Once upon a time, I was a political science major at a small university…and like many poli sci majors, I spent a semester interning in DC. While I went the non-profit route and not the Hill intern route, I couldn’t get over being right “where it all happens” in American politics. After graduating, I returned to help corral a new generation of interns.

Fast forward to today, and I’m still in the DC area (having lived in all three jurisdictions in the DMV, thank you very much!), and the federal government is sort of interwoven into everyone’s lives here, even if you’re not employed by an agency. Many organizations follow the federal calendar and watch the OPM operating status website every time it snows, because that’s just what you do here. I’ve heard it said that if you live in DC long enough, you’ll be a fed or a contractor at some point, and yes, I can check the box of being a contractor for a year. 

So while I’m not directly involved as a government employee, lobbyist, or the like, I can’t help but help but glance in the Hill’s direction from time to time. There’s still something about driving into town and seeing the monuments that still inspires a sense of awe and never gets old. And I can’t help but geek out on election night when they zoom in on the electoral maps. (Once a poli sci major, always a poli sci major, I guess?) Why does one county vote one way, while its neighbor votes for another candidate? What is important to each set of voters? 

Things came full circle for me in voiceover when I was told I was being too snarky doing a read in a conversational class. Hmm… I thought, while it didn’t work for that particular script, is this necessarily a bad thing? Let’s put this to use and branch out into political VO. 🙂 It gets back to figuring out what makes the voters in a given area tick and how to deliver messaging that resonates…