Temporarily Returning to Capitol Hill

On Monday morning I am temporarily returning to Capitol Hill and suspending Milo Public Affairs LLC. For the next several months I will be serving as a Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Representative Steve Kagen, M.D. of Wisconsin, primarily working on health care reform and small business issues. Out of respect for the Congressman and his constituents, I will not be doing any other paid work through Milo Public Affairs LLC while I am a member of the Congressman’s staff. Milo Public Affairs LLC will continue to exist, and I hope to return to it this fall, but starting Monday morning my attention will be focused on Representative Kagen and the people of Wisconsin’s Eighth Congressional District. In the meantime I can still be reached at ploge@milopublicaffairs.com or (202) 297-5294.

Ten years ago I was interviewed to become the first director ofThe Justice Project, an organization whose initial goal was to redefine and reform the death penalty debate in America. At the time capital punishment was a politically toxic subject, and the notion of restricting or abolishing it seemed absurd. During the interview I was asked “what do you think this will do for your career?” At the time I was the Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Brad Sherman, and the idea that I would leave the Hill for such a quixotic quest seemed puzzling. I said something like, “this is my career, paying my rent by fighting for things I believe in.”

Ten years later the first question Congressman Kagen asked me was “what do you want to do?” My reply was much the same – I said that I wanted to fight for things I believed in, to get paid for working for the good guys.

Over the course of my career I have been tremendously lucky. Since I started doing politics full-time in 1993, working as the Director of Constituent Services for former U.S. Representative Sam Coppersmith, I have been able to pay my rent (now my mortgage) by working for people and things I believe in – a U.S. Senator and three U.S. Representatives, for a balanced budget with The Concord Coalition, for criminal justice and death penalty reform with The Justice Project, and as an advisor to groups including The Save Darfur Coalition, the the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and even America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Over the next several months, thanks to ongoing dumb luck, I have the opportunity to work on health care reform, one of the most important issues facing our country at a time when a solution finally seems to be at hand.

Thank you to all of the supporters of Milo Public Affairs, the adventure will continue.