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By Kellie Lunney, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Nov. 16, 2007

Washington is often viewed with derision outside the Beltway. Some of the more popular descriptions applied to the nation's capital are bureaucratic, elitist, provincial, arrogant, corrupt, and -- everyone's favorite -- out of touch. After all, as the joke goes, everyone who comes to Washington is a former class president, if not a former National Spelling Bee champion, college newspaper editor, or Ivy League lacrosse star. No wonder the rest of the country loves to hate us.

But there's another facet of Washington that's just as real as its unflattering reputation. Politics and government, the city's lifeblood, continue to attract some of the most talented, intelligent, optimistic, and forward-thinking people in the world. Change might happen incrementally here, but it does occur -- and, occasionally, before it hits the rest of the country. Washington may still be the ultimate high school clique, but it's not quite as insular as it once was. A more diverse, tech-savvy generation is making Washington less mysterious and more accountable to the outside world. "I think that the legacy we are all building on is the desire to open this place up," says Justin Hamilton, deputy chief of staff to Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

When they're out on the campaign trail, both Republicans and Democrats like to talk about changing Washington. But Washington is already transforming itself in some fundamental ways. Technology, diversity, and a broader definition of public service are creating more job opportunities for members of Generations X and Y (today's 30- and 20-somethings). "There are ways for people to participate in an already existing system in jobs that didn't exist before," says Sean Gibbons, director of media strategy at the Center for American Progress.

Chris Kelley Cimko, senior vice president of public affairs at Dittus Communications, has worked in Washington for more than three decades. "In government and public service, there are more opportunities for women than in the private sector," says the daughter of former Marine Corps Commandant Paul X. Kelley, a retired general. "Not everywhere, to be sure; you still will find the glass ceiling and the boys' club."

In the 1980s and 1990s, Cimko worked at the Pentagon for then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, and later for then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. "I can tell you, when I worked at the Pentagon and Senate Armed Services I never once for a moment felt talked down to as the little lady," she says. "And then I went to K Street." Cimko, 55, says she was advised recently to bring "a gentleman" with her to an appointment with a particular client. A trio of young African-American lobbyists interviewed for this package of stories about The New Washington expressed similar frustrations, saying that they encounter more roadblocks dealing with the private sector than with Capitol Hill.

Technology and the Internet have also brought more people to the party. Bloggers are a potent -- and sometimes unpredictable -- force in politics. Some have retained their grassroots and anti-establishment appeal, but others are widely considered to be part of the Fourth Estate. In many ways, bloggers and traditional media have unwittingly worked in tandem. The more-credible bloggers have brought attention to issues and events that the mainstream media initially ignored. Bloggers benefit from that exposure because, despite the popularity of their medium, traditional media still have wider reach. Spencer Ackerman, 27, a reporter-blogger at the well-read Talking Points Memo Muckraker, says he interacts with readers more now than when he worked at The New Republic. Blogging has also created a new pool of sources for him. "People want to be more involved; they want to think like journalists."

Because of their grassroots connections, political campaigns have outpaced the federal government in harnessing technology and the Internet to deliver results, which are counted as dollars and votes. Republican presidential longshot Ron Paul is the latest beneficiary of online fundraising. The Texan's campaign recently raised a record $4 million in one day over the Internet. But Washington has also discovered that technology is a two-edged sword: It giveth, and it can taketh away. Just ask former Sen. George Allen of Virginia. His now-famous "macaca" moment, captured on video by a young Indian-American volunteer for Democratic challenger Jim Webb and viewed countless times over the Internet and on television, derailed the Republican's 2006 re-election campaign.

The notion of public service has also evolved as many interested young people gravitate toward nongovernmental organizations and single-issue groups. The idea that people plan to stay in a government job, or any job, for that matter, for the next 30 years is increasingly obsolete. "I'm not sure everyone comes to Washington thinking that they are going to be here forever," Cimko says. "I think it's pretty much the same [for every generation]: You want to make a contribution, see how government works. You don't know whether it's going to be your life, a launching pad, or your diversion."

Leah Daughtry, chief executive officer of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, who came to Washington in 1985 as an aide to her hometown congressman, Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., grew up in an activist, church-going household. "I think faith is all about public service," says Daughtry, a minister. "My understanding, the way that I was raised and trained, our faith is not something you can put on the shelf or hide under a bushel." Daughtry, 44, knows that her perspective on public service is not universal. "Some people still come to Washington because they got the idea that it's going to lead to a lucrative career somewhere; I think you'll always have that. But I think there are a fair number of people who come because they really want to make a difference, and Washington is the seat of power in our country."

Change happens everywhere eventually, even here. But some aspects of Washington are timeless, and that's not such a bad thing, says David Almacy, a former Internet and e-communications director in the Bush White House. Almacy, now a vice president at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, says that the president shouldn't blog, for example, because most people believe that he has better things to do. Blogging, after all, is simply another way to communicate. "If the president wants to get his message out, all he has to do is one thing: step to the podium."