Today, I met several of the newly elected House of Representative members that my organization supported during the 2004 election. The new members held receptions in their offices and throughout the various House buildings on Capitol Hill. The food was great and the receptions crowded.

I personally met Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO 03), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA 13), John Barrow (D-GA 12), and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO 05). It was a great thing to see these people who I’d researched, helped endorse, mobilized our members, and followed their campaigns. It felt good to have something tangible and successful after that slugfest known as Campaign 2004. These are good folks and I look forward to seeing how they do in the 109th Congress.

Some personal observations: Russ is committed and seems very eager to get started in his new job. Allyson is a fantastic lady with a very positive and powerful presence. Keep your eye on her, she’s going to be doing great things. She’s also the Rep. for the district in the northeast Philadelphia area where I grew up! John has such a friendly conversation style while displaying his deep and broad knowledge.

Emanuel really made an impression on me. I missed him on my first visit to his office. He’d been doing his job in the Capitol and was pretty busy on his first official day. But, he returned later and I was able to catch him. I introduced myself (a reintroduction since I’d met him back during his campaign), and he invited me into his office to talk. He pulled up a chair close to his desk and invited me to sit down with him. We chatted briefly and I saw that he’s a committed individual who is simply a “good guy”, with all the positive trappings that such a phrase carries.

Later in the evening, I attended a Cleaver/Carnahan reception at the AFL-CIO headquarters in DC. The event was great and I got a chance to talk with both new Congressmen again. On a somewhat unrelated note, I was really impressed by the AFL-CIO building. Being pro-labor, it was really powerful to be in that building. I hope to visit there again soon!