The most important lesson in Cody Keenan’s political education occurred not during his time as chief speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, but a decade earlier, as a mailroom intern for then Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). 
 
“I’m reading these letters from people, and they put really private things in there, their hopes and pains and struggles,” Keenan told an AU crowd on October 6, during an event hosted by the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics “They’re desperate that somebody on the other side is reading this letter and cares enough to do something about it.” 
 
It was then that Keenan discovered that politics isn’t the Pollyannaish version of democracy depicted on the West Wing. 
 
Keenan—author of the new book, Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America—kicked off the Family Weekend speaker series, Conversations on Policy, Politics, and our American Democracy. The trio of events convened changemakers and thought leaders, including national journalists talking about the midterm elections and former chiefs of staff discussing the peaceful transfer of power. Here’s a sampling of their observations to the AU community. 

Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America, October 6
 

"We’ve all felt cynicism in the last several years. We felt it in the White House too. The work of governing is a grind, and you don't get victories every day. In fact, victories are very few and far between and they only come because every single day, you are trying to move the ball forward just a little bit. We spent 2,922 days in the White House and if you could go home each day just having gained an inch on the field, eventually, you're going to score a touchdown.” 
—Cody Keenan, chief speechwriter for former President Barack Obama 

2022 Midterm Elections: Expecting the Unexpected, October 7
 

"One thing that's changed over the years [is that] we are seeing people getting their news from like-minded places. They are only looking at social media, and their feed is all the people that think exactly what they think. People are less educated on the policies because they only see the one side—the side they like.”
—Anita Kumar, Politico senior editor 

"[According to a September poll conducted by the Sine Institute] Americans aged 18–35 are generally dissatisfied with our democracy. About half say they are very dissatisfied. Young Americans believe politics is controlled by powerful, unaccountable forces. They put trust in community leaders—not politicians or business leaders.” 
—Amy Dacey, SPA/MA ’95, executive director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics 

"Most Americans have busy lives or other interests, and they are not that engaged [in] policy. What they do tend to vote on is more impressionistic and [based] more on what they are feeling. It’s more [about being] discontented or content with the state of affairs than it is an in-depth grasp of policy issues.”
—Jonathan Martin, New York Times senior political correspondent 

"You have issues like inflation and the economic woes that [people] feel on a day-to-day basis. History shows voters tend to associate that . . . with the person in power. That’s Joe Biden right now. As those issues persist, [they’re] going to have a direct connection to his low approval rating.” 
— Zolan Kanno-Youngs, New York Times White House correspondent 

Peaceful Transition of Power: Protecting our Democracy, October 8
 

"January 6 was such an aberration from what we had experienced up until that date. . . . It was a break in history. That was bad for the country, bad for the world, and bad for our democracy. We need to do what we can and come together [to ensure] that never happens again.” 
—John Podesta, chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton 

"Being a student of government and always a late worker, I was among the last to leave my office on the night of January 19, 1993, the night before the [Clinton] inauguration. I decided to take one last tour through the West Wing and what I saw didn’t surprise me, but it shocked me: there was nothing on the walls, nothing on the desks, nothing on the bookshelves. The place was empty, and I thought, ‘If the American people or any of our adversaries could see that the locus and the focus of government at this moment is absolutely empty . . . what a vulnerable moment for our government.’ I got a little nervous for the country, but I was also uplifted by it, because I thought, ‘How great is this country that it’s not a government of men and women, it is a democratic government where, peacefully, we can have a whole new set of people occupy this space and take over governance just overnight.’” 
—Josh Bolten, chief of staff to former President George W. Bush 

"The handoff from one president to another is one of my most vulnerable periods for our country. It’s a period where our adversaries seek to take advantage of the United States. . . . [When] the 9/11 Commission did an autopsy, one of the things they found was that [President George W. Bush’s] shortened transition [a result of Bush v. Gore] imperiled our national security because President Bush didn’t have the ability to get all of his senior people in place. That’s why a smooth handover of power from one president to another is so important to our country.” 
—David Marchick, dean of the Kogod School of Business and author of the new book, The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions