Blimey, look at the cheery fella!

I’ve often been called a poor Scotswoman (if you couldn’t tell I was Scottish, check the spelling of my last name), and I probably deserve the criticism. I’ve never eaten haggis, I don’t have a striking accent, and I have never played the bagpipes – basically the only tie I have to my heritage is the hand-me-down kilt I keep in the back of my closet. Attractive, I know. Yet, when I heard Gordon Brown (fellow Scot!) was visiting campus this week, my inner Scot (and, not going to lie, my inner political nerd) was beyond thrilled. And thanks to the luck of the Irish (er, you know what I mean), I had the unbelievable opportunity to have dinner with the former Prime Minister this past Tuesday (shout out – Michelle Nguyen, you are beyond wonderful!). Read the rest of this entry »

HBO paid the Institute of Politics’ JFK Forum a visit this evening with an early screening of their newest documentary, By the People: The Election of Barack Obama.

After a brief introduction by the film’s directors, the lights dimmed on a packed Forum, and the audience was given the chance to experience an insider’s point of view into the President’s journey to the Oval Office: from Iowa to “Yes We Can” to Super Tuesday to his speech on race to the nomination and finally, to the moments before he climbed the steps of Grant Park to give his acceptance address on Election Night. We were let into the speech writing process with McHottie speechwriter Jon Favreau, into the grassroots organizing process with behind-the-scenes campaigner extraordinaire, Ronnie Cho, into the “situation room” with David Plouffe & David Axelrod, and into the phone bank with an adorable nine-year-old who sent the Forum into fits of hysterics at his exasperated efforts at getting a woman on the other line to understand that “Barack Obama is running for President…President of the United States…the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

Watch it on HBO (worth Hemenway-ing for 2 hours for!) November 3rd!

*Disclaimer: May make you nostalgic for the bygone days of nationwide hope and optimism. Consider yourself warned.