Last week Blog P.I. inaugurated its first-ever weekly series with The Benchmark Poll — a getting-to-know-you Q&A featuring political consultants in their 20s and 30s — featuring pollster Margie Omero. This week we press on with our second installment and first Republican.
Before we get started, a request/announcement: if you know of a political strategist who should be included, or if you are a political strategist who should be included, please let us know. So let’s get started.
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Jordan Gehrke is Director of Business Development for BMW Direct, a national direct mail fundraising firm, where he also leads their voter contact mail division. Past and present clients include Sen. David Vitter and Reps. Jim Ryun, Geoff Davis and Robin Hayes. Gehrke previously led the Internet activism division at Eberle Communications Group. He often provides political analysis for political publications including National Review and The Weekly Standard, and can be reached at jordan@bmwdirectmail.com. He’s also the subject of our latest Benchmark Poll:
1. How do your parents’ politics compare to your own?
My parents were both very socially and fiscally conservative, although I’m probably a bit more libertarian than either of them. My dad had a rather large populist streak that I think effected me though. One of my favorite memories is the time years ago that my dad described himself as being a “Nader Republican.” I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, “Well, I think it just means that I’m pro-life, and I want my taxes low, but I hate The Man.” My dad put the idea into me real early that for instance, while unions can be out of control and need to be checked, unions aren’t inherently evil, just like companies aren’t evil, or that while lawsuit abuse can and does happen, that the idea of people being able to sue large groups that are more powerful than an individual is one of the most important tools Americans have to level the playing field. So I think that the idea of being conservative while still being mindful of the little guy was something that I learned real early from my parents.
2. Did you run for class office in high school or college? Did you win?
I never ran for any sort of class office, but I was heavily involved in campaigns throughout my high school years. My aunt and my grandmother were both staffers for Republican legislators. My dad was an elected official, and I had a grandfather who was always very involved to the point of recruiting and delivering votes for candidates. Politics, if not the family business, was at least the family hobby. I think I began my first internship working one day a week at the Capitol when I was 12. I ran my first campaign not too long after. In addition to giving me experience at a young age, I also formed friendships that I still have to this day.
3. When you first moved to the District, what food did you miss most from home?
There’s this great place back home called Olga’s. It’s basically a great place to get a gyro, and granted, they’ve got those here and they’re very good, but they sure ain’t Olga’s. Something about the sauce I think. I’ve forced family and friends to drive miles out of their way when I’m home just so I can go there. (No, I don’t own stock. They’re not publicly traded. Yes, I’ve checked.)
4. Once you were here, did you work any non-political jobs did you work to get by?
When I got here I went to work for Eberle Communications Group running their Internet division. It taught me a good deal about e-activism and how the web works as we face a new generation of voters that are using it to make decisions. I met a lot of good people there who taught me a great deal. From there I worked a series of political jobs and have been blessed with some very patient and helpful bosses who have allowed me to do what I am doing today.
5. What’s your favorite bar in DC? Favorite outside the Beltway?
I love Cap Lounge, was very sad to see it burn and was thrilled to see it reopen. Not to rip off Margie Omero from last week, but I’m a big fan of Wonderland Ballroom too; any place where you can get Marvin Gaye and The Shins in the same play list has my respect. Also, Margie, hey there, I’ve never seen you there before, but come by and say hi sometime, I’ll buy you a drink. Who knows, you’re a D, I’m an R, maybe the music will be right, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” could be on, (you Democratic girls love that stuff, right?) you’ll glide across the room, and I’ll say something very Humphrey Bogart like, “Uh, hey.” Or not. And then maybe we could get a Carville-Matalin kind of thing going. Or something. I mean, opposites attract, right? Right?
What am I doing? Wow, this is pathetic. Gosh, I am so lonely. I’m really sorry, everyone. Sorry. Back to the interview.
6. Whether in a campaign or in government, you’ve surely had to work with someone who drove you crazy. What were they like?
I had a candidate who was a total egomaniac. They hated fundraising and looked for any reason to avoid it, so as a result, they would constantly invent crises in other areas of the campaign in order to distract from what they were really supposed to be doing. Now, a candidate not wanting to fund raise isn’t new to me, it was the deliberate starting of fires that I couldn’t take. It drove me nuts.
7. If you had your own blog, what would you call it and what would you write about?
If gambling online were legal, (which it’s not, so I don’t ever gamble; you kids at home, don’t gamble) I’d have an NFL gambling blog and call it The Degenerate. It would be a haven for losers to gather together and tell their stories of love, laughter, loss, and divorce. But I won’t ever have that blog, because the Republican Congress in their wisdom decided after selling conservatives out for years, that it would get them a few extra points in Red States if people like me were not allowed to take Green Bay minus 3.5. Fortunately for the GOP, it was the silver bullet issue they were looking for, and that’s why the Republicans still control Congress today.
8. So, who do you know? That is — who is most responsible for you being where you are in politics now?
Probably my dad. He was a few years out of law school, underfunded, and took on a three term incumbent. If he came to me today as a potential client and said he wanted to run, I’d tell him to have his head examined. But he ran even when people told him he couldn’t win. I’ve always admired him for that. Still do. It taught me really early that believing you’re right, working your tail off and taking your message to folks and looking them in the eye counts for a lot. When the votes were all tallied around midnight, Dad had won by 53 votes. The memory of that election night as a nine year old kid is something I’ll never forget. I was hooked forever. From a young age I knew that all I wanted to do was to win and keep on winning There’s just no other feeling like it.
Of course the same can be said for losing. Later on, Dad did that too. I think the whole experience really shaped who I am as a consultant; when I see a candidate and a family that I’ve worked with, bonded with, and fought with, have it all come crashing down in the space of a single Tuesday night in November, I know that it forever alters their lives. And I think it makes me fight harder for my clients. Because I’ve lived it too.
So yeah, I guess you can blame my father for my career path.
9. If you could be any politician, past or present, for one day and one event, who and what event?
I’d be Arch Duke Ferdinand in 1914, and I would duck.
10. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Five years is 2012, right? That’s still a presidential year? So yeah, I guess I’ll still be doing this stuff if they’ll let me. I’m not much good at anything else.
Not entirely unlike a benchmark poll in a political campaign, The Benchmark Poll seeks to learn a little about these people before they become “Meet the Press” famous. But don’t make too much of the name; it only beat out “Operative Questions” by a last-minute shrug.