauguration, but the next day a lot of us > went into work.” > > Leaving Obamaland yields minor perks—Google’s popular email service is > blocked at the White House—but also significant opportunities for > advancement. The 24-year-old Abraham, for example, is suddenly helping to > run the biggest grassroots mobilization effort in American politics to date. > > Then there is the liberating impact of fleeing the bureaucracy. Just after > the 2008 election, 26-year-old Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes explained his > choice not to join the administration: “There was never any particular > position or set of responsibilities that really excited me,” he said. > “There’s a challenge in prioritization, there’s a challenge in working > within constraints of the law, any political constraints that are there, to > actually get good work done.” > > “You can’t flip a switch and change the country,” adds Evans, now at the > USDA. “We’re like a big, slow tanker—and I think a lot of folks are > frustrated with that.” > > There is also an achievement gap between more experienced staffers and > those with only a BA to their name. Thirty-year-old Alejandra Campoverdi, > also profiled in the Times, has a master's degree from Harvard’s Kennedy > School and now serves as an aide to deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen. > Joshua Dubois, the 27-year-old director of the White House faith office, > graduated from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Foreign Affairs. Jason > Green, a 29-year-old associate in the Office of Legal Counsel, balanced > previous campaign experience with a degree from Yale Law. But there is a > ceiling for the younger staff. > > “There is only one Dan Pfeiffer in all of Washington,” said one junior > press aide contemplating law school, referring to the 35-year-old White > House communications director. Some feel that to break into the power class, > it’s important for them to catch up. > > “A lot of folks have identified that [they] should actually know what > [they're] talking about,” says Evans, “not just advocate what’s in my heart, > but what works.” > > So this summer, you’re just as likely to see Obama aides cruising GMAT or > LSAT preparation classes as to find them playing on the STOTUS (Softball > Team of the United States), shooting hoops at the Department of the > Interior, or celebrating on the roof of Tabaq—a popular destination for > birthday parties. > > The restlessness may be the natural way of Washington, but stings more > because of the campaign trail togetherness so many young staffers remember. > The experience “was like the best preview in the world, the movie you want > to see so badly,” says Boswell. “And then you see the movie and it’s > mediocre.” > > *Dayo Olopade is a political reporter for The Daily Beast and a Bernard > Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation.* > > Get a head start with the Morning Scoop > email<http://www.thedailybeast.com/email-signup/>. > It's your Cheat Sheet with must reads from across the Web. Get > it<http://www.thedailybeast.com/email-signup/> > . > > For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at > [email protected]. > Page: [image: > Left]<http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/> > > 1<http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obama-white-house-exodus-20-something-true-believers-burning-out/> > 2 > > > -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
