TREASURES
6A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY,DEC.11,2001
NEWS
Graduates learn under Moore
By Cassio Furtado Kansan senior staff writer
WASHINGTON — All the doors are closed, and the hallway is dark. But at the end of the fourth-floor hall at the Cannon House Office Building is a light. It's 7:30 a.m.
The work days of two KU graduates employed by Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., start when most college students are still dreaming that they're in Cancun or that finals are finished. When they get in, they scan the day's newspapers to figure out what reporters and ordinary voters will be calling about.
tin is the representative's press secretary, his voice to the reporters in Washington and Kansas.
Then they meet with their boss.
Jack Martin and Jonah Siegellak, both 23, spend their days running much of the show at Moore's office in Washington. Siegellak is Moore's assistant and scheduler and does everything from scheduling an appointment with a Kansas farmer to driving Moore to the airport when he goes home every weekend. Mar-
Only through them can reporters and constituents have a minute with the congressman.
"They both have a great deal of maturity." Moore said. "That was exactly what I was looking for."
Siegellak, Wilmette, Ill., native, has been with Moore since January; Martin, a proud son of Abilene, since July.
But as mature as they may be. Washington's powerful atmosphere occasionally catches them off guard.
Siegellak said it was sometimes difficult for him to believe he was working for a congressman.
"I don't think I'm doing him a favor; I think he's doing me a favor," he said, adding that the best thing about his job was "seeing the Capitol and knowing that you have an impact."
Martin agreed.
"It's always busy, it's always exciting, even though you're'
always exhausted," he said. "Every day is different; that's why it's fun."
But even though the job is rewarding, the pay is not, they said.
Jack Martin, Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., and Jonah Siegellak at Moore's office in Washington. The two KU graduates do everything from booking appointments to driving Moore to the airport every weekend.
"The staff in Washington don't get enough credit for what they do." Siegellak said, who didn't point to his paycheck as a reason to work for Moore. "Most staffers could be making much more in the business world."
Moore agreed.
"They work hard, long hours for not a whole lot of pay," he said.
But if the paychecks are not the best, their jobs offer other benefits. Siegellak said that through his job with Moore, he met former president Bill Clinton, prominent Democrats like Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who was Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential race, and former senator and KU graduate Bob Dole.
CASSIO FURTADO/KANSAN
Jack Martin, left, and Jonah Siegellak outside of Rep. Dennis Moore's office in Washington. The two Kansas graduates work for the congressman.
But surprising as it may seem, young graduates like Martin and Siegellak are common nowadays on Canitol Hill.
Tobin Smith, a director of federal relations at the University of Michigan based in Washington, said the first thing to keep in mind about congressional staff today was that they were young.
"These youngsters' do play an important role in driving congressional policy." Smith said. "They are very bright and are the chief advisers to their more senior congressional bosses on the issues that they are responsible for covering."
Siegellak said he had always been encouraged by his family to get involved with politics. In college, he did just that, taking classes in American and Latin-American politics.
Martin's affection for the press began with a television show he had in high school. He read announcements and the lunch menu. When he went to college, he looked for a career in journalism.
But when he saw War Room, a movie about Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, he fell in love with politics.
Once in college, Martin joined the KU Young Democrats and soon was working for the Kansas Democratic Party as an aide to the failed gubernatorial bid of Tom Sawyer in 1998.
But in that same year, Kansas Democrats had a victory they never expected. Moore beat incumbent Rep. Vince Snowbarger by a razor-thin margin in what everyone considered an upset.
Siegellak, who said he didn't know who Moore was before the election, was the congressman's first intern in Washington and then a coordinator for Moore's re-election campaign.
Martin began his relationship with Moore by working on his Web site.
"He's very into the Internet," Martin said.
He then worked as an intern and on Moore's 2000 campaign before being named Moore's press secretary.
"I know the way he speaks, the way he wants things to be written." Martin said.
Martin said it was crucial to have experienced political campaigns before coming to the cosmopolitan Washington and adapting to the capital's complex political process.
"It's hard to learn how Washington works from textbooks and classes," Martin said. "It takes a long time in Washington to know how this place works."
The young graduates don't remember when they met. But they said they have grown as staffers with the congressman, who is now in his second term and starting to gain more political influence.
"This will be a good experience," Moore said. "I'd hate to lose either one of them right now."
Re-election rates in the House of Representatives are typically more than 95 percent, but Moore's seat is by all accounts vulnerable. Before Moore's 1998 triumph, the last time a Democrat had won in Moore's district, which includes Lawrence, was in 1958, according to the Almanac of American Politics.
"He'll always be a target," Martin said. "He'll not have an election in which he doesn't have an opponent."
But until then they plan to take their chances and stick with Moore.
"At least until the next election year," Martin said. "Then we will look at where we are."
Siegelkall, however, wants to be around for some time.
"I plan on sticking with Dennis," he said. "He's a leader; it's easy to follow."
Contact Furtado at 864-4810
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