How to Cultivate Relationship with Congress (Wo)Man

kinnem said:
Having a connection/relationship with your congressman will make no difference in your nomination prospects. The interviews and recommendations are made by a committee and the congressman generally simply signs off on these recommendations. If you find the relationship valuable and the internship fulfilling, then by all means continue it, but don't do it thinking it helps with the nomination process.

BTW - if you do get a nom, and appointment, and are interested in politics/policy you should consider applying for the Congressional Fellowship Program at some point in your career.
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Good morning--I realize the age of this thread, and perhaps missed this, but are a particular congressional representative's nomination committee's members comprised exclusively of loyalists or party members of that congressional individual? That is to say is a Democrat's committee all Democrats and a Republican's committee all Republicans? It seems likely that this would be the case and given the intensely partisan nature of today's world...I wonder how much red-blue bias is built into the nomination process or if interviews are used to discern "values"? I have read what look to be some unpleasant stories on this forum about various culture war topics coming up in interviews... and I can't help but worry about what today's processes are like as opposed to 10-20 years ago... Thoughts welcome.
 
Typical committees are composed of ex-military officers and local dignitaries. I don't think there is any political bias in these committees and I doubt they even know your political affiliation.

If culture war topics do come up I expect it's an effort to see how you can organize your thoughts and communicate them effectively, and not about the content of your response.
 
DD and DS interviewed with multiple MOC panels. All were composed of SA alum, AD officers and retired officers. Politics didn’t come up once. Or anything that could be construed as trying to smoke out a candidate’s leanings. All very straightforward and simple.

Can’t echo enough: Treat MOC staffers with respect. When entering the interview, treat the people at the check-in table with respect. The interview process starts well before the interview does. And word does get around.
 
fatheroteens said:
Good morning--I realize the age of this thread, and perhaps missed this, but are a particular congressional representative's nomination committee's members comprised exclusively of loyalists or party members of that congressional individual? That is to say is a Democrat's committee all Democrats and a Republican's committee all Republicans? It seems likely that this would be the case and given the intensely partisan nature of today's world...I wonder how much red-blue bias is built into the nomination process or if interviews are used to discern "values"? I have read what look to be some unpleasant stories on this forum about various culture war topics coming up in interviews... and I can't help but worry about what today's processes are like as opposed to 10-20 years ago... Thoughts welcome.
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I have sat on several MOC boards, from both parties, and in different states… party affiliation has played zero into any interview. Party affiliation has never come up once for the panel or candidates. Could it be a factor, sure. I would say it’s extremely rare.
 
fatheroteens said:
Good morning--I realize the age of this thread, and perhaps missed this, but are a particular congressional representative's nomination committee's members comprised exclusively of loyalists or party members of that congressional individual? That is to say is a Democrat's committee all Democrats and a Republican's committee all Republicans? It seems likely that this would be the case and given the intensely partisan nature of today's world...I wonder how much red-blue bias is built into the nomination process or if interviews are used to discern "values"? I have read what look to be some unpleasant stories on this forum about various culture war topics coming up in interviews... and I can't help but worry about what today's processes are like as opposed to 10-20 years ago... Thoughts welcome.
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I've been a member of interview panels for many years and have never ever seen even a hint of any political or "culture war" issues at any time. For part of that time, one of the Senators was under investigation for some issues but the Service Academy interview process was done fairly without regard to political leanings. Over the past couple of years, I've had a lot of interaction with my MOCs office and have no problem working with them on vets and service academy issues even though I disagree about stances in other areas.

FWIW, most but certainly not all longtime military folks skew toward the conservative side but that does not seem to influence who gets onto the panels that I've seen even for fairly progressive politicians.
 
Thanks--very reassuring. DS's quals will speak for themselves... but it can be a brutal world...thus I raise the question.
 
Of course there is a possibility of political bias (and I suspect the risk is higher in some jurisdictions, and with certain Congresspersons), but for the most part the process seems pretty apolitical. However, I would also caution Candidates themselves to keep their political views and leanings to themselves, and if any issue comes up during the interview or application process, avoid extreme positions either way. And yes ...be respectful to the Staff !
 
Old Navy BGO said:
Of course there is a possibility of political bias (and I suspect the risk is higher in some jurisdictions, and with certain Congresspersons), but for the most part the process seems pretty apolitical. However, I would also caution Candidates themselves to keep their political views and leanings to themselves, and if any issue comes up during the interview or application process, avoid extreme positions either way. And yes ...be respectful to the Staff !
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Good advice.
 
DS comes from what is generally considered to be a stereotypically conservative demographic (although we personally identify as moderates). Of the 3 MOC's we worked with, 2 were Republican and 1 was Democrat...and it was the blue MOC who gave him his nomination with a very diverse nominating committee. Everything seemed very fair in our situation.
 
Both of my DS's received nominations from MOC's of the political party opposite of mine and my wife's.

Politics and affiliations NEVER came up once in our son's respective interviews with the committee. The panelists were almost all former military and never identified their own party affiliation.
 
AROTC-dad said:
Both of my DS's received nominations from MOC's of the political party opposite of mine and my wife's.

Politics and affiliations NEVER came up once in our son's respective interviews with the committee. The panelists were almost all former military and never identified their own party affiliation.
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Thats good to know.
 
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